Sleeper Train to Chiang Mai and going hippy.

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I write this sat by a pool in our current hostel. It isn’t amazing but the sound of running water is pleasant, and the room is adequate, but more on that in a minute…

Tuesday 2nd November

I awoke early to the clackety clack of the train moving over the track.

Clackety clack, clackety clack, clackety clack…….

The first light of pre-dawn was starting to inch in through the woefully thin curtains in our little sleeper car. I didn’t dare look at the watch but knew it must have been early as the breakfast guy hadn’t come around (at least I hadn’t heard him) and he told us the night before that it would be at about 6am that breakfast was served. I guessed it was somewhere in the hour leading up to that though. I attempted to fall back to sleep and dozed.

After what seemed like not much more time he soon arrived making an awful racket and waking Lou on the bed below me as he delivered the aforementioned breakfast to the monk in the next door room. To be fair the room we are in was joined to that room by an internal partition door which was even thinner than the wall to the cabin but surely that should make you quieter not more indifferent?

After this the guy knocked on our door asking if we wanted breakfast, we had been asked this question last night with dinner and I had decided we didn’t need it and would pass until we arrived in Chiang Mai properly, but when he said that the train was delayed by at least 2 hours meaning our 7:45 arrival was going to be closer to 10am we opted for breakfast after all.

As we ate the average fair, (although better than anything you’d expect on a train at home) we watched the morning sun illuminating the lush green of the vista outside the window.

We watched a few small stations go by and a few work gangs of men dressed in an assortment of clothes to protect themselves which they had clearly amassed themselves -no sign of a uniform or supplied PPE, more DIY balaclavas and woolly hats.

The scenery was once again a beautiful thing to behold as it always seem to be on these trips, but I have to say I was more interested in getting stuck into my book in an effort to pass the time.

We eventually pulled into Chiang Mai station at 09:55 and the supposed cool of this province didn’t seem very apparent to us after the chill of the slightly OTT aircon that we had been in for the last night.

We got off on what I have to say is one of the nicest train platforms I have ever stood on and sorted out our bags onto backs before walking the length of the platform to the main part of the station and the inevitable throng of people hassling you to get in their tuk-tuk or taxi.

Once again we started off by saying no to everybody and striding through the assembled masses, but we relented near the gate to the station accepting a tuk tuk from a short round fairly masculine woman with moderate English. She asked us where we wanted to go, and having not booked anywhere we decided upon a hotel on the map near the centre of the action (according to the guidebook at least) with a plan to get out and walk from there if we didn’t like it.

These plans never quite work out and sure enough on arrival at the hotel it wasn’t great and we said no, but the driver was waiting for us still despite having been paid and we get further harrasment, this time in the form of “ come to this guest house with me if you don’t like it you can walk from there, free ride” we agreed and off we went. We were taken to a guesthouse which is probably some relations as she herself showed us the room.

Again we said no and we were actually allowed to leave without hassle or the expectation of further monies, which was a shock.

On leaving the guesthouse down the narrow Soi or alley we got back onto the main drag on the outer side of the moat around the old city and decided to find a café/bar/restaurant where we could get the trusty internet out and also have a drink.

We stopped after not very far and did indeed get the laptop out but didn’t really come to any solid conclusions so decided that now we had had a drink, lost our driver successfully, and in my case had some more food as breakfast seemed a long time ago, we would walk to a few hostel to look at what was on offer. We headed in the direction of the old city, meant to be THE backpacker destination and where it all happens. We saw a hostel and had a look at a room, and whilst far from great, it was adequate given the price and the lure of a swimming pool out front was too much so we said yes. We probably should have bartered, but with Lou never being very up for walking anywhere with a backpack on (some backpacker!) and me feeling a little dizzy still (the train equivalent of sea-legs, when you find them you feel all at sea still on dry land) it made sense to say yes and check in.

After unpacking the whole contents of our packs in order to give most of it over for laundry (how do we make so much of it?) we headed out for lunch. Lou hadn’t eaten since the measly breakfast and I had only had a light snack anyway so it seemed the right thing to do. We didn’t stray far, only across the street, and discovered one of the local dishes “laab” which is a Northern Thai warm salad made with minced meat and various herbs - delicious.

Having already collected a number of leaflets from the entrance to the hostel for a variety of activities, tours and the like we sat and perused them during our lunch. We had both agreed that a cooking course was a must do whilst here in Chiang Mai and the rest we were to decide upon. Having both fancied trying a bit of Yoga for a while, we thought a place like this would be ideal. So we decided that we should go for a walk and orientate ourselves whilst attempting to find a yoga studio that we had a flyer for. However the studio turned out to be a little more elusive than we had expected. The map the flyer showed didn’t really help much and after walking around all four streets that surrounded the blob on the map we gave up.

What we did see however was a lot of the taxi’s that Chiang Mai has - they appear to be pick-ups or utes if you’re an Aussie, with a bolt on section that covers the back with seats. They give the appearance of the Ghostbusters car and don’t look like you would struggle to fall out the back at any junction.

