We made it to Chiang Mai in one piece from the train thankfully, which was quite an upgrade from the train from Hanoi to Hue. A second class sleeper train will give you two levels of bunks (as opposed to three in Vietnam) with clean sheets and curtains. You are also out in the open rather than being crammed in a cabin with 5 other people. I think the worst part of the train ride was having two little cockroaches skittering inches from my face, but it was decent overall.
14 hours later we arrived in Chiang Mai. There were an endless number of things to do and see in Bangkok but I was ready to leave the capital. I can see why everyone who has visited Thailand loves Chiang Mai, it is big enough where there are plenty of activities to keep tourists busy and entertained but doesn't have the crazy traffic and city rush of Bangkok. The next few days will be pretty busy so we decided to take it easy today. We ate lunch at The Funky Dog Cafe, where the owner looks like he belongs in the age of Hippies and was telling us how art is his medicine and that his children are his teachers (and that computers are bad), it was pretty entertaining. The way that the city of Chiang Mai is structured is that the old quarter is set within a two km square moat, with more commercialized and tourist spots sitting outside the moat. It is an easy walk over the bridge to leave the old quarter and there are many opportunities to leave the city for trekking, zip-lining, elephant riding, bungee jumping, etc etc etc. We walked down Ratchdamnoen Road, passed by a several temples and reached the end of the road for Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai's must-see temple. I was surprised that we didn't have to pay an entrance fee to get in but even more confused by the elder monk meditating among a dozen shrines and didn't move a muscle. Haj and I debated whether he was real, I guess being deep in meditation can make you do extraordinary things?
I felt like I couldn't do much today because it was so hot. I never know what the actual temperature outside is (I don't make an effort to find out because I don't want to know) and I don't know what it's been relative to the other cities we've visited but I think my tolerance for heat is plummeting because walking has been more and more miserable as the days go by. I've been really good about staying hydrated and my fitness level was decent before this trip (always could be better I know I know) so I don't know if I am just getting mentally worn out from traveling or if the temperature really has been climbing in April.
Fortunately we were able to make it back out in the evening for the Night Bazaar, where scores of street stalls line up on thanons Chang Klan and Loi Khro selling everything from jewelry to obscene t-shirts and Hmong embroidered handbags. We were able to pick up some goods and made a mental note to take advantage of the Thai massages offered on the streets at a later date. Tomorrow we arranged for a jungle zip-lining tour which I think will be fun but I'm hoping for some shade under the trees!
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