Elephant country
Trip Start
Aug 24, 2008
1
44
116
Trip End
Aug 01, 2009
Chaing Mai,
Thailand
Monday, December 29, 2008
Being of sceptical mind, (made that way not born)-(by people who promise so much and secretly promise to not deliver), I kept an open mind about the bus that would take us to Chaing Mai. I knew how bad it could be, and I have seen the really nice buses, that I knew we would not get. We try to book a really nice bus, but it is always for someone else. Oh woa is the budget traveller.
There is always the promise of a really nice, VIP bus, remember the story of the bus that took us from Koh Chang to Bangkok? "Yes, for you, velly ni(ce) bu(s), we-I-P bu(s), velly ni(ce), not so many seat,thooty-fo seat we-I-P. Mo(s)t bu(s) ha(ve) foty-fi see(t), or fipty see(t). Too smaa(ll) for you. My bu(s) goooood (cooing sound)". And so it goes!
We really did get a pretty descent bus, one with tonnes of leg room and seats that go way back. The air conditioning didn't start to make us uncomfortable until about 4 in the morning, and that is a real bonus in the over-air-conditioned Thailand. The worst thing we had to put up with was the smell of the toilet, yes there was a toilet, and it wasn't even locked "to prevent the bad smell", and the man behind us groaning with a lack of sleep and/or comfort every time he turned around - which was often.
Tired but unscathed we arrived in Chaing Mai at 6 in the morning, to cool air and a taxi who would "take us to the city" (read to my guesthouse only). We have successfully lengthened our passport stamp so they won't detain us at the airport when we try to leave 4 days after our exit stamp, oh that's another story....
When we arrived overland from Cambodia there was a sign stating that as of the 27th of November, 2008 overland travellers will only be allowed to stay for 15 days, while those arriving by air would still be allowed the usual 30 days. Since our flight leaves Thailand in 19 days we smelled a bit of a dilemma for the Jasieniuk clan. Jim tried to rectify the situation by going to the immigration office in Lamnop a ferry ride away from Koh Chang on Christmas Day. He learned that we all had to be present for signatures, and spent the better part of 1/2 day away on this somewhat futile errand. He was positive about it stating that he wrote some letters , read some, and was able to help some other travellers who had just arrived.
We have been to the night market twice and have found a lot of interesting things to purchase. There is knock-off stuff from 'Bushnell' binoculars to T-shirts of any brand, even the infamous Harley Davidson hasn't avoided being copied in all sorts of items. The most interesting T-shirt we saw was one with big golden arches and McShit written across it. This was right outside a McDonald's restaraunt (if you can call it that).
It is New Years Eve and the occasional firecrackers have started as of about 10am. I suspect that midnight will be a raucous affair. There is a stage set up just outside the old city wall, and there will be a big celebration there tonight. We will attend for as long as we can stay awake. We have to think about being awake for our Mahout course with the elephants tomorrow. I don't want to bee too sleepy and miss instructions on how to control my elephant!
