We caught an overnight sleeper train from Bangkok on Saturday night. At first we thought they had ripped us off and there were no sleeping compartments, but then a lovely man with a face mask came on and transformed the two lower seats into a bed, and pulled down the top bed from the ceiling, put curtains up, and made our beds with sheets, pillows and blankets. It was very cosy and the train rocked us to sleep, but also rocked us awake so 50/50 in the rocking department. It took 14 hours but was so much nicer than a bus - we could walk around, the toilets were usable, and we had a card table for Ultimate Golf (Phillip won).
We got into Chiang Mai about 10.30 am, and shared a taxi into town with an English couple. Found and checked into Julie's Guesthouse, recommended to us by lots of people. It's a cool little place, with a common area and a rooftop 'chillout area', a fridge full of drinks that you can just put on your tab (dangerous) and heaps of tour info. We wandered around town for a bit, found some markets with amazing food...indulged. Phill was craving a sausage, but unfortunately was let down by the fact that it had noodles and rice in it! Where's the meat? We ran into our English friends again and they had just been scouting out car rental deals and asked if we'd like to tag along for a day in the mountains where there's heaps of waterfalls. We did want to.
Sunday nights in Chiang Mai are all about the walking streets. Markets line (and line, and line) the main streets in the old town and you can get everything, and every food. Naturally, we began another eat-off - fried potato twists, roasted sweet corn, amazing pork dumplings, spring rolls, banana spring rolls, sushi, pad thai, smoothies and waffles. We would have spent about $3 each and it was all amazing and fresh. I freaking love corn! It was also a Buddhist holiday, so all the temples (and there's loads) were full of monks and locals making offerings and chanting. We came across a small group of monks letting off giant umm....I don't know how to explain it. Giant paper bags with flames underneath...like paper lanterns? So they lit the flames, waited for the lantern to fill up with hot air, then let go and they drifted into the sky. It was really beautiful to watch. The markets became so crowded at about 7pm, shuffling room only, so we went back to the hostel and played Ultimate Golf (Phillip won).
The next day we met up with Adam and Olivia, our English buddies, and hired a car, a Toyota Hilux with a tray. We eventually found the seatbelts. First stop - Tescos! We went a bit crazy in the supermarket; baked goods galore. Had some Milo cereal in the car park (all class) then negotiated the city streets to get out of Chiang Mai and on the highway to the mountains.
First stop was a pretty impressive waterfall, cascading down 30 tiers. Had a bit of swim under it and some rock hopping. Olivia and I rode in the back of the ute to the next stop, gotta love Thai freedom.
It was really nice to get out of the city. We had only been in Jakarta and Bangkok for about 10 days, and the pollution starts to get to you. The waterfalls were all in a National Park (Doi Inthanon) so there was just lots of open space. The air was still smoky as they were burning off, but it was still refreshing. It was also really nice to see Thais (to be fair, Asians in general) persuing leisure...All through Indonesia and Bangkok, it seems that the locals only work, and they're hard workers. Like our bike tour guide in Ubud, who was still puzzled as to why anybody would want to ride a bike, when you can ride a scooter faster and with much less effort. The Thais in Bangkok wanted to sell us stuff or get us drunk. But the Thais in the national park were out for the day, to see some nature and get some fresh air, maybe even a
s tourists from other towns. They were all taking photos ('and this is me, in front of the waterfall') and having picnics. We were the only ones swimming though...There were a few signs that said 'no wading', so we just swam instead. It's still awkward getting your kit out in a country of different religion and different culture, not knowing if our half naked bodies are offensive to them. But it was a beautiful park and it seemed a waste not to swim in the fresh and cold mountain water. The park has Thailand's 'highest spot' (point, surely?) at about 2,600m. Luckily we could drive right to it, but the best view was taken by some research station with signs saying photography is forbidden. It was cold up the top, but it was really nice to be cold. Probably not so nice for my cold though...We got back to Chiang Mai about 7pm, and exhausted. Went for amazing pizza with Adam and Olivia and had an early night.
Today we decide whether to do another activity around Chiang Mai, or get to Phuket for an extra day. We have booked flights from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 12th, so time is running out.
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