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Published: October 19th 2007
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Leaving hospital
And he's off......look at the little Thai nurse, I could almost put her in my pocket! Oh Yes, that's right! After a total of a month spent lying on my back in hospital I'm out..........clear the path and make way cause I've got two working legs and I'm not afraid to use them.
Ok, so that's not completely true, I still have 17 stiches in my knee, I still have to prevent myself from bending it past a certain point to avoid tearing them open and I'm still not allowed in water, so strictly speaking I have one working leg and I am slightly afraid to use it. Still, I'm out of hospital and that's the main thing. Doctors orders are to take it easy and wait about a week before having the stitches removed. I was discharged from hospital with a carrier bag full of cool medical paraphernalia and the nurses showed me how the clean and dress the wound for myself.
So 'what now?' I hear you ask. Well, Greg and I were keen to get on our way to Laos, but since I still need to have my stitches removed we decided to spend a week in Chang Mai in the North of Thailand, a city that I'd planned to visit originally and had been
Night Train
The night train before the beds are out..... I had the misfortune of being seated opposite this demented character. recommended by many people. So we booked ourselves on the 2nd class sleeper train for the evening I was discharged from hospital. We were both massively impressed by this experience, the train left at 7pm and took 14 hours, at 10pm the seats were converted into upper and lower sleeping berths and curtains were drawn. It was supprisingly comfortable allowing us a good nights sleep and saving us a nights accomodation we would of otherwise had to pay. Bangerang!
Chang Mai
Chang Mai is the largest city in the North of Thailand located in the mountains around 700km north of Bangkok and it is the one place that all Thai people will ask if you have visited yet. Having now spent five days here I can now confirm that this really is a great city. It is much cleaner, less busy and more relaxed than Bangkok, the people are super friendly and you get hassled far less as a tourist than most other places in Thailand. Greg and I spent the first day visiting temples and just wondering around the old city, which is a square area a couple of miles across surrounded by a moat. The following day we hired mopeds
Night Train
.... and all of a sudden, like magic....it's a bed!! and took a trip up the mountain to visit the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. Apparently the location for this temple was decided by putting a relic of Budda on an elephants back and letting it roam until it trumpeted, circled and then lay down. Given it took us about 45 minutes to reach this place on mopeds, I reckon whoever had to build the temple would of probably prefered that they'd put the relic on a dog or some other animal that had less preference for high mountains. Still, it commanded great views of the city.
One of the great things about Chang Mai is the variety of activities that are on offer, everything from trecking (1,2,3 days), mountain biking, bungee jumping, white water rafting and rock climbing, however, since I was still not allowed to fully bend my leg or get it wet the options for what I could do were greatly reduced, in fact, there was pretty much only one thing left that I could do.................cooking. Yes, so I enrolled on a Thai cooking course while Greg left for a 3 day trek into the mountains to visit hill tribes, go banboo rafting and ride elephants. At least
Night Train
All tucked up......just missing my blanky. dinner would be on the table for him when he got home.
But in all seriousness, a Thai cooking course was actaully something that I had planned to do anyway and had come recommended by many people. It was great fun, a genuine, 100% authentic Thai woman picked up the vairous people enrolled on the course for that day, this included myself, an English/Welsh couple in their early fifties, a Taiwanese girl, two French woman and a huge American dude. So quite the international crowd. We each got to pick a meal from each of six catagories and then we were taken to the market where we bought the ingredients. We were then taken back to the womans house, where she had a large teaching area with gas cookers and a few helpers. We were then taught how to prepare and cook each meal, two at a time, by her and her husband after which we could eat what we had made. The six meals I cooked myself were; Fried chicken and ginger; Green curry, Glass noodle soup; Pad Thai; Stickey rice with mango; Thai Fruit salid. At the end of the day we were given a cook book with all
Exploring Chang Mai
Off to explore Chang Mai on mopeds........with the same mad man from the train. the meals including the six we'd chosen.
After the cooking class finished, which lasted from 9:30am until 4pm I was asked if I would like to be dropped off at the Sunday market at which point I thought.... 'Yeah, why not? I've just spent the morning cooking, maybe now I can go and buy some smelly soap and candles!'. However, not really knowing what to expect from this Sunday market I was massively impressed, it is definately one of the best markets I've visited (Mum, you would absolutely love it!). The main roads in the centre of the old town are pedestrianised to make way for the thousands of stalls set up selling anything and everything. Much more authentic than other markets such as the night market that happens each evening in Chang Mai aimed mainly at tourists, selling similar stuff made to look hand made, but undoubtedly mass produced. The Sunday market had people young and old selling all sorts of hand made merchandise, some being produced on the spot. There was great food, music, cheap massages, traditional Thai dancing and a stage with Thai rock music acts. The market went on until midnight so after spending a couple
En-route to the Wat
Can you spot the hunk? of hours I went back to the guesthouse for a bit before returning to the market for some food and to wonder around for the rest of the evening. The market was absoluetly massive and by the time I returned it was very busy. There was loads of interesting stuff including some uber cool art work and after about 6 hours of walking around I was knackered, but very pleased with my purchase; a T-shirt for 2GBP.....last of the big spenders.
I chilled out for the next couple of days until Greg returned from his trek in the jungle.
Next Stop: Pai..................
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penny lind
non-member comment
Great to see you active again
Dear Rob, fantastic place Chiang Mai, one of my favourites, but sorry to hear you are not up to an elephant ride yet! When I was there the night market was flooded so we did the sunday one and had a brilliant time. I continue at Hatun Sonqo, battling with local community prejudice, nun,s calling us the spawn of the devil and the ceiling dripping on my bed during the storms! All good Peruviasn Fun! Am in Cuzco for the weekend recovery and a shower,hurrah! Hoipe to do Macchu picchu next week and then a great 8 day trip into the jungle. Keep looking after that knee Love penny