Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai's moat at sunset

I hope that I haven't bored you all thus far on my stories of uncomfortable night bus rides, because here comes another one! My journey from Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai, Thailand took about 24 hours, which is the same amount of time it took me to fly from Denver to Hanoi, Vietnam, at the start of my trip! Initially, I had a seat partner, but he got off after about 2 hours, and it gave me extra room to stretch, which was really nice. Let me take a moment here to mention a very funny thing that they do in Laos. Since there are no toilets on any of the buses, they make frequent stops and all of the local people get off and relieve themselves, often no further than ten feet from the bus! The ladies, if they aren't already wearing one, have a handy sarong that they carry for just such an occasion! This allows them to also not stray far from the bus to do their business. Thankfully, I never had to see what I would do if I really had to go in that situation, but I think it would have surely involved going quite a bit further into the woods, far from the curious eyes on the bus! Well, the rest of the night bus ride went mostly as I expected it to - basically I was in a constant state of attempting to get comfortable and sleep on seats that are not made for this in any way, shape, or form. Did I mention that it was more bumpy than usual as well? I was sore for days afterward! But with the help of two benadryl tablets, I was able to get at least some restless sleep. Maybe around midnight, I became vaguely aware of being able to hear some music over that of my iPod, so I took out my earphones and sure enough - there was some Lao music playing over the speakers. This was not too unusual, so I just kept my earphones out of my ears and fell back asleep. Around about 4 a.m., I awoke to music that was getting progressively louder, and by this I mean it was ridiculously loud! If you turn on your favorite dance song, and then turn it to your desired danceable volume, and then a few notches higher than that, that's about how loud it was! And yes, it had also changed from a decently soft genre of music to American dance music! I could tell that most of the people around me were also awake and quite bothered, and one girl even yelled at the driver to turn it down, although I am sure he couldn't hear her. As I sat there, half asleep and still in disbelief that this was happening, I made up my mind to go up and request that the volume be lowered. This is what I did, as well as state the obvious - that we were all trying to sleep. He just shooed me away rudely with his hand and grunted, so off I went. Thankfully, after that song finished, he turned the music off completely, to cheers from the whole bus. I think it stayed off for about one hour, but at least when it started again, it was back to the softer music, and at least it was nearly light out by then.

Cute little girl at Wat Suthep

We arrived to the border town bus station around 8 a.m., at which time we all piled into a couple of sawng thaew (sung-taow) to get to the Mekong River, which was the actual border crossing. Sawng thaew are Laos' version of the tuk-tuk, basically like a pick-up truck with two long benches, so we all sit facing each other. There is also a roof overhead, to protect from the sun most of the time, and the rain during the wet season. This setting was the inspiration for a facebook post some of you may recall, regarding me taking up smoking since I have started traveling. Before anyone gets too excited, it was actually an April Fool's joke, and I wanted to see what everyone would say. However, as I sat there, crowded in between probably ten people, all of whom were smoking except me, it was just one of many times on this trip where I felt that I actually had taken it up - there was no possibility of breathing regular air until most of them were done. What I don't understand is why it has to be that moment, on a windy ride where both smoke and ash are blowing freely? There was time before getting on, and a long time after getting off, and the ride was maybe 20 minutes long! I guess that it will just always remain a mystery to me, since I am not a smoker, why people must smoke when they do - but to the one non-smoker on that vehicle, it seemed pretty rude!
Once we got to the river, I was able to enjoy one last made-to-order baguette sandwich from a street vendor - something I had grown to love in Laos and would miss once crossing into Thailand. Then we did the required paperwork to depart from Laos, paid the fee to cross the river for about 2 minutes, and we were in Thailand! The paperwork there was easy as well, and I am happy to report that it is the first country on my trip that didn't require a visa or any fee! I have only 15 days here for free, at which time I would have to do a "visa run" if I wanted to stay, which basically just means crossing over into another country (the usual choice here would be Burma) and then coming back in to get another stamp. Then it was another short ride to the bus station, where I went to an ATM, and then purchased a local bus ticket to Chiang Mai, which I only had to wait about an hour for. It was amazing to see the immediate change when crossing the border, from what was very obviously still a third-world country, to a much more developed Thailand. It was visible in everything, from the roads to the landscaping to the building structure to the businesses to the vehicles. After two months in less developed countries, it felt pretty nice to be back to a more civilized place. This bus ride was very smooth, nicely air-conditioned, and very empty at first, but eventually it did fill up. We arrived to Chiang Mai around 7 p.m. and I took yet another sawng thaew to the guest house where my Irish friends Catherine and Liam were staying.

