Chiang Mai

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I am not sure if it was the motion of the train or the beers that we had but we both slept really well before being woken up at about 7.00. It was fun to sit back and watch the carriage come to life. Soon it was time to get up and let the attendant convert our bunks back into seats.

Sitting up eating cold chicken and cheese buns that we had bought in Bangkok there is little esle to do but watch the countryside roll past us . It is very difficult not to think about all the smoke and pollution that is being caused by fires that are being lit to clear paddiees for the next rice crop as well as to clear forest for new farming land. It surely can't be having a good impact and it can only be a matter of time before the full consequences are felt.

Anyway after 14 hours the train finally pulls into Chiang Mai station at 10.00. Stepped onto the station and it felt like we were still moving, I wish somebody had warned us about that. Chiang Mai is like a little Bangkok with touts all over the station trying to get us to go to their guesthouses luckily for us we had rung aheadand booked some accomodation at Sk House so there was a driver waiting for us.

SK House is a great little place in the inner moat area of town tucked away down a little soi off Moon Muang. It is claen tidy and best of all it has a swimming pool which will come in very handy as the temps here are hitting the mid 30's with humidity to match.

After checking in we decided that it was time to go and explore the area around the guesthouse. The inner moat area is a maze of small lane and pathways heading off in all directions and it is fun just to wonder around and get lost in. prety soon we stumbled accross Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple in town and a former home of the Emerald Buddha, we seem to have been following his travels accross SE Asia.

It was getting pretty hot by now so we decided to find somewhere to sit down and have some lunch and a cool drink. Not to difficult to do as there are restaurants all over the place that are serving up good cheap food.

Eventually we found ourselves walking back over the moat into the newer part of town and heading up to the night market. A street full of stalls selling the same tshirts and souveniers as Bangkok but at much more reasonable prices.

Along the street we found a small square that was full of bars and restaurants so we decided that another drink would not be a bad idea bcause it was getting close to Happy Hour. We settled on a little place called Salud that had Mojitos for B50 (about $1.60 Aus). The drinks were good and it was a great place to sit and watch the world go by.

Eventually it was time to continue on our walk through the market before heading back to the guesthouse to get some sleep.

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Photos

Old City Wall
Part of the old wall that surrounded Chiang Mai