Chang Mai 26th Nov - 1st Dec
We flew to Chang Mai today. We almost missed the flight! We got out of the taxi at the international rather than the domestic terminal. Chang Mai is quieter and much less polluted than Bangkok . The tuk-tuk's are here but in much smaller numbers. There are huge numbers of motorbikes and pickup tucks with a roof which act as taxis. The rain set in the afternoon, probably the tail end of a heavy storm which hit the Koh Samui area. The famous full moon party got cancelled. I'm glad we won't be there for a week or so! We went to a festival at night, it's a thanking of mother earth for the use of her soil and animals. They set off fireworks, float candles downstream and let off miniature hot air balloons, about 1m high. It looked like a lot of slowly moving stars. It was raining all evening, nice to know it doesn't only happen in Holland and the U.K. !
I went to one of Thailand 's national parks today while Patrick went hiking for 3 days. The park was pretty cool J It's the highest in Thailand and has quite a few waterfalls. I saw two of them. The park has a useful function too. Some of the hill tribes were growing opium. To do this they cut down lots of trees as the crop needs to be moved every 3 years. Without the trees the water run off caused floods and deaths downstream. When the king heard of this problem he set up alternate crops for them. They grow house plants. They learn the techniques from places like the UK and then teach their fellow tribesmen. The one big bonus is that even up the mountain the weather is close to an English summer all year round so the growing season is all year.
This was the last day of the festival and it's like world war 3. There's a carnival, with kom loy (the floating lights) and fireworks going off every couple of seconds.
We're now in a different hotel, the Lanna, in the night market area, close to the river and next to some international restaurants and bars. The hotel has a great view of the mountain dominating the city J We were meant to have a half day tour today but the tour company forgot about us! We'll have to do it tomorrow before we leave Chang Mai. We had a Thai massage while instead. It was pretty good and cost only 4 Euros each for an hour's massage J It did feel though like I was being tortured ;-)
We had a cultural evening, Thai food and traditional dances.
December 1st - last day in Chang Mai
Finally the clouds broke. This of course makes it hotter but we had a day trip up to doi sutep, the mountain that overlooks Chang Mai and the view was spectacular. There's a beautiful temple up there. We then got dragged around some Thai factories with shops, selling silver, silk, umbrellas and laquer ware. All gave demos and then you're subject to the factory shop with varying pressure sales tactics. To be fair, Patrick had a shark painted on his camera case and the painter didn't want paying! We then waited at the train station in a bar for our train. Drinking cheap beer! This is the life, proost!
We travelled 1st class, which meant that we got a coupe for 2 rather than a bed with a curtain in a car in 2nd. We also got air co. They came round with a set menu, each choice cost approx 3 Euro. We did make a major cock-up. It arrived and we started on the thick soup. It was very spicy! We figured out after a couple of minutes and after going onto the main course instead, that it was a sauce and not the soup! Much later, we went to the restaurant car where we got the shock of our lives. I've travelled on night's trains from Moscow to St Petersburg , from Perth to Sydney and throughout Europe , and this was the weirdest, beating the St Pete train by a mile. Yes, disco isn't dead! It's alive in a train between Chang Mai and Bangkok ! Owzat was playing full volume through a portable CD player and some speakers. Disco lights festooned the place and the other lights were turned off. We swiftly retreated after getting our beer! "Kung fu fighting" followed our retreat.......
Patrick Swiss Bistro.JPG
Patrick Hash House Bar H3.JPG
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