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Heading North
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In less than an hour I am heading north having bought a VERY cheap overnight bus ticket to Chang Mai, for only 100B. The bus is apparently air-conditioned and of the VIP variety (with 30 fully reclining seats) but at that price I am a little dubious. The 11-hour journey might not be that comfortable if the bus is not the luxury one advertised, but the cheapest official government alternative (non a/c) is still twice the price. As long as I get there in one piece with all my baggage it will have been worth it.
Yesterday morning I rang the Malaysian Airlines office in Bangkok and changed my flight (yes, I know this is the third time) and will now be arriving in New Zealand on the 17th of September. Hopefully the worst of the New Zealand winter weather will be over by then so I will have enjoyed a nice spring in England, summer in Asia followed by spring in New Zealand. In order to stay in Thailand beyond the 30-day automatic tourist visa I have to get a 10-day extension, which I can do in Chang Mai for 500B. Watch this space however, as I am developing a habit of staying much longer than anticipated in each of the countries I visit!
During the afternoon I wandered around the quite impressive MBK shopping mall with Andy. To get there I caught a local bus and was shocked at how cheap the fare was, only 3.50B! There are quite a few shopping malls in the area around Siam Square, and the feel of the place reminded me of Bukit Bintang in KL, only a little more polluted. There were plenty of people at street level wearing facemasks. We went for lunch in the food court and prices were very cheap. As in some food courts I have been to in Malaysia, you had to pay for your meal at a central booth and then exchange the vouchers for the actual food at the stall of your choice.
Andy and I opted for a traditional Thai massage later that day. I was expecting a lot of cracks from my joints, as during the first ten minutes my fingers and toes were being almost pulled off my hands and feet. By the end of the hour I did not feel as worked over as I expected to be though, having heard stories from other people who thought it was painful. For 140B it was definitely worth doing. I think I might measure my height next time I have one (before and after), to see if those final cracks of my spine actually lengthen my body at all.
After dinner at United Travellers Connection I said goodbye to Andy and began an unplanned evening walk back to Shanti Lodge via all the side roads along the river.
I passed street-side vendors peeling vegetables and preparing food for the next days trading. It was a little disconcerting to see that they paid absolutely no attention to the rather large rats that were scurrying around their stalls.
This morning Jonty left early to catch his bus for Koh Chang and Kate caught a taxi back to the airport. I have no idea how she managed to cram another bag full of shopping from last night into her TARDIS like backpack. I repacked my luggage and left some more items in my suitcase (10B a day left luggage at United Travellers Connection, the first three days are free). I shall be hiking around northern Thailand with about 12 kgs, which isn't too bad really. Just goes to show how little you actually do need when travelling in Asia. I spend the morning and early afternoon walking around some of the non-tourist street markets not far from the river. By and large they mainly sell rubbish and there was not much of interest here so I made my way back to the tourist districts to while away my time until now.
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