Thursday 30 January 2014

Chiang Mai second time round

I loved it before and I still do, Chiang Mai is a really cool place, end of. We ended up staying for four nights and of course many an event happened, like always its impossible to put them into words but for my future self reading this, and of course you, I'm going to try.

The first night was hilarious, we had travelled up from Sukothai with two German guys who had pre booked a guesthouse, when we arrived though it was full. The lady said it was ok she would call her friend and we could stay at her guesthouse (when I say hers both of them were lady boys but that's by the by. It just added to the humour) after our long journey we just wanted a room so we said we'd take a look. The rooms were huge but it was an almost derelict building, very strange indeed. As Phillip and Ben (our German friends) had already paid we decided to stay with them just for one night and head to JJ's in the morning (The place I stayed last time I was there) our night at the first guesthouse was comfortable and adequate but it was good to back at a place I know (even if half the roof was missing) Once we checked in we rented some bikes and headed up the mountain to Doi Saket.

Why I had not been here before is beyond me, last time I rented bikes in Chiang Mai I went in a different direction but man am I glad we found this place, after the 10 mile ride up the mountain we got to the famous temple. There were a lot of people there but it somehow still seemed really peaceful,  we got blessed by a monk, did a kind of ancient chinese fortune tellin done by Buddhists called see-em see (I dont know how to spell it) and good things are ahead of me it seems.  After our temple visit we headed higher up the mountain, our destination was a small tribal village but getting there involved an very rough dusty road where extreme caution was needed. We arrived and realised we were now quite peckish, they didnt speak any English so I asked if they could knock up khao pat gai kai dow (one of the dishes I can order in thai and they are guaranteed to do) it was aroi (delicious). After our lunch it was getting kind of late so we made our way back, on our way we encountered some Thai guys having trouble with thier car they had got the axle stuck on the side of the bumpy road and need assistance in lifting it off, it took a few of us but we done it, they were extremely grateful. Off then we headed back down the mountain where we stopped for the most spectacular view of the city below.

The evening saw us head to Zoe in Yellow, a.k.a Zoes, a.k.a Yellow Bar, we had actually been there the previous night and had such a blast we wanted to do it again. The place was packed as usual, mostly full of farang but some cool Thai lot too, I spent the night chatting to them and It wasn't until near sunrise that I found my way back to the guesthouse. The following day was hangover day and I spent most of my time in bed whilst the others went on a elephant trek, I had done it before and as my foot is still bad from falling in Lop Buri I thought it was a good opportunity for me to rest it. In the evening though we headed to, you guessed it, Yellow Bar! What a night yet again, this time I crawled back in at 9.30AM so it was a nocturnal one for me again zzzzzzz.

My experience in Chiang Mai this time round was superb, I had been to the city before and seen a lot of things so I used this time mostly to socialise with some of the best Thai people I've met. Now we must make the journey south to the island of Koh Samui, it's a long old way! Ill let you know how it goes.

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