Chiang Mai Clothes

(Written 09/01, 07.20)

After a few days in transit - flying Ayers Rock to Sydney, a night at Sydney airport, flying Sydney to Bangkok, sleeper train Bangkok to Chiang Mai - I awake to the sun rising over the mountains of Northern Thailand. That sounds a bit like travelling the world to me! 

I am a big fan of the sleeper train. I first got on the train and saw only regular seats thinking "oh dear, this is going to be a pretty bad sleep!" But then after I had some dinner (quite concerned about how my stomach would fair with the train food!), the train transformed into a long series of bunk beds. I forgot how sleeper trains work! While you ride you can look outside and see the country, where as on a plane I had to remind myself that I'm flying across the world! That reminder held reality a little closer. Although on this occasion I could see The Red Centre from the sky (awesome!), you obviously see very little from the plane on the whole! Especially reading Robinson Crusoe at the moment and appreciating tribal living in general, I feel like the old-school means of travelling (e.g. sailing) would have been very cool, if a little dangerous! 

(Written 09/01, 07.55)

On arrival at Chiang Mai, I did a quick scan of the city and thought it was fairly ordinary (i.e. nothing new from Kuala Lumpur and parts of India). However, when I went back out and started having a look beneath the surface I found lots of quirky cafes and shops. I started understanding why it is a cool place to chill for the travelling type. Last night I had a great dinner at this tiny little cafe (which had letters from people all around the world saying it's the best food ever!), and chilled at Tea Tree cafe, a hippy tea room where there was a jam night happening. I hung out with some travellers who were studying Thai Massage, and had a nice discussion about alternative and conventional medicine!

My second exploration effectively included a pilgrimage, as I went from Buddhist temple to temple around the city. I do like the simplicity of Buddhism, but it surprised me that they were carrying out some rituals in the temple. I thought Buddhism was less ritualistic. It is cool to see such a strong Buddhist presence (e.g. monks roaming the streets). In contrast there are the money-minded. I experienced my first hustle yesterday, as I trusted that friendly people are friendly! He basically tricked me into going to his affiliated tourist agency by pretending to be a well-educated stranger. It was a pretty solid bit of acting! I think it only cost me a few pounds and was a good lesson to learn at this stage! TiT - This is Thailand. 

Today I have a one-day trek of elephant riding, bamboo rafting, and hiking in the jungle. Yes, I somehow ended up booking onto elephant riding again after much debate with principles. Apparently this is the iconic activity to do in Chiang Mai, so might as well check it out!