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Published: October 5th 2013
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Control room on the train
This is where they sent us to smoke. The train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is being repaired and was not open until late October. We still wanted to take a train rather than a bus to Chiang Mai however, so we took the train to the northern town of Phitsanulouk. It was a about a 7 hour train ride I believe and we arrived in Phitsanulouk just in time for dinner! The town itself is a transfer point for buses to the famous Sukhothai, as well as spots in Eastern Thailand. It had a nice night market, a muddy river running through it, and a laid back atmosphere (once away from the train station). It's not a hot bed for tourism, so there is not a lot in the way of guesthouses or attractions, but it was a nice stopover. We will be stopping there again on our way to Eastern Thailand and I am looking forward to another night there.
We headed to Chiang Mai the next day on a painful 7 hour bus ride which got us to Chiang Mai much later than anticipated. We found our guesthouse, with a bit of a struggle and lots of walking around with heavy packs. I would in
NO WAY recommend this guesthouse, nor ever stay there again. It was called JJ Guesthouse. The lady running the tour guest was rude, aggressive, and controlling over the rest of the staff. She attempted to steal my e-cigarette battery and almost broke a chair over a friends head when he checked out. It was a negative atmosphere and made for an uncomfortable time for me. We stayed there for a week, because it was cheap, and the idea of moving was too daunting. It's location was great as it was just around the corner from the climbing shop.
This is my first trip to Thailand during monsoon season. Every other trip to Chiang Mai has occurred in the spring. I have to say I really like it during monsoon season. The weather is mild (I got to wear my hoodie), and there are a lot less people. Although we came to Chiang Mai intending to climb, it only happened once due to the constant rain. Go us for coming to climb in Thailand during monsoon season! The one day we made it to Crazy Horse Buttress it started raining while we were eating lunch. And it rained HARD. The
morning climbing was very fun, but were only able to get through 2 routes before lunch. The storm started to blow in while we were getting ready to head back out to climb. We could hear it far away about 10 minutes before it hit us. It was amazing hearing the trees far away blowing in the wind and the sound of the raindrops as they were approaching. The leaves then started blowing off the trees, and all of a sudden we were hit with a downpour of rain. The roof of the hut we were sitting in was so loud with the falling branches and rain hitting it. One of the jungle dogs was afraid of the thunder and hid beneath our legs. We had to sit in this for about a half hour as we were waiting for the climbing class we had shared a truck out there with to finish with the caving portion of their class. The caving must have been incredibly slippery.
Each day in Chiang Mai was consistent in the afternoon rains. We didn't feel like paying the money to take the climbing truck, or renting a motorbike out there each day and
chance not being able to climb due to rain. We spent the next week exploring the markets around town and eating street food as well as spending a day at the indoor bouldering gym attached to the CMRC climbing shop. I especially like the markets around Chinatown and the area east of the old city. I was able to get a pair of sunglasses for about a buck, which made me feel happy in my frugality.
After about a week of this we decided to move on to Pai. Mostly because I am getting so sick of people asking me when I tell them I have been to Thailand "have you ever been to Pai?"!!!!!
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