Bangkok to Chiang Mai

I got the train last night to Chiang Mai. I didn't sleep as much as I would have liked. It was bumpy and noisy but otherwise comfortable. I woke up around 2:30am and couldn't get back to sleep so I read my book.

Chiang Mai is different to Bangkok. I went for a little walk but don't really know if I was in the centre of town or the outskirts. It is a sort of rural city. There are trees and grass but roads and shops as well. It's sort of like a village got out of hand but nobody thought to treat it like a city. I feel like I'm in a video game with really good graphics.

That was my first impression.

This is a new day:

I woke up pretty early this morning as I'd finally managed to sleep through the night. Across the road is a place that does breakfast so I had a great English breakfast. After that I sorted out my washing and went for a walk. Today is Buddhist lent which Buddhist people are (pretending to be) right into. No booze available today. I walked to a few of the temples and to be honest I feel the same about them as I do about churches. The first one stood out but when I realised there are dozens of them I was a bit nonplussed. I went inside one. I've seen similar people selling drugs out of an East london KFC. Lots of gold. Overweight. Subtle grin. Drooping eyelids, Foreign. Says he can get you the good shit. I bet his real name is something like Rico.

I decided to walk back but I'd lost myself completely. I had a red hot stab anyway. In Changmai it seems the similar shops group together. I walked down a children's bicycle Street, a speaker Street, a wicker Street and a furniture Street. Eventually I packed it in and got a tuk tuk. I didn't know the address (only the name) and neither did he but he got me pretty close and only moderately ripped me off.

I should say, Thai people are much less pushy than almost any other people I've been amongst. In Chang Mai they are worse than Bangkok but in both places they offer their services then leave you alone if you aren't interested. Here they make the original offer more aggressively. In Europe I've had people follow me for block after block harassing me to buy stuff. More than once (although only one time on this trip - in Budapest) it's gotten to the point that I've decided if they touch me I'll turn on them and (try to) deck them. There had to be a cut off point.

I got back to the hostel and chilled out for hours. I booked a tour for tomorrow through Aree. She owns this hostel and is the main reason why it gets such great reviews. She has an obsession for names and knows everyone who is staying here plus maybe 200 people who have recently stayed and are likely to pass back through. She is hyperactive and has a wicked, warped sense of humour. I love her. Winking is her natural state. When a new person comes she introduces them to everyone nearby so everybody knows everybody straight away. She also sells beer on the last day of Buddhist lent...

The tour I wanted didn't have enough people so when she'd introduce me to newly arrived people we'd try to convince them to join. I met a bunch of people this way (I ended up getting enough people for the tour) plus the people I met last night and we ended up staying up playing drinking games until now.

Oh, I went to the famous night markets too but they were really disappointing. Hundreds of stalls, all selling the same shit. The girl I went with wanted a selfie stick too and I had to tell her she's a f wit, which makes me sound bad.

So tomorrow I have to be up early. The tour involves riding a bike (back on the bike!) an elephant (it's humane. We eat it afterwards) and a white water raft (I'm going to mistreat the river too). I'm very excited.

Today I only took photos on the big camera and tomorrow might be the same, due to the water.

Is anyone still reading?

Oh, Arry has dogs too.