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Published: November 9th 2017
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Hello everyone!
I can't believe its already been over a week since my first post; all those who told me that the time will fly by whilst I'm away were right!
Quite a lot has happened since last week and its safe to say that my scepticism of plans going smoothly was more founded than I imagined. In the opening stage to this weeks post I'll provide you with a bit of advice: always have a plan B! My casual remark at last weeks conclusion about a strange change in the times of my connecting flight to Chiang Mai was only the beginning of what was one of the most stressful 24 hours of my life. Now I'd be one of the first to admit that I'm not the most organised of people, but on that final day before I left I did wake up thinking that I've got pretty much everything sorted.
To cut a long story short (because I know you came here to read about Chiang Mai not me having a rant!) it turned out that my flight had indeed been cancelled and the only other one on offer was one that left 40 minutes
after I arrived (all others being booked up). As a result I cancelled all the plans I had for my first 5 days in Chiang Mai (including a 3 day trek further North of the city) and hastily booked myself replacement accommodation. As it turns out I was able to catch the connecting flight and could have made the trek had I not cancelled it. Add to that I was forced to stay a further hour and a half in Chiang Mai airport because my rucksack had to be put on the next flight. So it probably sounds like this trip started in a thoroughly disappointing way but I must say the one reassuring and redeeming aspect about my flight and first few hours in Thailand were the people I spoke to: from the English tourist sat next to me on the flight from London providing me with all sorts of useful advice, to the wonderfully helpful Bangkok airways representative in Chiang Mai who stayed over an hour after she was meant to clock off to ensure my rucksack arrived safely. I wish I could have thanked her further but all I was thinking about was getting to my hostel,
dropping my bag and grabbing a beer. On the subject of beer its so cheap! Being from the south of England I'm lucky if I find a beer that's £3; here its £1.20 for a large bottle! I've heard it only gets better in Laos and Vietnam so expect to hear me raving about that soon as well 😊
Onto Chiang Mai itself. Its a city that prides itself on being one of the the centre pieces of Thai culture and history; one staff member at my first hostel seemed to take particular satisfaction in telling me this, adding that Chiang Mai predates Bangkok by at least 500 years. The old city (where a majority of tourists go) sits quite a distance from the city centre; initially I found it quite confusing that all the best hostels were about 30km from the city centre! Saying that the old city is impressive doesn't to it justice. Surrounded by a moat, remains of the old walls and with a Wat on virtually every corner, it is absolutely fascinating to wander around. The largest temple in the city is the Wat Phra Singh, and this naturally attracts the majority of tourists, but
there were two others in the city that particularly stood out for me: one because it seemed to have been completely ignored by tourists, and the other because of its out of place and creepy statue of Donald Duck. But the Wat that was without a doubt the best to visit was that of Doi Suthep. Located high in the hills near Chiang Mai, the enormous golden Stupa is visible from the city and is said to be nearly as old as Chiang Mai itself. The views of the city are just as impressive as the temple and you can clearly make out the square section that is the old quarter.
I must say though that I probably wouldn't have even gone to this temple had I not been talking to someone in my hostel the night before who asked if I wanted to join him and several others in going up to see it. In fact here is another piece of advice that even at this early stage of my trip I feel I can give: talk to people. Some you'll find annoying. Some you'll have nothing in common with. Most you'll only have a short conversation with.
But some you'll chat to, have a laugh with, have a drink with (did I mention how cheap the beer is?), and you might even end up going to see some great places with them. Most of the time it's much easier and cheaper to go to places with others as well!
In fact it was thanks to talking to new people that I found out about one of the biggest events in Thailand's calendar: Loy Krathong. This is a festival held annually across Thailand and I was lucky enough to witness two nights of it being celebrated. The first night was the biggest night of the festival and my hostel organised for us to go to the town of Lamphun (the h is silent, a pronunciation I only found out later when a local corrected me once he had stopped laughing!) There are two significant traditions associated with Loy Krathong: lighting of lanterns and releasing of Krathong (lotus shaped rafts adorned with candles) on the river. In Lamphun the lanterns were released, some even with with fireworks attached to them. What really took my breath away was the shear volume of lanterns in the sky. Even as we
left Lamphun after witnessing this amazing spectacle for hours there were still people arriving to release their own lanterns and a trail of them almost looked like it was following us on the road back to Chiang Mai. It was also that evening that I found out that during the entire three day festival Chiang Mai airport closed early in order to accommodate the huge amount of lanterns going up everywhere; that explains why it was so difficult to get a replacement flight!
On the final day of the festival I spent the entire day wandering around the old city of Chiang Mai itself exploring the various small streets, delicacies and temples that it had to offer. Before coming on this trip I told myself to be as open to trying new foods as possible and my stay in Chiang Mai certainly didn't disappoint. By the way if you continue reading throughout this trip you'll probably notice how much I love food 😊. Thai food is already pretty popular in England and whilst I did sometimes stick to personal favourites that I'd tried back home (Pad Thai in particular) I've found myself loving dishes like Khao Soi and sticky
rice with Mango. I also ventured to try less desirable delicacies one being a pack of mixed fried insects that despite being assured by several of my fellow travellers are a great source of protein, I was unable to finish after eating a particularly stringy grasshopper! The final night of the festival in Chiang Mai was certainly a spectacle: an immense procession of floats and people, showcasing traditional clothing, music, dancing and a dazzling variety of colours. The Krathong and lantern releasing that took place next to the river was much more carefree and on a much greater scale than the relatively restrained spectacle I saw at Lamphun, but it was still an incredible sight. Having been assured by my taxi driver from the airport that I'd come to Chiang Mai at the right time I've certainly not come away disappointed; if any of you are planning on visiting in the future I would strongly recommend coming around the Loy Krathong festival 😊
Anyway I feel like I've rambled on for long enough (I'm still finding my feet with this blog!) its onto Pai and Laos after this so keep an eye out for next weeks post 😊
Adios amigos
Ed
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