Today we arrived in Chiang Mai at 10am. The Thailand buses
have yet to let us down. I fell asleep the quickest I can remember
for being reclined in a seat.
The first sleep interruption was a police officer
waking up everyone on the bus to check identification. He didn't check our passports.
The officer instead went straight to the back of the bus and pulled a passenger off.
I peeked through the window to watch them search the man's bag and have him take off his large puffy jacket. I told Kevin an update, looked back and the man was gone. The same officer came BACK to our bus and made a FIVE minute announcement in THAI. We had NO idea what he was saying. Kevin and I gave each other options.
"We have captured a serial killer who was on the loose for years, you are safe, continue sleeping."
"We have discovered that the man we have captured has planted a bomb on the bus. Stay calm, you will not be able to evacuate until the bomb is detonated."
"You are all being taken to jail, Good luck."
I mean the point is, who knows what he was saying. No one spoke English.
My next sleep disturbance was when the bus attendant turned on all the bus lights, blared music videos at 12 midnight and 4am to wake us for the free dinner and breakfast service. I awoke for dinner to be tricked into choosing way too spicy food and handed it over to Kevin.
Again, Kevin ate for two at 4 in the morning. There was no way I was going to get out at 4 to eat. Never would I depart from my slumber once I've fallen asleep on a bus with less than 5 hours until our ETA.
Once in town, we found a place recommended by The Lonely Planet which
was almost shocking that we actually located it. We have been misled by this book that
we sadly continue to follow. Wrong addresses here and there.
We checked in and walked to The Free Bird Cafe. All of their procedes
go to The Burmese refugees. Burma is one heck of a country
with a wild government system. Therefore, there are a few
organizations raising money to help people. We supported this
cafe and in return enjoyed delicious organic food and whole wheat bread. I had a whole wheat grilled sandwich with hummus feta and olives. Oh my, this was a nice change of pace from the local food we've been eating.
Afterwards, we changed into our hiking boots and took off for a 3 hour walking tour visiting
tons of temples (wat's).
We took the Lonely Planet's suggested walking tour: only backwards.
Wat Lam Chang
Wat Chiang Man
Wat U MOng Kiang Wiang
Wat Phan Tao
Wat Chedi Luang
Wat Phra Singh
and took a songtow to our last stop.
At 5pm we ended up at Wat Suan Doc for a monk chat.
One monk started us off with general information and switched
with another monk. The 2nd monk provided very interesting perspectives on Buddhism
and his personal life experience coming from Luang Prabang, Laos.
We discussed everything from general Buddhist practices to his personal goals as a monk and advice he would give to us.
We spent ONE HOUR and some change talking to monks
and learning about their lives. I could have stayed longer
but rightfully so Kevin was ready to continue our busy day.
We eventually made it to the night market and checked out
amazing local goods. I bought another journal. (Journal #6)
Our goal was to check out a company called The Elephant Nature Park.
This is the ONLY company in Chiang Mai that we could find that didn't include riding
elephants. Many companies claim to be sanctuaries and
safe havens for elephants but include riding the animals
and hitting them to guide them. Not my slice of cake.
Instead this company focuses on bathing the elephants, brushing them and feeding them.
We got some prices to book a tour tomorrow and headed to a chill bar.
We found a little parking lot style alley with a ton of dive bars.
Babylon, Panda bar, Jar Bar, Cafe Del Sol ETC. We SHARED a drink and headed back to
MALAK Guest House.
Finally: we have retired to a much needed relaxing night.
Which, unfortunately still includes doing laundry by hand and updating our budget.
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