Here we are on day 6....
We left Bangkok after spending a day ducking out of shop doorways and big umbrellas, trying to keep dry due to heavy rain that just fell and fell. Our bus to Chiang Mai (CM) was at 6pm, so we had the day to kill. We basically took it easy, saw some more of the sights relaxed in a few coffee bars.
At 6pm we boarded the bus for CM. We had been promised that the bus would be laden with mod cons, from movies and a toilet to blankets, and we were impressed with this considering the cost was so cheap, and that we were not looking forward to the 12 hour drive through the night. Unfortunately, about an hour into the ride, the electrics went on the bus, leaving us with none of these. We ended up being driven through the night, in pitch black and in the sweltering heat....
So, it was a plesent suprise when we arrived in CM to meet a really nice lady who told us she would drive a few of us to her guest house (being in mind that this is 6am) and if we liked the rooms we could stay there for 150 Baht a night. The guest house is great and is in a really good position, so Kari, two or three other people from the bus, and myself got rooms there. The staff are really nice and jovial all the time.
CM is a great town, a lot more slower and laid back than Bangkok. The city has the most temples per city in Thailand, and we have spent today just wandering through them. Monks in orange robes seem to outnumber farangs (i.e. foriegners) by about 2.1, them populating the many Wats in town. CM is just a really cool place. There are opportunities to go elephant trekking, see the long neck tribes in the hills, visit the golden triangle, go white water rafting or to just chill in town in the bars, cafes or one of the many second hand traveller book shops that are around.
It's a good thing that I like CM because I am "stuck" here for the next 9 days, because the hotel has arranged to get my visas for both Vietnam and Laos. They have to be sent to both the Consulates, and all this takes time etc. I will head over the border around the 19th, with Kari, Barry and Elle, us all having grouped up together.
Tonight there is a night market which is where the traders from Laos and Yunnan, China travel to do some trading. Apparently it is something to see, so we all we head over there. In a few days we will organise to go trekking in the hills to do the elephant stuff and to visit the long necks, so when I get back I'll fill you in on how it went.
