Chiang Mai, Thailand

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Day 1 (Tuesday) - We got to the airport 3 hours early only to find that our flight had been delayed an hour. Given the fact that Nathan, Clay (who would be meeting us at the airport) and I only had 1 night there, it wasn’t the news I was longing to hear but oh well. I checked my large bag in the airport storage, which felt nice to get rid of for a few days, and then checked in. After all 3 present had checked in, we went downstairs to get some food. The food was good but not large enough in portion to be satisfying. After the meal, I went to the drug store at the airport where I bought Malaria medicine then we went upstairs to wait for Clay at the departure desk. It was good seeing Clay. I had only met him a couple times previously but he was 100% for good times and stories, which I felt to be a good omen. It was a cheerful reunion. After checking in, we went to our gate, which was empty due to the amount of time before departure. We were all hungry (3 of us still) so we went get something to eat. Word of advice to the unknowing, DO NOT DRINK CHRYSANTHEMUM JUICE! There is no emphasis so strong as is necessary for this warning. The first taste is a little sweet then everything else is like drinking liquid remains of an ash tray. It came with our meals and we decided to give it a try. The food itself was alright but the juice was definitely a spoiler. Sick to our stomachs, we headed back to the gate after paying for our meal. Soon we caught the plane and were off to Chiang Mai, a short 45 minute flight. When we got in, it took me 15 minutes to just make the phone connect to the hostel so that he could tell me that the driver of the free ride that was a big factor in my choosing that particular hostel. We took a cab from the airport, which was actually pretty close then immediately headed out on the town at 9:30 on a Tuesday night. We walked down a main thoroughfare, hoping to find a market that had we found out had already closed for the night. We ended up walking down the road to a bar operated by an outspoken American next to 2 Brits. I had forgotten to put on bug spray, so I spent the night killing bugs. We didn’t get back to our hostel till after 5am.

Day 2 (Wednesday ) - My watch alarm clock went off at 9am after a full 3 and a half hours of sleep. The group of 4 was going to be down to 3 again. Rich would not be heading with the rest of us on our way to Laos. We all 4 caught a tuk-tuk cab into town, where Rich jumped out to go to another hostel before we got to the bus station. The bus station was confusing and had lines that were as likely to move backwards as forwards. I don’t know what people talked about when they got to the window but it had to be about everything other than the bus ticket. We got a bus for 1, which gave us several hours, so we headed into town, where we ran a few errands, saw the walls to the city and grabbed lunch at a neat little restaurant. Soon enough we were back at the bus station and on our way to Chiang Khong.

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Photos

Weird
An advertisement for an event in Houston.