Me at Wat Suthep, enjoying the city view

Since it was Saturday night, I was excited to check out the Saturday Walking Street, or the night market. While it may have not been quite as beautiful as Luang Prabang's market, it was still special in it's own way. One enjoyable aspect was that they had several buskers, who sat in the middle of the street entertaining the walkers. By far my favorite aspect, though, was the cheap and delicious sushi! There were carts brimming with sushi - they give you a container, and you get to pick all the pieces you want, for 5 or 10 baht each ($1 is 30 baht), and then they give you soy sauce and wasabi if you so desire! I am telling you, for the sushi lover that I am, I really did think I had died and gone to Heaven for those few moments. I just couldn't get over how cheap it was, and how good! Believe me, I had brief thoughts of waking up at night with horrendous food poisoning, but thankfully I pushed them away and just enjoyed. I also convinced Liam to try some, and he liked it! After that, Catherine and I took our Chang beers (bought from 7/11!) and had an awesome and cheap foot massage while watching the people wander through the market.

Sushi!!

The next afternoon, Catherine, Liam, and I rented bikes and rode around the old city where we were staying. The old city is a square bounded by a moat and crumbling pieces of a medieval-style wall that was built 700 years ago to defend against Burmese invaders. Then I finally met up with Kate, a friend of my sister's, who lives in Chiang Mai, and who had graciously agreed to let me stay with her. Somehow, she was able to fit me and my humongous backpack on her motorbike and get us both safely back to her house! Unfortunately, she was leaving that night for Bangkok for a few nights to get a visa, but said that I could stay in her room. One of her roommates was heading back into old town, which is where I needed to go to meet Catherine and Liam, and she invited to take me, as opposed to me walking back in the dark in unfamiliar territory. I gladly accepted. That evening, I had to brave the Sunday Walking Street by myself, as Catherine and Liam were market-ed out. I was pretty tired as well, and getting a bit sick as it turned out, but I walked until I found what I was looking for - sushi! I had a whole tray of it this time, and I think it was even better:) Then I rode my rented bike back to Kate's around midnight, during which time I realized the headlight didn't work, but I was very proud of being able to get myself there in the dark, and without any wrong turns! The next morning, I knew something was wrong when I had goosebumps and felt cold despite the rising heat in the room (third floor - once the sun hits it, it becomes a sauna basically) - I checked my temperature and did indeed have a low-grade fever. I took tylenol, and within a half hour, I was sweating profusely. I medicated a few times throughout the day, but still felt good enough to bike into town to meet Catherine and Liam for their last afternoon before heading to Bangkok. That night, I biked back to Kate's and took it easy. The next morning, the fever was higher, so I took some much-appreciated cyber advice from Jess and Theresa, two of my nursing friends from back home, and rested most of the day. I did take my time biking back into town to pick up my laundry, but just felt strange all day. I think rest and hydration was just what I needed, because the next morning I felt pretty much back to normal, which was great timing since Kate was back from Bangkok, so we could actually hang out!

My lovely hosts - Liz, Katie, and Kate

She introduced me to several street foods that I hadn't tried, and took me to some good restaurants to try more local food - I love having my own personal local guide! We also went to Chiang Mai International School, where she teaches preschool, and to the coffee shop where her roommate's run a non-profit organization called Thai Village, Inc., which works alongside the WELS church in Thailand and produces beautiful local jewelry and handicrafts. You can find it on facebook if you would like more info. I was also fortunate enough to be able to attend a home bible study on Wednesday night for Lent - Kate's roommate's dad is a missionary in Chiang Mai and has been for 17 years! It meant a lot to me to enjoy a family atmosphere, join in prayer, sing hymns, and receive communion, all after so long. One of the coolest things is that just as we started singing "Go to dark Gethsemane," it started to downpour! Thankfully, it let up for just enough time for Kate and I to get back home on the motorbike before it started up again. When the time came for me to leave last night on the night bus to Bangkok, I didn't feel ready. I enjoyed Kate and her two roommates so much, and think they were the best hosts I could ever ask for! Of course that made me enjoy Chiang Mai that much more, as well. But I wanted to get a few days of sightseeing in in Bangkok as well, even though I have been here before. The reason I decided to come to Bangkok is that it is the cheapest to fly from here, and so on Monday, April 11th, I will take a flight to Athens, Greece, with a long layover in Moscow! That should be interesting, because the time in between flights is 17.5 hours and overnight, so I will be sleeping in the airport - it isn't really possible to get a transit visa, and it's too expensive to stay at the airport hotels. Unfortunately, I looked at a sight that rates that specific airport as one of the world's worst to sleep in, so wish me luck! I will go fully prepared, so it should be fine. I am looking at it as yet another adventure, and I am sure the people-watching there will be pretty great! I am also extremely excited to be getting on a plane as a mode of transport, after spending the last two months on buses. It is going to feel like luxury, that's for sure!