Chiang Mai was 12 hours North away from Bangkok by bus. The bus cost 250 baht as mentioned and it was a crazy crappy bus!!!! The bus driver stopped at a BAD BAD location for dinner where only he could eat something hot, the rest of us had options of chips or water and soft drinks only. err.
I have been advised that there is a train for 500 baht which is a sleeper train and is great. That would be the option if you have the budget for it.
Chiang Mai is a great city/town. It is small enough and big enough to be fun and quiet all at the same time. There is so many markets every day in the day and so very cheap. There are also night markets, but this seems more touristy and can be more expensive if you are not willing to bargin.
I bought my fisherman pants for 77 baht! Excellent deal! Most will sell for 100 baht, and many will sell for 150 baht.
The food on the main tourist street is pretty expensive for Thailand prices. Just go aournd some corners and you can find where the locals eat. We were eating BIG meals for 25 baht each. WHile our fruit shakes were 10-15 baht. The tourist places will sell the same meal for 45-60 baht and the shakes for 40-55 baht. If you think, the tourist prices are also cheap, but when you are travelling for so long without work then every cent or baht you save means something. At least it does for us!
I spent my days in massage courses to add to my skill set. While Briel did some cooking classes.... PLUS he got a new tatoo! Well really he just altered is existing tatoo to something AMAZING since we both didn't like his original one he got when he was 17 years old! It is about time he got a sexy tatoo!
Some interesting food you can get at the markets is all the fresh herbs Briel and I love which we use for our Chinese Medicine. Although some crazy snacks they have are the crunchy worms... They are special worms that live in the bamboo trees. Hmm we are not daring enough to try this. Oh well... There are night markets which tend to be more for the tourists with the fake bags as well as some gorgeous art works. The day markets also have some typical Thai stuff we love to take home and the local foods and what the Thai really wear and buy.
Chiang Mai is for sure my favourite spot for shopping. Best variety and the best prices I have seen. They have a local store called 'Herb Basics' which sells body products, massage oils, creams, soaps etc for very very cheap. This place is worth a look and if I had the space in my backpack - alot of buying!
Prices for the Massage classes range from 2000-5000 baht for one week of training. The price willl depend on the school and the level of English the trainers know and the location of the school. I did love my school. My teacher was amazing. Loi Kohi massage school - which is is on Lane 3 of the Loi Kohi road. This school is the more expensive, but they are a quality school and they are fussy with the results you should achieve.
Cooking classes are from 700-900 baht per day. You learn about 5-6 courses and have a market tour of the foods. You can do more days and there is some activities of fruit carving. Briel would bring home the dishes he cooked so we could eat them together. Welll some of them anayway - others he ate on the spot cuz they were just too yummy to wait for! hehe
Trekking costs about 1600 baht for a day and 3000 for 3 days. You ride an elephant, see the long neck tribes and walk thru the jungle. I didn't get a chance to do these since we where here for the study.
