Getting to Chiang Mai

Sawadeekah from Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is Em typing and Wesa drinking Singha beer at my side. (actually, we are both drinking Singha)

We arrived in Chiang Mai today after spending over 16 hours in the air, and another 10 or more sitting in airports. The actual trip out here was unremarkable, except for the fact that we spent 5 hours in the Taipei, Taiwan airport without food or water, because we did not want to change money or get a lot of money in that currency out of the ATM. Another traveler was feeling slightly more ballsy, and filled up her water bottle at the fountain. I was having visions of fluorescent green waterfalls as the aftermath of drinking the local water, which totally explains why I got a thai iced tea this afternoon with ice in it. We were also treated to a performance by dozens of teenaged students from China, who sang along with their instructor and performed some half-hearted attempts at a half upper body hula. Not for the first time, did we shrug and wonder what the heck was going on. OOH--another highlight...leaving Taipei, all the ground people who rolled the plane out onto the runway sat out there and waved to the plane while it got geared up to taxi down the runway. And tried to mostly smile while they did it. Nice touch, China Air!


But anyway, we arrived here. First impressions of Thailand---GREEN. SO green. You think the NW is green, this place is ONLY green. Flying into Chiang Mai, the only other colors you'd see were the blue and red roofs. We also sighted rice paddies for the first time. We breezed through customs, got some thai "baht" and immediately spent too much on a taxi to our hostel. Immediately after arriving, our landlady immediately started trying to sign us up on tours, successfully, I might add. I believe we are going "ooking" tomorrow. "ooking" is "cooking." But otherwise her English is pretty awesome. Oh, did I mention the HUGE bouquet of lillies that were waiting here for me when I got to the hostel? Apparently boyfriend found out where we are staying, and set it up. So very cool, Professor, very cool. Trying to score points when I am not even around--impressive.

More impressions of Chiang Mai---I have to say at this point, Wesa and I probably have different ones. I see a city that is full of contrasts and contradictions. Absolute squalor nestled next to gold and marble. Garbage piled up against prestigious schools and temples. Streets and buildings full of national treasures and history, but the only people you really see flocking to learn about the Thai culture are the tourists, who occupy each street corner and bar like locusts. There are farangs (foreign English looking people--we count) every step. We spent most of today trying to ditch them, trying to find the 'real' part of this city. I think I might have worn through some flip flops today, looking. I was feeling something like disappointment until sister and I finally stumbled upon the markets--the markets where actual local people go to get food that they cook for themselves. We walked by heaping platters of fruits I can't figure out how to eat, fish so fresh that it was flopping around in nets on the ground, oven roasted roaches and slippery eels, endless amounts of spices and fried things. THIS was the Thailand I had imagined. Not another person like me queuing up to take another picture of the child monks dressed in bright orange. I also felt better after I fought an old lady over 10 baht this afternoon for a poncho (it is raining a lot here right now, stay tuned for posts about how the rain sucks). 10 baht is about 30 cents or so, just to put that in perspective. I hadn't done any bargaining since I was in south america, so it was nice to hone my skills on a frail, wrinkled harridan such as herself. (by the way, I lost) We also got invited to come watch a parade held in honor of the "Nun who came down from the mountain." I am not sure who the Nun is, or what mountain, but its always nice to be invited.

And of course, the other side of the coin was that Wesa was that tourist queuing up to take photos of the monks. Every time I turned around, she had her camera to her face. I am not sure if she even looked at anything she took pictures of today. What I have found remarkable is that she has not balked once at venturing into this foreign place. While I was slightly grumpy at what I was seeing, I can only imagine what was going through her head. (sister, you'll have to supplement this for me, i am not much of a mind reader) I remember my first time, stepping off the plane in Lima, Peru, and I don't think I blinked for 3 weeks. I think this girl was born to be a traveler, but just needed the right push to get started.

Impressions--the people. Very smiley. After I told that taxi driver I wasn't going to pay him very much, he still called our hostel to locate it for us on his personal cell phone, and took us right to its doorstep.

A difficulty (one of very few)--LANGUAGE. Not asking for things. I am talking looking at the language. Road signs. Shop signs. Prices. All written in an alphabet that is reminiscent of me learning to write my name for the first time. Some of the letters look like small animals. Trying to decipher what street I am on is like combine Atari's Frogger with the game where you trying to hurriedly spot the differences between the two pictures, and you have most of my afternoon (frantically comparing the hieroglyphs on the map to the signs). Most of the time I just have to smile and hope that I am actually buying what I am trying to buy. (just my luck to walk out with 50 pounds of dragon fruit when I really want an orange fanta)

We will be in Chiang Mai for one more full day. Tomorrow we are going to learn how to cook Thai-style, and then if the weather isn't hurricane force rain and wind, we'll hike up the mountain to the wat up on the hill. After that we arrange transportation for the Thai-Lao border at Chiang Khong, for our reserved spots at the Gibbons Experience.

We aren't killing each other yet, seriously.