Chiang Mai, Thailand: After 17,404 Km (10,814 miles) I have arrived to my first rest stop! Boy am I tired. I bought my first foreign SIM card and now I most likely am the 1st person in the family to every have a Thai phone number. It was a fairly simple transaction: go into the local 7/11 store, point to your phone, shrug your shoulders, look stupid and hand over 300 baht ($10). I slipped it in and like magic, it works! I am supposed to call the Elephant reserve today to confirm my reservation so I will be doing that shortly. Could everyone refrain from updating their Facebook pages until I return since I haven’t figured out how to turn off Facebook and it is using up the few baht I have left (Frank added a new photo…thanks Frank. Now I don’t know if I can call the Elephant reserve). I only hope that there are 7/11s in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
During my layover in Bangkok, I purchased my tickets to Laos so another leg of the trip is all set up. My plan is organize the trip only a few days in advance. I am realizing it is a good idea since the hotel I am in now is next to nothing! (Damn Hotels.com!). I am considering sleeping on the floor since it is softer than my bed but at least I get a free breakfast! The markets open up in another 2 hours so I am off to find out if it is cheaper to buy clothes or to send them out ($1.00 per shirt).
Update: Back from my trip into town and the bus station. After traveling 1st class to get to Thailand, I decided to take the VIP bus to Chiang Rai. It is 3 hours by bus and costs $10 each way. The regular bus with the chickens only costs $3.00 but I thought I would splurge. The only feasible way to get around town is by tuk tuk (a 3 wheel bike that has a motor) so it has been a rough day of commuting. Tomorrow I go see Dumbo so I most likely will be suspending any blog updates until I get back. I will be sleeping with the elephants and we shall see who snores the most.
Great deal of the day: I got a hair cut for 100 baht (95 cents). This trip is paying off in savings!
