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Chang Mai
Entry 10 of 24 | show all | print this entry |
LOVE A GOOD BUDDHIST FESTIVAL, THE BARBER OF CHIANG MAI and BRANDY SNAPS
I turned up at the airport for my flight and there are two of the Canadians from yesterday, on the same flight to Chiang Mai. I jokingly explained to them that the stalking laws in Thailand are very much the same as anywhere else... we split a cab at Chiang Mai airport and that's the last I saw of them.
My internet booked hotel in Chiang Mai is seriously flashy (though very cheap via the net) and it appears is full of older English tour package couples with names like Gladys and Harold. However it does have a gym and a great pool, so I may well use them and move on. I mean use the gym and pool, not use Gladys and Harold....
I wandered around the town. Chiang Mai is smaller, cleaner, friendlier, more relaxed and more beautiful than Bangers. I ended up at a temple called Wat Chedi Luang which was quite stunning, with an enormous 'newer' temple, and the ruins of a Chedi (was originally 100 plus metres, now 15 metres) at the rear. There were lots of people around and plenty of food stalls. I tried a few lollies from one of the stall holders who offered a freebie, and even though they tasted like biting a candle (very waxy and bluh yuk!) I felt compelled to buy as she'd given me a freebie. Someone mentioned for me to come back at 6pm as there was to be a big Buddhist Festival. And if its one thing I love, its taking photos of big Buddhist Festivals. I spent the rest of the early afternoon lookling at other temples around the town.
I stopped off for lunch at a little restaurant and was served rice by a rady-boy.... she had hairy fingers and bad face stubble. I think she fancied me though as she said "prease come back again rater". I didn't.
Thought I was due for another attack of the clippers on the scone, so I found a Barber in town and headed in for a level one snippet. For some reason all I could think of was one of those bad voiceovers from 1970's TV game shows... "when in Chiang Mai our guests choose to have their hair couffired at the funny little bloke's barber shop on Chiangsean Rd....". Somehow although he had a very bad greasy hair piece on, I trusted him with the clippers. Back to level one shortness.
I went back to the Festival at sunset to find it in full swing. Monks, prayers, candle lighting, flower offerings, lights on the temples, dancing, food stalls - and hopefully some great photos to prove it. A very friendly atmosphere. I ate some sweet brandy snap style thingies with meringue. Very yum. I finished off the night by walking through the Chiang Mai night bazaar, which is a ridiculously huge market.
AMONG THE HMONG, RETURN OF THE CHEDI and CHICKEN - LEAVE IT TO CLEAVER.....
A sleep in this morning followed by a trip to the Chiang Mai flash hotel's Gym and Pool. Said good morning to Harold and Gladys on the way past, then headed off with the pack to a cheaper guesthouse, The Gal-ah-re (woah oh!), near by. From there I hired a motorbike and headed off on a northern Thailand excursion.
Twenty minutes in and I'm still stuck in the bumper to bumper Chiang Mai traffic. Its actually busier than I imagined down the main road, which is a loop road that surrounds the old town, which is smack in the middle of the city. Cars and motorbikes coming from all directions, and a 6'1" farang (foreigner) fanging along at only 25kph.
I headed up Doi Suphet, the mountain and temple about 12km out of town, up a windy steep road. The temple is very beautiful, with a huge gold Chedi (like a pagoda) in the middle. The view down in to town was spectacular to say the least, with the clouds racing in through the valley.
I continued up the mountain past the King of Thailand's January/February residence (lights on, nobody home), onto a very rough and potholed stretch to a Hmong tribe Village. The village is a very poor and run-down shanty town, but with an immaculately maintained mountain garden as a tourist magnet and source of income. Alas it doesn't seem to be working as I was the only tourist in the place. I then continued on further up to the peak with a view over the Hmong Village's tin roofs, which were covered in cloud - it was a great ride up through the clouds and fog to get there, though seriously steep as I managed to stall the bike a couple of times.
