Chiang Mai (14 - 15 Nov 2007)
Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second largest city next to Bangkok. But even though it is a full-blown city, it still holds an ambiance of traditional Thai culture and surroundings.
On arrival, Eon and I had a stand-off with the tuk-tuk drivers at the bus station. They new that we were relying on them for a ride in to town, about 4km’s, and would not budge on the expensive prices. We had to give in and pay up or walk with the backpacks in the scorching sun - the tuk-tuk driver won.
We stayed at Siri Guesthouse at a reasonable price and from here we explored most of the city on foot. We planned to stay in Chiang Mai for only one day, but this city was so inviting that we ended up spending an extra day.
On day one, we went to Wat Chedi Luang (even though we thought that we were at Wat Prah Singh at the time) - this chedi looks a lot like the Voortrekker Monument surrounded by a couple of smaller temples. One temple in particular, houses a life-size wax monk in a glass box. This wax replica looks so real, that we were debating whether it was a real meditating monk. This temple also offers something called ‘Monk Chat’, the opportunity to sit down with a monk and just chat to them about any topic you can think. Not only did we get the chance to ask all those obscure questions relating to Buddhism, but the monk also got a chance to practice his English.
That evening we walked to the biggest market I have ever seen - the Chiang Mai Night Market. Not only did the market impress, it also had a McDonalds slap bang in the middle of it. I am not the biggest McD’s fan, but I craved a meal from the golden arches as soon as I set eyes on it. I think it was more a craving for something that tastes like it is supposed to taste. It was worth every single kilojoule 
Day two started off with a trip to the train station to book tickets on the overnight train to Bangkok for the following day. We realised that the temple we visited the day before was Wat Chedi Luang and not Prah Singh and we had to go Wat-searching again. According to the Lonely Planet, this temple is worth the walk, so we tried to find it yet again and this time with success. And yes, it was pretty impressive - it is the biggest Buddhist temple I have ever seen, with striking features and a multitude of colours. In one of the temples we were ‘interviewed’ by university students who had to do an English conversational exercise as part of their studies. On the way back to the guesthouse, Eon had a haircut. This time a far better one that the one he had in Vietnam - he is starting to look more and more like the Eon with whom I left South Africa three months ago
We had the cheapest lunch ever at a local restaurant - I had fried rice with chillies and chicken, Eon had Pad Thai (a local delicacy of noodles with chillies, spring onion, peanuts, bean sprouts and a meat of your choice). The meal plus two delicious watermelon shakes was a full 55 Baht = R11,00!!!
That evening, we ended up drinking Thai whiskey and soda with the guesthouse manager and his friend (well, in all honesty, I had coffee and Eon had whiskey). The next morning I left Eon to sleep in and I went for a beautifying session at the salon of the friend of the guesthouse manager whom Eon befriended the previous night ) I had my hair cut and coloured and got a bottle of jasmine root oil for free as I was told that my hair was dry and damaged - who would have thought after three months of serious travelling?! The gesture was great, but the bottle of oil is just too heavy to carry around and so it will be on its way to South Africa with our next postage-session.
Before catching the overnight train to Bangkok, we both had a foot massage. This is becoming a habit, but it is so cheap and totally irresistible!
And so we were of to crazy Bangkok…
Click on image to check out the Chiang Mai gallery: