Sunshine and Shopping
Trip Start
Nov 02, 2007
1
29
33
Trip End
Dec 02, 2007
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
I set off to go to the train station and book my ticket to bangkok however I missed the turn off the main road so carried on to my destination which was San Kampaeng. This was supposed to be THE place for silk so I wanted to check it out. It was a fun drive out and the road was pretty straight and not too busy.
I got there but saw no sign of silk anywhere, just a small village with shops and very little western writing anywhere. I stopped off at a garage, partly to get fuel but also to ask directions. They seemed to amused to see me, again, tall white women on a moped was a sight they probably didn't see much. Anyway they weren't sure but said I was best to head back to chiang mai about 1-2km. So I headed that way.
I stopped off at a coffee shop for some lunch. They were very friendly and said how beautiful and tall I was :-) I had a salad and a coffee which were both very nice and the lady had a tourist map so I could see where the silk place was.
I headed off to the silk place and stopped off at a little umbrella factory and shop which was quite cute. You could have an umbrella and just about anything else painted by hand. They were incredibly fast and pretty good at painting, I saw someone having a flower painted of their mobile phone which looked pretty nice. The paint didn't look that water resistant though so I'm not sure how long it would last.
Anyway I brought a very little things and headed off to the silk place. I found it ok and was welcomed and given a little tour. Quite interesting but the silk itself, although lovely was highly priced. About 3000B (45pounds) for a blouse. It felt gorgeous and back home that would be a good deal but I'm not that set on having 100% to pay that much. I'll check out the night bazaar and get some cheaper stuff.
It was still early and I was really enjoying the freedom of the open road so decided to head out across country to some other craft villages. I followed the signs and everything was easy until the english ran out and the signs became solely thai. I was still pretty sure I was on the right road but with no signs to help I felt a little uneasy. I quick pray for assistance yeilded a westerner on a bike who went past and stopped at a garage. I stopped as well and he was able to confirm I was on the right road :-)
I carried on and eventually got to the craft village. There were LOTS of shops and not that many tourists which was nice. I had a good wander around eating my spicy seafood crisps and drinking water. I bought a few things before I thought it was time to head back. I didn't feel like being out in the country when it got dark and wasn't sure how long it would take to get back. As it happens it was quite quick as I got on a main highway after a few kilometers and it was plain sailing after that.
Back at the guesthouse now and planning my evening. I might take a run down to this little restaurant by the river and then maybe play some mini-golf :-) Whenever I'm away I want to play that but never seem to be with the right people. Now it's just me I can do what I like :-)
Anyway I might try and meet Clair and Kat if they are around, otherwise it's food and golf.
Clair and Kat both busy so I headed off on my own. The restaurant was lovely. It was so nice it could almost have been done by disney (some of you will know what I mean by that). The food was nice, but a little hot for me :-0 I did have some lovely coconut juice (bascially just a whole coconut cut open with a straw in it :-) ) and listened to the traditional thai music.
The Mini golf was non-existant (foiled again!) so I headed back to the guesthouse. I wasn't tired so checked out the cinema listing for the airport plaza's big cineplex.
Bo Sang Umbrella Factory
The only film I could see was Beowulf but it sounded interesting so I headed off.The cinema only cost 100B (1.20) and there was only me and about 4 thais in there :-) Before the film there was a little song of praise to the king and everyone (all 5 of us) stood up, which was nice. They really do love their king.
The film itself was really quite good. Completely motion-captured (real actors on a stage, digitised and put into an animated world) and was quite amazing for that. The detail was really stunning. At the beginning the movement of the people looked a little off but it improved as the film went on, and by the end (with some incredible action scenes) the characters were just like real people. This is definitely the way more films are going to go I think because it gives the director so much control over every little detail of the scene and certainly for fantasy/sci-fi stuff the effects and worlds that can be created are amazing.