I wanted to continue down the other side to the next village, but as that was a dirt road and it was getting dark, I headed home. Riding down the mountain was seriously cool - many curves and dips on the main road. Only about 300kph slower than, say, Mick Doohan.
At dinner time I was treated to a serious monsoonal downpour, and a free Mauy Thai boxing demonstration in town. Just like Phuket, they were sparring, so I grabbed a few free photos and snuck away. I found a great place to eat hidden away in the back blocks of Chiang Mai and tucked in to the local Curried Fish (I asked for chicken and I reckon it was fish) and the Fried Chicken. Instead of larger KFC style pieces, it appears they kill the chook with a cleaver, and then just keep on chopping through the bones hundreds of times as the pieces aren't that big. It was plucked.
THE RINGS OF CONFIDENCE, OPIUM SMOKING OLD LADIES and UGLY HENRY.
I'd decided to do a tour. I booked it through the local place who did a batch of laundry for me. Perhaps that was a sign - great at laundry, ordinary at tours....
They picked me up in a minibus at 7am. It was myself, three American girls, and an "Australian" bloke who was actually an American Professor of Business who had been teaching in Australia for 12 years. His name was Henry. He was quite possibly the ugliest human I've ever seen. It was like looking at Yoda.
The trip started with three hours straight in the mini-bus travelling at 130kph. The driver was completely mad. No other way to describe it. On edge expecting to die for 3 hours straight.
The first stop was a Karen tribal Village... no not a tribe of people all named Karen, but a tribe of ex-Burmese where the tribal women wear 10kg brass rings round their necks. Over time (since in their lifetimes they only remove the rings twice - once in their early teens for a larger set, and once at some other stage) it causes their necks to appear really long. Its actually due to their rib cages and shoulder being crushed downwards with the weight. I'm guessing a bloke thought of that idea... allegedly the theory was to either make them appear unattractive to other tribes men, or to stop Tigers from taking their lives. (apparently Tigers go for the throat when they kill, and thats bloody hard to do when there is 10kg of solid brass protecting it).
I felt rather intrusive in their little town taking photos (smile - oh wait your ring is causing flashback...) however they are extremely poor and use the tourist entry monies to live on. Hence they live off tourism so the happy snapping is justified. Prior to returning to the bus we got to have our photos taken with a group of old tribeswomen, who were happily smoking large pipes of opium. Whatever gets you through the village day I guess.
The visit to the town cost me an extra $20 - apparently it was included in everyone else's tour but not mine. Hmmmm....
Another looong trip in the minibus with Fangio (though you tend to get used to the danger over time) to Mai Sae - border town with Myanmar (Burma) - which contains the "Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge", though the border guards do not appear to be sharing in the sense of joy and human kindness. We got to wander round the town for 20 or so minutes. In that time I was offered a crossbow, a fake gun, and hash. I declined all.
We then departed for the Golden Triangle, which was basically two rivers joining up and thus three sections of land - the border of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. It is hardly inspiring, but the name does conjour up the 70s Opium wars in this particular area where drug trafficking was rampant. Apparently its been snuffed out in the nearby towns, except for that one bloke who offered me drugs of course.... We were "offered" a great deal on a boat ride - funnily enough at extra cost... hmmmm. We all declined.
Then another short trip to a restaurant for lunch. Dodgy looking buffet. I was wary of the meat, and only stuck with the vegetables, but even they made we feel rather nausious. Can you spot the dodgy tour. I can, now.
Back in the bus for a trip to a temple at a nearby town (one of the most boring temples in temple-filled Thailand) followed by the loooong bus ride towards home. Four hours. At least I managed a snooze. We stopped off once at the pissiest "hot springs" I've ever seen. Three holes in the ground, with old ladies cooking eggs in them, and a market place surrounding it. Pissy pissy pissy.
I arrived back at the hotel at 7.30pm feeling queezy-stomached, tired and a little pissed off at the crap tour. Dinner was a very basic pasta, which is also pissing me off. I'm gun-shy of the local food at the moment, and I love Thai food. Doh.
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