Chaing Mai

Chiang Mai!! We have just arrived in Chiang Mai, after a 14 hour ride on the train. We booked a second class sleeper with upper and lower, and it was surprisingly comfortable. Mikae and I sat together on little benches with a table, he ordered a 160 baht singha and 150 baht fried rice meal. I ate my vegetarian Takeaway I purchased at the station, and some fruit we brought along. After 10pm or so, the man came by and converted our dinette into a bunk bed with curtains. I had the lower bunk which kept the window, and a shelf for my belongings, and a nightlight. I woke up only twice, once to use the bathroom, which also wasn't as bad as I had expected, and once to eat the rest of my stirfry as I was soo hungry.

This trip to Bangkok also had included a small bout of the travelling sickness *ahem* which luckily cleared up quickly. We checked in to Siam Mi Casa, and I think we were upgraded, as it looks like our room didn't open up. In Thailand, just because you made reservations, doensn't mean you'll have a room. Travellers are always extending their stay for another day, and the Thais will not kick anyone out of their place, its super rude. Anyways, our room looks like one of the much more expensive rooms on the website, and we paid $500 baht. (or about $15.50) It has a tv, fridge, private bath, double windows, aircon, wifi and it is spacious and comfortable. This place is beautifully decorated, its lovely.

The best part about the train ride was in the train station before we embarked. I was upstairs getting my stirfry from a takeaway, and Mikae was sitting downstairs in the plastic seats. All of a sudden, the Thai National Anthem comes on, and everybody has to stop what they are doing and stand up, quietly. We both knew about this and stood up, but many tourists had no clue what was going on. Immediately afterwards, all business resumes as usual.

Chaing Mai has a great deal of charm. Temples, Pagodas everywhere, 300 wats in total and origianlly, as it was a walled city with a moat, the wall exists in remlants and the moat exists now. The moat is 150 years old. This place just oozes with charm. Definately my favorite place in Thailand sofar. Someone said to us, and it is totally true, that if Bangkok is the United States, Chiang Mai is Canada. It is alot bigger than we expected, and there are so many things to do and see. It is more cosmopolitan than we expected, but really laid back. It is a great place.