Some where in the upper right of the sea of people is meg, sitting on the floor as we wait for the over night train to Chang Mai. We experienced the national anthem for the first time; every night at six oclock all over the country every one stops, stands up with their arms at their side while the anthem is played. When it finishes every just continues on as if someone hit the un pause button.
We boarded our train at 7:30 pm with second class sleeper tickets; the berths were not to bad, the car was almost all backpackers. As dawn broke, we awoke to misty mountains and green jungle wizzing by the window. With bangkok far behind us, we arrived in Chang mai, which was truly a breath of fresh air. The differnce is night and day. Below is our guesthouse, run by a friendly couple from Hawaii.

We truly feel at home here, and envision ourselves staying here for longer than we planned. Our room is comfortable, has a hot shower and western toilet. Although it has a fridge and satellite TV, we downgraded from ac to a fan, as we slowly become accustomed to living without creature comforts. Our room is 4.50 US per person. After washing bangkok off our feet and bodies, we head out in to town, had some decent greek food, then splurged (4 dollars) on traditional thai massages. The antibiotics finally came in handy as we made a mad dash back to our rooms so Meg could say hello to the travellers big D. Luckily the Cypro worked and we soon headed back out to explore the Sunday evening market: a night when the whole town seems to be out.

Crafts, art, clothing, and food crowd the two main streets that intersect the center of the town. In the center intersection was a jade buddha that locals where pouring water over as is the tradition. Meg and I braved the street food for the first time and came away with full happy bellies. We can’t wait to be here for the festival next week. We will post more as our adventure continues.

10 Responses to “A Breath of Fresh Air”

1. Glad to hear things are a bit better outside of Bangkok. Great pictures…but I must echo PT re the ’stache.

   Reilly got your card today…the first one in the book…she is plotting your progress on a large map upstairs in the playroom.

   Lisa is still contracting occasionally but no real labor yet…we’ll let you know.

   Stay safe.

   Sean, Lisa, and Reilly

   posted by Sean, Lisa, and Reilly on October 8th, 2006 at 6:25 pm

2. I’ve been without Internet all day…couldn’t wait to logon and see if the wandering couple had posted any more news… Yes! Nothing here in Kalamazoo sounds remotely exciting, so I’ll spare you. The photos are wonderful. Enjoy…you’ve worked hard for this xo Mum

   posted by Mum on October 8th, 2006 at 8:44 pm

3. Hey guys,

   i missed your call cause i was just getting done with work. I think that weird number that came up messed up my phone because after u called the phone froze, went blank and started bubbling(ok no bubbling). I WILL pick up next time now that i know that it aint THOSE people!
   Latenight is best or before 3pm my time! Everything sounds like a dream and im so happy for you.’Stache is coming along beautifully i see:-)Talk to u soon
   Love
   Gena

   posted by Gena on October 9th, 2006 at 12:28 am

4. I guess for x-mas i can get you a weed wacker to take care of that peach fuzz on your upper lip…..

   .. have fun.

   posted by Mosha on October 9th, 2006 at 3:43 pm

5. Your website for the trip is awesome- truely amazing.Being in Bangkok for only 3 days, it is difficult to get a taste of a city comprised of over 10 million and a culture dating centuries. Do not be too quick to judge the people or the bustle of the city itself.Give Bangkok another go if you have the time- it is cultured, tolerant and spiritual; and amassed with wonderful food! Enjoy the up countryside where so many of the city dwellers originate.Be safe and take care of each other- AC

   posted by AC on October 9th, 2006 at 7:39 pm

6. This is soooo cool. I really wish I were there.
   I don’t have any advice except eat where the locals eat, luxuriate in your hot shower and western plumbing and count your blessings.
   TM will be back in China on the 22nd I think. He’ll be in touch.
   Mother and Dad are fine. I’m going to get the d– computer. They can’t miss this.
   Love, kfm

   posted by kfm on October 10th, 2006 at 5:43 pm

7. Hi to JB and her worship.

   Guess what? I’m hungry. I mean jealous. Well, maybe jealous of people who aren’t hungry. Or, just jealous of you two seeing all that stuff.

   I can’t divulge my true identity because I am working undercover as a food additive taster and last time I told someone my name Wendy’s downgraded the meat in their chili to the innards of the rare native flying dung beatle larvae and sales went down slightly for the quarter.

   Your trip sounds fantastic - it must be sweet to be taller than anyone. I would recommend getting lost again and not having a map and just wandering around - that seems like the ultimate in travelling (and opposite to life back in workland) - foreign language, foreign food, foreign streets, no responsibilities (except throwing up 3 fingers - for Rich & Rare Whiskey (it’s aged 3 years)), no schedule, no clues, nothing to do but go where the smells and the colors and the sounds take you…is somebody cutting onions in here? Oh, it’s me - onion sandwhiches for dinner. It can’t be champagne and bon-bons every night.

   I kept seeing the word ‘baht’ repeated in the aforementioned blogs - uh, I think the correct term is brat? And, yes, you may give her a knuckle head if it makes you feel better. Besides, this is the cornerstone of Buddhism - “Making others feel bad, to make yourself feel good”. And, if that doesn’t help, challenge her to a good game of ‘chicken’ on the mopeds. (The secret is, even if you pull away first, try to be sure you’re driving right in front of a stall that sells a lot of marbles, they will make her tires spin too much).

   Samir, myself (whoever i may be) and Mikey (he of the successful ‘Mikey’s Summer Side Dish’ fame) are in pre-production of our latest motion picture. We are yet to come up with a working title, but ‘bobbing for hot dogs’ is a leading contender. It is a rags to riches story of broke-ass son (mikey) overcomes domineering dad to become junior ping-pong champion of the world, but only after he battles it out with his arch nemesis (sey-more) in some heated scenes, and also after his nemesis is found out to be a drug cheat (a made up drug or other performance enhancer that we are yet to come up with yet, but it gives him some special power) and has been having secret meetings with his black market agent (dane).

   it’s going to ge a box office smash.

   ok, well, take it easy, look both ways when you cross the road, don’t eat anything that looks or smells like a rat or other rodent, and keep the photos coming! great idea to do the blog.

   peace and love

   Mr Burglar

   posted by The Turd Burglar on October 11th, 2006 at 11:39 am

8. John-Neil and Meg,

   Are you guys reading these comments? I cant tell. If so, aside from the question I just asked, I have another: why is there a perfectly square moat surrounding the central part of Chang Mai? As a follow up, where does the water feed in from, and what is its origin or history? Thanks for the updates. Cheers,

   Patrick

   posted by Patrick on October 11th, 2006 at 12:56 pm

9. To he-who-shall-not-be-named,
   Please save me a small cameo in the movie…I’m not asking for much, just a few lines. Meanwhile, enjoy the onion sammiches and keep posting.

   posted by "PrinceS" on October 11th, 2006 at 10:25 pm

10. Princes - we have a role for a witch. will you take it? it doesn’t pay well - 1 punch in the face if you forget your lines, a punch in the face even if you do remember your lines, two for flinching, that sort of thing.

    posted by The Turd Burglar on October 15th, 2006 at 2:14 pm

Post a comment