Bangkok to Chiang Mai
Posted by Anita Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:21:00 GMT
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Well we spent a morning wandering aimlessly about central Bangkok not buying anything and walking into the big malls occasionally to cool off. Lunch time was soon upon us and we sought out a street food vendor that looked well patronised by locals. We ended up digesting some lovely tom yum soup. The vendors seemed somewhat surprised to have westerners at their stall - obviously not a common sight in Bangkok despite the fact that the stall was just around the corner from the hotel that we stayed in.
After our lunch we decided to make tracks for the train station to catch an overnight train to Chiang Mai. This involved hailing a tuk-tuk from the hotel, convincing him halfway through the journey that, no, we did not want to buy travel, suits or anything else. This frustrated him immensely. The tuk-tuk took us to a sky train station which then connected to the underground rail. All this had us at the train station within about 30 mins of leaving the hotel.
All trains were full until 7.20pm that night so we had some more time to kill. This we ended up spending at a large park in the centre of Bangkok, just 5 mins back up the rail. The park was so enjoyable we felt we should have been there all day. Entetainment was provided by the numerous cat fish and turltes consuming bread on the lake and the open aerobics classes being run nearby.
The train ride was very comfortable. We ended up in a seated (slightly) aiconditioned unit. The big supise was that food was povided on the journey (Jack’s third dinner). We both managed some sleep and arrived at 7am in Chiang Mai in a relatively refreshed state.
The lonely planet guide recommended the Chiang Mai Garden Guest House as one of the more honest establishments in Chiang Mai. Based on our experience so far the book is right.
Today has been filled with a trip up Doi Suthep to see a hill top Wat (temple). We plan to visit the night bazaar (market) tonight. Tomorow we will catch a bus to Chiang Khong near the Thailand-Laos border and make our way into Laos.
