Chilling Chiang Mai
I spent 1/2 hr typing up a new post for this blog when my browser shut down and all my inspired writing went into the Ether-net. So, apologies for an update not appearing. I had written it but I didn't have the spirit to re-write it even worse, a second time.
From Lopburi, I travelled on a sleeper train which arrived 1/2 hr late at Nakhon Lampang. So, I lost out on some sleep, having set my alarm for 6 am.
After wandering through town, I found the duck & rice restaurant featured in the Lonely Planet Thailand (LPT). The food was fine but not worth the trek. I also visited Wat Si Rong Meuang, a temple constructed in the Burmese layered style, with tin roofs gabled by intricate woodcarvings, governed by a Burmese abbot (source: LPT).
I eschewed a tuk-tuk ride to walk to the out-of-town bus station on the West side. After about an hour in the draining heat, I reached my destination. I took a bus to Chiang Mai and stopped off at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre. There, I watched a show which feature elephants moving logs, playing instruments and raising and lowering flags. Afterwards, I went on an elephant ride into the jungle. This featured 45 degree descents into ponds, followed by a mud bath. The Centre has an elephant hospital and a paper factory using elephant dung!! After seeing an elephant skeleton, I caught the bus back to NL.
Once more eschewing tuk-tuk rides, I slowly plodded through the burning heat from the bus station in the West to a main road in the East in order to catch a shared sangthaew to Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, "the most beautiful wooden Lanna temple" (source: LPT). It took over an hour with several pit stops for liquids and air-cooling at 7-11. I tried to pay the regular fare but sangthaew driver after sangthaew quoted me a hire fare which was about 10x the regular fare. I decided not to be fleeced and walked back towards the train station in the West in the debilitating heat as I was too parsimonious to get a tuk-tuk.
When LPT says its maps are not to scale, it means it although I can't tell which parts are to scale (if any) and which are not. It would be better if it didn't put a scale.
I reached the train station at 6pm. I could get a 2nd class train straightaway or wait 50 min for a 3rd class train for 1/2 the price. I chose the latter.
During the wait, I phoned ahead to Chiang Mai to get a guesthouse for the night. I admire people who are spontaneous and never book anything ahead of time and get covered in chocolate when turning up on spec. On the one hand, I'm a control freak but on the other hand, I don't want to wonder from full house to full house with 20 kg of rucksacks.
I phone up the first 100B/night guesthouse in LPT using my Thai SIM card. It's full. I phone up the 2nd - it's full. I phone up the 3rd - it's full. I phone up a 150B/night guesthouse - it's full. I phone up a 2nd 150/B guesthouse - it's full. I phone upp a 3rd - it's full.
I decide to make on last call as I'm running out of time. I phone up a 200B/night guesthouse - it has a room and I grab it.
The train comes and I get on. I'm in a carriage with teens and a monk. Halfway through the journey, there is a tapping on the windows and a guard is trying to close the windows. Why? My window is jammed at an angle to the horizontal so I help him make it level before it can be closed. Hailstones are hitting. Then, there is rain - I've forgotten what it looks like. Raindrops enter the carriage through the ventilation ducts.
I arrive at Chiang Mai and decide to reward myself with sangthaew, especially as I had eschewed the luxury earlier in the day. I ask for a price of 10B, which is the LPT rate. The sangthaew driver laughs it off. A tuk-tuk driver offers me a price of 60B. In my inimitable negotiating style, I persist with my 10B price, knowing full well that I should pay more for a tuk-tuk than a shared sangthaew. The tuk-tuk driver offers me a price of 50B. I refuse and start walking to the city centre. Other tuk-tuk drivers offer me 50B rides. I refuse. A lady tuk-tuk driver offers me a 40B ride. I offer 20B in return and she refuses, saying she will go home, instead. She says that I am staying in a 250B and can afford it. I tell her that because I am paying so much, I have to save money. She tells me to walk and I start walking. She drives off.
As I reach the main road into the city, a tuk-tuk driver stops next to me and asks me "Whereyougo?". I tell him and he offers me a 80B ride. I offer him 10B. He shows me his "Tourism Volunteer" ID and tells me he only charges cost price for petrol. I tell him I could get a 40B rate but it is still too much. He refuses. I start walking and a few seconds later he calls me back and grumpily offers to take me for 40B. I finally agree.
I get a 3rd floor room without AC. Here is Iconochasm's Guide to Hotel Standards from door locking mechanisms:
It's night now but it almost feels comfortable. I don't if it's because:
It's the laid back hangout that true travellers need to visit before Thais think they've done Thailand. It's got coffee shops, internet cafes, guesthouses & travel agents everywhere you look. Even the street stalls have English menus. You can get pizzas, banana pancakes, burgers, hotdogs and fish & chips. There is even an Irish pub.
There are lots of pale faces here.
Chiang Mai is the easy transition point for those who can't cope with the pressure and congestion of Bangkok or the native language anywhere else.
It was tricky getting to this point as I could only order noddle soup but this is too easy.
