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Sa wad dee ka from Chiang Mai,
We are staying here in a small guest house “T-Room Guesthouse" for about $20 per room. It is ... but quite adequate. The beds are as hard as rocks - but perhaps that is Thai style?! We are staying within the city walls - in the south east corner, just far enough from the main road and restaurants to be delightfully quiet, but on the edge of an area with many other guesthouses with lovely open-air breakfast/dining rooms facing the street (ours doesn't have that) and many different types of small restaurants, internet cafes, laundry services and massage rooms. In the other direction are Thai homes with people working as tailors, etc, and small local shops. It is quite charming.
On arrival at the airport we had to take 2 taxis. Neither knew where our guesthouse was because it is new. My taxi driver followed my map. He had to stop for directions, but escorted us up the lane to the door of the guesthouse. He was very sweet.. Allan's driver had to phone for directions, but dropped him off at the other end of the lane. There he stood for 20 mins
or so wondering where I was.
As usual we got lost on our first night here. We headed for the famous Night Bazaar for all the touristy market stalls, but arrived, instead, at the Warorot Market. This is a market for the Thai, full of flowers and food stalls, but not what our 15 and 13yo children were after. We tried to catch a Tuk Tuk or Sawngthaew (red ute with two bench seats in the back and a cover). As our street was not on the map, and I couldn't pronounce anything nearby on the map, and the drivers seemed unable to read the map in the dark, it was a bit tricky. We ended up driving around until we found something we recognised and shouted at a driver "Here! Stop, stop!!"
We took two Tuk Tuks to Wua Lai Road where there are a number of silver shops. Our drivers really wanted to take us out of town to the silver factory, but we had already booked a handcraft factory tour for the afternoon. I said "No, already have tour booked." but I don't think that was clear enough for them. Anyway they waited for us to finish
shopping thinking they could then take us out of town. It was a bit awkward.
We had booked our factory tour through our local travel shop
"The Travel Hub" which the girls really love because it has free internet for them whilst we organise things. Our host on the tour was lovely (just like almost every other Thai we've met), and we looked through 7 different factories. Of course they all had shops, and we spent a major amount of money - blew the budget out of the water! That evening things got worse when we successfully located the Night Bazaar - shopper heaven!! But to be truthful, things were perhaps half what you'd pay back home.
We also booked a tour to the Elephant Nature Park. It is a refuge for mistreated animals, their stories are horrendous. The owner is a charismatic campaigner against current practices and elephant training methods. It was a slow paced day, but we were able to get the feel for the place whilst we fed, washed, and watch the elephants for hours.
I'll post another blog in a few days with pics from this morningn's trip to the temple on the mountain (almost heaven!) and the
white water rafting/village trip we go on tomorrow.
Esther
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Tiges
Allan and family, it's great to read you're having a great time. Just when I thought we couldn't get any worse, the bombers overrun us in the final three minutes and the lions hang on for a draw. Keep up the great reporting and photos.