So Far... So Good...

Bangkok - View from HI Hostel

My first few days in Thailand have been action packed. I landed, took a cab into Sukhamvit, Bangkok to the HI Hostel. In the morning, while I waited for the banks to open, I met some lovely ladies from Victoria. We’ve been travelling together ever since. I convinced them to take the 11 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai with me. We got into Chang Mai at close to 3am. We wandered around a little before coming to the conclusion we were going to have to sleep on our backpacks for the remainder of the night. Right as we were scouting out a good spot in one of the quaint Sois, someone from one of the guest houses spotted us. We scored a room with three bedrooms, actual hot water, and a fan for 300 baht (that’s $10 a night).

Chiang Mai is a beautiful city. It’s an ancient one, with Wats, guest houses, restaurants and legit massage parlours scattered throughout the Old City. It’s split into two parts; Old City, and New City. The Old city is a quaint town with cobble stone streets winding throughout a perfect square, cut off by an ancient moat. Outside the moat is New City, where you can find malls, and even crazier traffic. I thought riding in a tuk tuk was scary, try riding a bicycle in Thai traffic. Lucky for me, I have bicycle experience downtown, so my defensive and aggressive nature on two wheels is just up to par here. It’s actually quite difficult getting one’s head around driving on the other side of the road. In the smaller Sois of Old City, the traffic is easy to handle, but the roundabouts and two lane traffic are definitely a little harder to navigate safely.

Beyond the endless amounts of good food, fresh fruit, cheap smoothies and bug stands, Chiang Mai has some fantastic markets to enjoy. Actually, I’m totally addicted. Between the clothing, the jewellery, the food stands, and handmade crafts, there is a real sense of culture. Locals and foreigners alike crowd around stands trying new foods, trying on clothes and sitting to talk about the day. Bartering comes with ease since most Thai speak enough English to get through the conversation. Today I had sticky rice with banana, cooked in a banana leaf. C’est Delicieux!!! I’ve bought myself new handmade sandals, some earrings, a necklace and pants… all for about $20.

The best thing for market addiction? A rugged two day trek into the mountains… Update soon.