My diary
I arrived in Chiang Mai this morning having spent the night in and out of sleep on the "sleeper" train but having thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.
My stingy self was keen to avoid all taxi drivers and find my own way to my hostel, however, my sensible self decided that at 7 in the morning and without a map or any sense of direction in this new city, that it probably wasn't the best idea. Instead, I approached an Irish girl, also alone, to see if there was some way we could share a taxi. Having sparked conversation during the journey, she informed me that she, and her pink rucksack, would be staying in a boutique hotel with a pool and that the thought of staying in hostels made her pull this rather ugly face... Funnily enough, this was the same face she made as we pulled up outside a shack of a building with a crooked sign and poor paintwork. To her relief, this was my hostel and not hers... As I stood in front of my home for the next couple of nights, I turned back to see that on the side of the taxi it read '30baht per person' - that is far from what we paid, and again, I had been mugged off!
After settling into a 6-bed dorm to myself, I met back up with some friends from my first night and we took a trip to Chiang Mai zoo. This was quite the experience and one that was enough to put me off zoos for life. Almost all the animals were within touching distance and yes, you were allowed to feed hippos without any safety mechanisms in place! It quickly turned into a rather depressing trip where we found the most lively animal to be a bear pacing up and down the length of its enclosure (something that it'd been doing for quite some time judging by the marks on the wall it was tapping at each end...).
To escape the zoo, we had a quick snack of bamboo grubs and used the extra protein to hike up to a waterfall. On stopping for lunch, we had yet another experience where what you order is far from what you should expect to receive!
Also, if you were at all wondering, I found out what my new t-shirt says, and it isn't in some funky Thai font at all...
The one with pacing bears and bamboo grubs
January 28, 2018
|
Chiang Mai, Thailand
I arrived in Chiang Mai this morning having spent the night in and out of sleep on the "sleeper" train but having thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.
My stingy self was keen to avoid all taxi drivers and find my own way to my hostel, however, my sensible self decided that at 7 in the morning and without a map or any sense of direction in this new city, that it probably wasn't the best idea. Instead, I approached an Irish girl, also alone, to see if there was some way we could share a taxi. Having sparked conversation during the journey, she informed me that she, and her pink rucksack, would be staying in a boutique hotel with a pool and that the thought of staying in hostels made her pull this rather ugly face... Funnily enough, this was the same face she made as we pulled up outside a shack of a building with a crooked sign and poor paintwork. To her relief, this was my hostel and not hers... As I stood in front of my home for the next couple of nights, I turned back to see that on the side of the taxi it read '30baht per person' - that is far from what we paid, and again, I had been mugged off!
After settling into a 6-bed dorm to myself, I met back up with some friends from my first night and we took a trip to Chiang Mai zoo. This was quite the experience and one that was enough to put me off zoos for life. Almost all the animals were within touching distance and yes, you were allowed to feed hippos without any safety mechanisms in place! It quickly turned into a rather depressing trip where we found the most lively animal to be a bear pacing up and down the length of its enclosure (something that it'd been doing for quite some time judging by the marks on the wall it was tapping at each end...).
To escape the zoo, we had a quick snack of bamboo grubs and used the extra protein to hike up to a waterfall. On stopping for lunch, we had yet another experience where what you order is far from what you should expect to receive!
Also, if you were at all wondering, I found out what my new t-shirt says, and it isn't in some funky Thai font at all...
1.
The one where I'm unprepared
2.
The one where I people watch
3.
The one with the sweaty boys
4.
The one with the pickled slugs
5.
The one where I smell
6.
The one with pacing bears and bamboo grubs
7.
The one where I might have rabies
8.
The one with more Pad Thai
9.
The one with 762 curves
10.
The one with boobs
11.
The one with the wall of China
12.
The one where I'm full
13.
The one with the "cruise"
14.
The one with waterfalls
15.
The one with one too many waterfalls...
16.
The one where the bird dies
17.
The one with the Lao Lao
18.
The one where I discover bangers and mash
19.
The one with moody views
20.
The one with a girl, a bike and a big city
21.
The one where I'm offered a foetus kebab
22.
The one where I'm really lazy
23.
The one with dolphins in it
24.
The one with the virgin chicken
25.
The one where I eat a lot of pepper
26.
The one with the minty Carbonara
27.
The one where there's a bit o splash back
28.
The one where I'm at one with nature
29.
The one with the red chair restaurants
30.
The one with the disappointed tourists
31.
The one where it's not actually cake
32.
The one where I wait
33.
The one where I cross the border
34.
The one where there are tiny chairs at tiny tables
35.
The one where I fight with the toilet
36.
The one where there was "no roast duck" left
37.
The one with the fashionable poncho's
38.
The one with the broken scooter
39.
The one where I eat wild mushrooms
40.
The one where my kayak is full of coral
41.
The one with the giggling policemen
42.
The one where I am reunited with Pad Thai
43.
The one where everything is extortionate
44.
The one where I'm a bottomless pit
45.
The one where I apparently stink
46.
The one where he melted
47.
The one where Oasis perform live
48.
The one where my splinter is sterile
49.
The one where it comes to an end
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