8/3/10 (chiang mai)
Jon CarrChiang Mai
Annie and I woke up to the swaying of the train and the banging of the bathroom door. It was a rainy morning as the train raced through the Thai countryside. We arrived at the Chiang Mai train station at 11am. Both Annie and I were feeling tired. Annie had trouble sleeping and felt a little disoriented when she stepped off the train much like setting foot on land after a long and wavy boat ride. I feel like Ambien sleep isn’t real sleep. I like to call it fake sleep because I feel like it isn’t a deep sleep. We were met by Mr. Sak, who is the father of our friend Pai from Bangkok. Pai had arranged for us to stay with his father while we were visiting Chiang Mai. Mr. Sak eagerly greeted us and escorted us to his car. We loaded our luggage and were off to Mr. Sak’s restaurant and bungalows called Khun Chai Kitchen. We got a brief glimpse of downtown Chiang Mai and Mr. Sak pointed out many areas of interest. When we arrived we were shown to our accommodations and quickly got settled. It was lunch time and we visited the restaurant. We had a good lunch and then headed back to our room to rest for the afternoon. At 4pm we decided to explore the downtown area of Chiang Mai and Mr. Sak had armed us with a car and directions. I had not driven a car since we were in Australia roughly three months ago and Asia driving has a unique ebb and flow. I am going to go down a politically incorrect path but most people know the bad reputation Asians get for driving in the United States. It all makes perfect sense to me now having spent the last three months in Asia. It is very different from US driving. For instance when entering the flow of traffic, most drivers don’t stop to wait for a break into the traffic. To me it feels more like a short yield with the expectation that you will let them in. In America this would result in a lot of swearing and probably a few middle fingers. In Asia, it is customary and no one seems to mind. You also have to contend with the thousands of motor bikes weaving in and out of lanes. They really come at you from all directions. It is a unique free flow much unlike the more proper US system. Rules are bent but it all seems to work. I will cut the Asians a little more slack having seen what it is like on their home turf.
The city center of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a square moat and we did a short loop inside the inner city. The town itself it a lot larger than I anticipated and has a population of two million people. It reminds me of Siem Reap in many ways as it was the center of Cambodia before Phnom Penh. Both Phnom Penh and Bangkok became the capital due to its close proximity to the sea. The city has many ancient temples mixed with many modern buildings. The town is loaded with restaurants and is very tourist oriented. After driving around for 30 minutes we discovered a school supply store and I picked up some paper and pens for a writing project and then decided to head back to have some dinner. We had several days to explore and decided to return when we felt a little fresher. On the way back I spotted a little Mexican restaurant called Miguel’s to have dinner. I never turn down a chance for Mexican, a true rarity in Thailand. After dinner it started pouring and luckily we were very close to the Khun Chai Kitchen. We quickly ducked into our room and were in for the night. We spent a little time planning some areas for exploration and were off to bed for a much needed sleep.
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