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Published: March 12th 2013
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Sorry for the clichéd title, I couldn't resist. Actually it's not even morning here which makes me even more of a twat for using it, but anyway...
Well this blog post has nothing to do with Vietnam really as I've just got here. All I can say is it's about 24 degrees and raining, and I couldn't be happier. I might even put my jeans on later, what a novelty! My week in northern Thailand turned into a week in Chiang Mai, what a great place. I saw no reason to leave and didn't want to travel for the sake of travelling so I decided to stay put. I ended up in a hostel called Deejai backpackers which I'd recommend if you are in the city and looking for a decent bed on a budget. I was paying less for a place in a 3 bed AC dorm with a private bathroom than I was paying for in the first hostel I stayed in when I got Chiang Mai, which had only one hot shower and communal outdoor toilets (one of which was completely covered in puke the morning I left, hmmm wonder who that was???)
After one night
in the hostel (and watching Arsenal's pitiful performance against spurs) I went off on a two day trek through the jungle just north of Chiang Mai with a couple of Jimmy's friends that I had met in Bangkok a few nights previously. I had been ensured by a few different people that it was a fairly easy walk and I had nothing to be worried about, wrong! After being taken to do a one hour elephant ride (which I neglected to participate in as the elephants looked mistreated and completely miserable) we began walking about an hour through relatively flat land to get to the base of the jungle. We then proceeded to hike up the side of a mountain, through the jungle for four hours straight. That doesn't sound too bad but with the temperature and the humidity it was fairly uncomfortable. I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life. It was a good walk though; I was able to go through the jungle pretending I was in Rambo 4. We reached a village in the mountains at around 6 and rested up for the night in some fairly basic bamboo huts. I hung my t-shirt
My Red Curry
Threw most of this out in the end, not the best red curry I've ever had out to dry overnight; it was still wet in the morning. The next morning we set off for a waterfall, walking around three hours through the jungle to get there. After this we had a one hour raft journey down a river, before being driven back to Chiang Mai. The walking (particularly on the first day when we were going up) was tough, but I was definitely happy I did it. That being said, we were extremely glad we'd gone for the two day trek and not the three day option. After getting back to the hostel I decided to see where Rambo 4 was filmed, the jungle north of Chiang Mai! I have done the Rambo 4 trek, epic. If you have not seen Rambo 4 stop reading this crap and go and download it right now. I mean now.
The rest of the week in Chiang Mai was spent checking out some of the local attractions and activities. The Buddhist temple on top of the mountain overlooking the city, Wat Doi Suthep, is worth a visit. Even if you just want to go for the view of the city. I also enrolled in a Thai cooking class,
cooked far too much food and had to throw most of it out. Took in a Muaythai fight (which was over in about 10 seconds). Also my last night in Chiang Mai happened to coincide with the Chiang Mai international music festival, which hosted an outdoor concert featuring various worldwide acts you'd never heard of. A really great evening and a nice way to end my week in the city.
I guess my favourite thing about Chiang Mai is just how relaxed it is, but at the same time you're in a reasonably big city. The nightlife is great, there are a number of cool bars around the east gate of the old city, and then you can head to the yellow district for something a bit more lively at the end of the night. My only complaint would be that the bars shut at 1am, with the yellow district closing an hour later at 2. A small complaint though, and it probably stopped a couple of potentially nasty hangovers.
I'd booked a bed on a night train heading back to Bangkok on Saturday evening, booking four days in advance this time I'd managed to get one of the last beds on the train. However, when I turned up at the train station just before the train was due to leave at 4 o'clock, I found a number of people sitting outside the station with their luggage. It seems the train had been cancelled, no reason given. We were to wait 15-20 minutes for a bus to take us to Lampang (two hours to the south) where we could take a train from. The bus turned up two hours later, and I was eventually on a train to Bangkok at around 9 in the evening from Lampang. The train was fairly comfortable, and the dining/disco carriage was hilarious. Slowly moving through the Thai countryside in a carriage full of disco lights, blasting out Gangnam style at full volume, with people drinking and dancing in the aisles. Unfortunately we were turfed out of there by 11 and there was nothing else to do but sleep.
Arrived in Bangkok at around 10, and had arranged to stay in a hostel in the city centre after becoming extremely sick of the Khoasan Road. However I was told that somebody had broken the door to the dorm, they couldn't get it open, and nobody was available to fix it as it was a Sunday. I'd have to stay somewhere else, only in Thailand. They sent me to another hostel in Silom, two stops away on the sky train. Apparently the biggest hostel in Thailand, all six floors of it. I was comfortable enough, no complaints. There's definitely not as much to do at night in Silom but it's just a much nicer area than Khoasan. Bangkok doesn't seem so bad after all.
So that's my first country down, first of seven I think. My thoughts on Thailand? I loved it, aside from spending too much time on the Khoasan Road in Bangkok (do not spend more than a couple of nights there) I loved everywhere else. Both the islands and Chiang Mai were brilliant. Two completely different experiences and I'm not sure which I preferred. Most people I know have already been there, but if you haven't visited Thailand yet I would highly recommend it. I can definitely see myself going back some day, to do the areas I missed like Ko Phi Phi, or Pai in the north. I can only hope Vietnam provides me with more of the same.
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