We returned to the hostel with only one thing on our mind - massage.
Lou’s sore lower back was again playing up and she had decided enough was enough and to let somebody try and sort it out. Not wanting to pass on an opportunity I agreed that I’d have a massage also. Despite passing numerous places en route to home, we were aware that there was a place that offered what we wanted/needed right on the doorstep, and so we went to the room to discard a few items and swiftly returned. Lou had an aromatherapy massage whilst I opted for a traditional Thai one. After about 15 minute wait because the masseuses had gone on a break to the market we went to our separate darkened rooms. Whilst not the most stunning massage I have ever had it was OK and I did feel pretty relaxed afterwards. Lou didn’t feel like her’s was much cop as her lower back issue wasn’t concentrated upon. I guess you can’t win them all.

Returning to the hostel to catch up on admin, having not being able to freely use the internet in Bangkok, we proceeded to wile away more than a few hours. The next thing we knew it was time for dinner. Heading back out into the city, in the direction of the Night Bazaar we passed a number of bars and restaurants, and were just starting to think maybe we had gone the wrong way when we turned a corner and the Night Bazaar stretched out in front of us as far as we could see. This night-time market was unique in a sense that the road that it was situated upon was still open with traffic flowing, yet the pavements were chock full of stalls. The plan had been to find some street food but Lou’s inbuilt need to buy things in markets/shops kicked in and we were of course in shopping mode.

I eventually managed to drag her away from the shops long enough to enter a food court type area where you can buy coupons to then take to a stall and get food/drink (weird when you get a full refund for any that you don’t use - it seems to be creating a job and wasting paper for the sake of it to me) Lou had some local spicy sausage and I opted for the local curried noodle dish called Laok Soi. Both dishes were good and after Lou had eaten her sticky rice and mango desert we moved on for more browsing of the stalls feeling pretty good that we had eaten two consecutive local dishes each - weirdly something we don’t do very often. Shopping was starting to take its toll and before the end of the street was even in sight we both decided to call it a night here, getting a tuk-tuk back to the hostel. I was not ready for bed however and thought a few beers may be in order so we headed out again along the road we are living on which is meant to be one of the backpacking hotspots. We went only a short distance before the U.N. Irish Pub arrived and the sound of live music from upstairs drew us in. I was surprised that the place was pretty empty but it was nice to have a focal point for a few drinks and we happily listened to the set being played.

After a couple of red wines Lou was ready for bed, and off she headed, whilst I went to another bar across the road. I had one more to round off the end to a long and busy first day in Chaing Mai, a place we have both decided we like.
Wednesday 3rd November 2010

We had set the alarm for 8:30 as we had decided to go and give a Yoga class for beginners a try that was on at 10:30. A swift and decidedly average breakfast later we decended the stairs again ready to go and find the place, with a hope that the map was a little more accurate than the previous days. It was about 10:00 when we left the hostel, and whilst the map showed us that our destination was across the old walled sity from where we were, it seemed like more than enough time to get there.

This didn’t turn out to be the case, and we walked into the compound and then the studio (luckily along with another late arrival) at 10:35 to disturb the start of everybody’s practice. Whilst the signs on the wall told us this was fine I got the distinct impression from some of the other students that they weren’t very happy, although to her credit the teacher didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

After some basic breathing we moved onto some postures and the time flew by - an hour and a half disappearing before we knew it. We left he compound both agreeing that we had enjoyed it and “got something out of it”, enough to try another class anyway.

We meandered our way back to the hostel via a lunch stop contemplating the yoga timetable and trying to decide on one of the many cooking schools to try for our aforementioned cooking lesson - not an easy task when they are all so similar, and there are loads of them. Even the waitress in the restaurant we had our lunch in wanted to get us to book one specific one over another! On our way we passed another sign for a different Yoga studio which was much closer to home, cheaper and had a lesson that fitted in with our self-imposed timetable.

We returned to the hostel to make use of the pool whilst relaxing with a book, something we have actually done scarce little of whilst on our travels -its not all relaxation and holiday you know, its hard work most of the time. The pool was nice and cool, maybe bordering on cold, and the ambience was relaxed although the sheer number of full ashtrays did spoil it somewhat, but we can’t have it all. The biggest let down was the small number of loungers which were all taken, leaving us with seats in a not very sunny section but still it was a pleasant enough place to wile away the afternoon.

The afternoon drew into early evening and our mornings exertions coupled with a small lunch, had resulted in both of us feeling the pull of dinner at a fairly early hour. We adjourned to a restaurant called Jerusalem Falafel, which specialises in middle eastern food, and also has a fair share of Greek dishes. The guide book tells us they make their own halloumi and feta, and so with this info splurged out on a big platter of houmous, tzatziki, greek salad, tabbouleh salad and falafel. We started a game of cards to pass the time until the food arrived only to have to give in having barely started as the first of the dishes came out. The food was excellent, one of the best meals we have eaten in a long time and pretty authentic to the fodder we had experienced in Greece.

A carafe of red wine helped the meal down and allowed us time to play cards after the bulk of the main was finished and Lou was starting on her baklava whilst I mopped up the remains of the houmous and tzatziki with an extra pitta. We adjourned to a nearby bar for more of the same, although the red wine wasn’t as good as in the restaurant. A slightly extravagant end to the day it has to be said but, very worthwhile and I did comment on the way home that a vegetarian meal and Yoga in one day may have been a bit too hippy for me, but I had enjoyed it so who knows what comes next……….

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Photos

Wat Mahawan illuminated
Just one sight en route to the night bazaar