In Chaing Mai

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Hey everyone!

So I got tired of writing out similar stuff in e-mails, so Alex told me to just write a blog like he did in Australia 😉 I hope all of Southridge doesn't start reading it though.

Last night after it stopped monsooning Dad and I caught a Tuk Tuk to the Bangkok train station. We took an overnight train to Chaing Mai, which is way in the North of Thailand, about 750km away. It was really cool, partly because I've never traveled by train before. We had an upper and lower berth, and were across from two americans from LA, a brother and sister who were traveling together as well. Before I got on the train I also bought a snack, some fresh pineapple from a tiny fruit stand in the middle of the station. It was so delicious.

I woke up in the middle of the night on the train, because I'm not really over the jet lag yet, and I looked out the window. We were in the plains region and there was a bunch of thunder and lightning, which was pretty amazing looking. In the morning we were going through the jungle region of Northern Thailand, and there was just greenery EVERYWHERE, everything was completely verdant and lush. It was amazing, I really liked the train. It was about 2.5 hours late getting into Chiang Mai, which apparently happens every time on this train.

I love Chiang Mai, it's a small city, with the 'old city' which is thousands of years old, sourrounded by a moat. There are very few tourists around, and it's much less chaotic and charming than Bangkok, which was a bit too urban for me. We're staying in this really cute guesthouse, called the Chaing Mai Whitehouse, which is down a tiny soi, or alley. The lady at the front desk has two tiny dogs that are really cute.

I had an super delicious lunch, yellow chicken curry with a roti and a mango shake. Then Dad and I walked over to the Market, which is crazy! as all markets are.... There are quite a few nice shops, but I haven't bought anything yet. I'll come back tomorrow I think. It's just so overwhelming with all of the clothes, because everything is just in huge piles and super cheap. Its still really warm and I got a bit dehydrated today so I'm not quite up to attempting to sort through all the buys yet. Tomorrow though!I can't wait for dinner, the food here is amazing. I decided we should stay an extra day in Chiang Mai, we were going to leave tomorrow night, but instead we'll postpone that to Saturday night. Then it's just Sunday and Monday morning in Bangkok, then a flight to Kuala Lampur, and from Kuala Lampur to Katmandu! Things are moving along, In a few days I'll already be leaving Thailand!

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