Chiang Mai

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If I had to sum up Chiang Mai as a city in one word it would be "markets". They are everywhere. Besides the smaller one near the BMP (Backpackers' Meeting Place), my residence, there are a number of larger ones both in the city and surrounding... These markets are packed early each morning with people buying and selling all types of produce, trinkits, clothing, handbags and backpacks, prepared food and aisles and aisles of raw meats and fish, many of them still squirming. The types of creatures seem to vary by day, one morning I saw a lady with tiny "baggies" full of frogs, 8-10 to a bag still hopping around, there are eels slithering in buckets and any other type of water loving creature you might imagine by the hundreds. There's also spices and dried fruits and flowers galore. And then there's the night bazaar, which seemed to be the most "touristy" of the markets where you can purchase anything under the sun. Fine Thai silks and handmade jewelry seem to be a hit. I liked Chiang Mai as you can really get a feel for the Thai culture. In addition to the many many markets the city is loaded with book stores and offers classes in Thai cooking and traditional Thai massage at every corner. The old city is entirely surrounded by the remnants of a moat-style wall, built over 700 years ago to protect them from Burmese invaders and it forms a perfect square enlosing much of the main city. The traffic is horrendous on the outside of the city walls, as I found out on my 5th day there. Having felt as though I'd covered every square inch of the city via foot both walking and running I decided to rent some sort of mode of transportation. Bicycles, motor scooters, motorcycles and even cars are ridiculously cheap to rent for the day. I opted for the bicycle in order to acclimate myself to the heavy traffic buzzing on the "opposite" side of the street then I'm used to, plus, I figured I'd get more exercise this way. It took me one lap around the entire city to finally build up the guts to cruise through the 5 to 6 lanes of traffic in order to make a turn out off the main road. Then I was off. I was zipping in and out of traffic, up and down one way streets and then took to the backroads and visited the suburbs. I rode until my butt got blisters. Just me and my little green bike with the basket on the front, we owned that city... that is, until I ended up on the freeway. I somehow ended up outside of Chiang Mai on the "super highway". I sincerely wanted to stop and take photos of the freeway of which I had entered but thought it best to focus on how I was going to get off the damn thing. Thank goodness my bike had a bell.

So after 2 overnight train rides south (over 28 hours on the rail!) and 13 hours in an overly crowded Bangkok train station I am now at peace in Ao Nang Beach, in my private bungalow which I will be at for the next 5 days. Ao Nang is the furthest western beach of Krabi and so far exceeds the beauty of which I've seen in photographs and have heard from other travelers.

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