From Lopburi, I travelled on a sleeper train which arrived 1/2 hr late at Nakhon Lampang. So, I lost out on some sleep, having set my alarm for 6 am.
After wandering through town, I found the duck & rice restaurant featured in the Lonely Planet Thailand (LPT). The food was fine but not worth the trek. I also visited Wat Si Rong Meuang, a temple constructed in the Burmese layered style, with tin roofs gabled by intricate woodcarvings, governed by a Burmese abbot (source: LPT).
I eschewed a tuk-tuk ride to walk to the out-of-town bus station on the West side. After about an hour in the draining heat, I reached my destination. I took a bus to Chiang Mai and stopped off at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre. There, I watched a show which feature elephants moving logs, playing instruments and raising and lowering flags. Afterwards, I went on an elephant ride into the jungle. This featured 45 degree descents into ponds, followed by a mud bath. The Centre has an elephant hospital and a paper factory using elephant dung!! After seeing an elephant skeleton, I caught the bus back to NL.
Once more eschewing tuk-tuk rides, I slowly plodded through the burning heat from the bus station in the West to a main road in the East in order to catch a shared sangthaew to Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, "the most beautiful wooden Lanna temple" (source: LPT). It took over an hour with several pit stops for liquids and air-cooling at 7-11. I tried to pay the regular fare but sangthaew driver after sangthaew quoted me a hire fare which was about 10x the regular fare. I decided not to be fleeced and walked back towards the train station in the West in the debilitating heat as I was too parsimonious to get a tuk-tuk.
When LPT says its maps are not to scale, it means it although I can't tell which parts are to scale (if any) and which are not. It would be better if it didn't put a scale.
I reached the train station at 6pm. I could get a 2nd class train straightaway or wait 50 min for a 3rd class train for 1/2 the price. I chose the latter.
During the wait, I phoned ahead to Chiang Mai to get a guesthouse for the night. I admire people who are spontaneous and never book anything ahead of time and get covered in chocolate when turning up on spec. On the one hand, I'm a control freak but on the other hand, I don't want to wonder from full house to full house with 20 kg of rucksacks.
I phone up the first 100B/night guesthouse in LPT using my Thai SIM card. It's full. I phone up the 2nd - it's full. I phone up the 3rd - it's full. I phone up a 150B/night guesthouse - it's full. I phone up a 2nd 150/B guesthouse - it's full. I phone upp a 3rd - it's full.
I decide to make on last call as I'm running out of time. I phone up a 200B/night guesthouse - it has a room and I grab it.
The train comes and I get on. I'm in a carriage with teens and a monk. Halfway through the journey, there is a tapping on the windows and a guard is trying to close the windows. Why? My window is jammed at an angle to the horizontal so I help him make it level before it can be closed. Hailstones are hitting. Then, there is rain - I've forgotten what it looks like. Raindrops enter the carriage through the ventilation ducts.
I arrive at Chiang Mai and decide to reward myself with sangthaew, especially as I had eschewed the luxury earlier in the day. I ask for a price of 10B, which is the LPT rate. The sangthaew driver laughs it off. A tuk-tuk driver offers me a price of 60B. In my inimitable negotiating style, I persist with my 10B price, knowing full well that I should pay more for a tuk-tuk than a shared sangthaew. The tuk-tuk driver offers me a price of 50B. I refuse and start walking to the city centre. Other tuk-tuk drivers offer me 50B rides. I refuse. A lady tuk-tuk driver offers me a 40B ride. I offer 20B in return and she refuses, saying she will go home, instead. She says that I am staying in a 250B and can afford it. I tell her that because I am paying so much, I have to save money. She tells me to walk and I start walking. She drives off.
As I reach the main road into the city, a tuk-tuk driver stops next to me and asks me "Whereyougo?". I tell him and he offers me a 80B ride. I offer him 10B. He shows me his "Tourism Volunteer" ID and tells me he only charges cost price for petrol. I tell him I could get a 40B rate but it is still too much. He refuses. I start walking and a few seconds later he calls me back and grumpily offers to take me for 40B. I finally agree.
I get a 3rd floor room without AC. Here is Iconochasm's Guide to Hotel Standards from door locking mechanisms:
- Electronically-programmable key card - Luxury
- Ordinary door lock - Standard
- Padlock - Backpacker
It's night now but it almost feels comfortable. I don't if it's because:
- It is cooler
- It is further North
- It's just rained
- I'm getting used to the heat and humidity
It's the laid back hangout that true travellers need to visit before Thais think they've done Thailand. It's got coffee shops, internet cafes, guesthouses & travel agents everywhere you look. Even the street stalls have English menus. You can get pizzas, banana pancakes, burgers, hotdogs and fish & chips. There is even an Irish pub.
There are lots of pale faces here.
Chiang Mai is the easy transition point for those who can't cope with the pressure and congestion of Bangkok or the native language anywhere else.
It was tricky getting to this point as I could only order noddle soup but this is too easy.
posted by Iconochasm at 5:00 pm
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