Well, I wish I could tell you that my first experience of Chiange Mai was wonderful and everything I hoped it would be. But honestly, after getting put on a 2nd class bus that left 5 hours later than anticipated by the girl who took it upon herself to lead us to the promise land by the cheapest means and therefore longest route possible, just to save 30 baht and so all 10 of us could ride together on the same bus, Justin, Lyndsay and I didn't want to do anything other than sit by the pool, splurge on a western meal at a restaurant called "The Dukes", drink Chang beers that were on special at the hotel bar (3 for 100 baht = roughly $3) and hit Bud's Ice Cream of San Francisco (no joke). I did manage to rent a bicycle and make my way down to the local market to buy a new pair of flip flops. That was definitely an experience. I am not kidding when I say you need to have nerves of steel to drive/bike/walk down streets with heavy traffic here in Thailand. I was afraid for my life. Not only because I haven't been on a bike for at least 15 years, the Thais drive on the opposite side of the road then us Americans and they don't always stop for traffic lights or double lines and they like to just cut people off. Luckily, Warorot, the little street market was not too far away from the hotel. But I definitely needed a drink after that.
Sadly, Justin, Lyndsay and I were only able to make it to the night bazaar where fake designer handbags bags, souveniers, and the like were sold up and down the streets. We had a great time watching Justin practice his bargaining mojo and he actually managed to get some vendors to come down quite a bit on the price.
And in the end, even though the same girl jumped in front of everyone and secured us tickets on the same junky 2nd class bus back to Chiang Rai, we still had a great weekend. The other people in our group went to stay at a budget hotel that had one terrible fan in the room, no bottled water and didn't provide breakfast, yet they managed to save a whole whopping $6, if that.
Anyway, we plan to go to Chiang Mai at the end of Justin and Lyndsay's stay at the foundation. That's when we plan to do the flight of the gibbons (ziplining in the forest) and maybe take a Thai cooking class, as well as visit all the temples.
