In the Big City of the North

  Chiang Mai, Thailand
Saturday, November 25, 2006

Arrived in Chiang Mai Wednesday the 22nd not exactly feeling my best. That evening I ran a fever for the second consecutive day and the whole day I had been experiencing, let's call it bowel issues. Wasn't sure if this was related to the tick mentioned in the last entry (which I knew it shouldn't be due to my malaria prophylaxis) or just something I ate. I brought along prescription oral antibiotics for just this situation, but I decided to take advantage of being in a city with good English speaking doctors, so I paid a visit to McCormick Hospital.

Thailand is known for having relatively good medical facilities (which many Thais can't afford) the hospital certainly was efficiently run. I was in and out in under 45 minutes, having seen the doctor and gotten a prescription for the exact sam emedication I already had. The whole thing cost about $11, a third of the cost of one dose of that medication in the U.S. So almost three days later I'm feeling back to normal (no need to worry Mom), and I have a few more doses of ciprofloxacin should similar troubles arise in more remote areas.

1.1. Wat Doi Suthep

Spent Thursday convalescing, but by Friday was ready to explore a bit of the city. This being Thailand, that means Wats! Saw three major wats inside the "old city". Let me back up for a minute. Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, and cultural capitol of the north. The old city is a 2 km square, semi-walled and moated area in the center. The city sprawls beyond this square in all directions, but inside, it is relatively quiet and peaceful. The three of the four wats I visited (along with my guesthouse and most of the places I ate) are inside the old city.

Wat Doi Suthep is high on a hill about 15 km west of the old city. I took a songthaew up there, along with about a thousand tourists (mostly Thai). Despite the crowds and a slight theme-park ambience, i was an impressive structure in a very impressive setting, as I hope some of the photos show. Back in the old city, I checked out Wat Phra Sing, where I stumbled upon a ceremony inducting new monks into the (monkhood?). After watching a few heads get shaved, I found some old murals (I forget how old) in a building adjacent to the main wat that were water damaged but beautiful (again, Flickr can show this better than I can describe it). Also swung by Wat Chedi Luang, which is 30m shorter than it used to be due to a flood, and briefly chatted with a monk there (they love to practice their English). All of these wats exhibit a distictive northern Thai style that...., on second thought just read about it in an art history book (or wikipedia perhaps) if you want to know the rest of this sentence (sorry this is hour 3 of my internet time tonight).

1.7. Rainbow at the Waterfall

The next day I decided to join a guided day trip to Doi Inthanon National Park. Normally I avoid such things at all costs, but getting there independently was going to be a real hassle, so I decided to give it a shot. The trip was far from a highlight of my travels, but I had a decent enough time. Spent half the day in a van being shuttled from one place to the next, amidst throngs of weekend crowds. Anyone who's visited great Smokey Mountains National Park in the summer has an idea of what I mean. Saw a few impressive waterfalls, a couple good views, and stood on the highest point in Thailand (about 8,000 feet). Also stopped at a few very touristy hill tribe villages. Mostly the trip made me wish I'd had time to go off on one of the hiking trails and actually see a part of the park without a parking lots, but oh well, maybe at the next park.

Chiang Mai itself is nice enough, but I think I just don't enjoy the big cities nearly as much as the smaller towns (despite very much liking New York City). Too much smog, too many noisy vehicles, way too many people trying to sell you stuff (even the Thais can be alittle pushy here). So now I'm moving on to more of those smaller towns, up to the northernmost part of Thailand.