Once again, we had to endure a ferry
followed by a really, really long coach journey from Koh Samui all the way up
to Chiang Mai. Luckily we were able to get it out of the way in a 24 hour period:
after the initial ferry we got on our first coach up to Bangkok (we had to
change here) then were able to jump straight onto another coach heading to Chiang
Mai. We arrived in the morning and then had the classic search for affordable
but not horrible accommodation. Thanks to the organisation of a member of our
party, we got a tuk tuk to one of the hotels on a short list and liked it, so
stayed there the whole time! There was just one thing that puzzled and amused
us about this place…
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| The keys were shaped like this too... |
On our first full day we wanted to take full advantage of the time we
had left, so visited a tourist agency trying to find out what the ‘best’ things
to do in Chiang Mai were. We settled on moped hiring and heading to Wat Phra
That Doi Suthep – the highest temple in Chiang Mai atop Doi Suthep Mountain. As
it was a fair distance from the city centre itself, it took the better part of
the day to get there, look around and get back (especially as we got a little
lost and confused at one point). The
journey up the mountain was for sure one of my personal highlights; granted, it
was a bit terrifying at times, but my driver did a splendid job on those steep
uphill climbs and the Disney/musical singsong definitely boosted the mood. We
stopped halfway up to admire the view of the city and what did we spy? A
portrait artist! If I remember correctly he was a Chinese guy and spoke pretty
good English. The results however, were not pretty good. Rather, there seems to
be no differentiation between faces, or even genders particularly. But you be the judge - check it out below! Doi Suthep
temple itself was very grand; like other Thai Buddhist temples it was all
bejewelled and shiny, which I really like. While up there though, it started
one of those tropical torrential downpours so we were stuck for a while. After
the rain passed we went back to our ‘peds, which luckily hadn’t been washed downhill
by the rain, so we began a slow and careful descent back to town.
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| Racing around |
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| Chiang Mai |
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| I'm on the far right! Yes, really. A for effort though! |
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After climbing a reaaalllyyyy long staircase
up to the temple |
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| A few shots from inside |
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| And again |
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| And here are some more |
Our second day began with an unconventional
massage at a ladies prison. As part of the prisoner reform programme of the
prison, it’s aim is to teach the inmates useful skills in order for them to get
a job once released – so the prisoners doing the massages had therefore nearly completed
serving their sentences. It was my first massage and I thought it was
fantastic! A friendly but not hugely talkative old lady was doing mine. The
parlour felt and looked just like any other massage parlour I would imagine, so
it was hard to believe these women had committed crimes of any kind! Anyway,
after this (and food) we headed to another temple – this time within the city –
called Wat Chiang Man, the oldest of Chiang Mai’s temples. Then after this, I
headed solo to Wat Chedi Luang which had a lovely and heavily decorated
interior. I sensed the rain coming on though so headed back to the hotel before
I got caught in the rain or could explore more of the city’s temples.
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| Prison massages! |
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| Three on a 'ped! |
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| Outside Wat Chiang Man |
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| Inside! |
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The 'Elephant Chedi'
Loved this! |
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| I think the little dolls on the right are offerings |
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| Outside Wat Chedi Luang |
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| Interior |
Then this was pretty much the last touristy
day in Thailand! We had a night out in Chiang Mai before getting on yet another
coach, Bangkok bound. We then had a night there which we used to visit a very
odd, but enjoyable restaurant: Cabbages and Condoms. Great food and very
interesting décor! Would definitely recommend!
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| 'Cops in Rubbers' |
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| What fun! |
Morning after, we were a man down but well on our way out of Thailand and to Cambodia!
Another very long, uncomfortable, distressing and frustrating journey ahead of us before reaching our next
bed in Siem Reap!
xoxo
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