Up bright and early at 6 and next door for something to eat before I go. Lovely and cool at this time of the morning and I fool myself in to thinking that the walk through the park will be pleasant with minimal sweat! Wrong! A 5 min walk and I am I pay my entrance fee and get a map. There are many temples and areas that I can go to on the map and so I set off. Not too many people here this morning which is great and as the sun is rising it greets the various Buddhas and stone structures with a warming glow.
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Many of the gigantic stone Buddhas have been preserved well and it is just the surroundings that are crumbling away. I walk down the side of a river before crossing a bridge and heading towards the first area. Snap snap. I wander through the park moving from shade to shade as the sun's heat intensifies. This is what I love. Just walking through a park at my own speed, looking at what I want and stopping when I want. Taking 1 photo, or 100 photos, no pressure or obligation to do anything other than what I want, god I feel selfish, but I like it. Ha. I spend about 2 hours in the park, then when I'm satisfied that I have seen all I want I look to the other areas on the map. The map is quite misleading, it would appear that the larger the icon on the map, the more important the temple, because it has nothing to do with the size or spectacle, as I found out. The map also shows a city wall, which I though was to perimeter of the park, however it's not, the park itself is only a small part on the map. So I exit, keen to look at something else. I find these temples and structures much more interesting than the shiny new temples that I am graced with in Bangkok. I think I just find it more real, more original, less restored, just the way it was discovered. It takes me about 20mins to walk to my next choice, though it was only a finger width away from where I was. Another point for the map's accuracy there! Map 3, Marty 0. As I walk up the road I pass plenty of temples, though none are noteworthy enough for me to stop, instead I just fire off the hip. My long trek was worth it, as I discovered a largely deserted area, with plenty of interesting detail in the ruins. There is no information other than the name, so I have no story to tell. Nice to get somewhere to myself, even set up the camera on timer so I can make an appearance in a few shots.
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After my excursion I walk back to my guest house. I has checked out this morning because I wasn't sure how long it would take me. As it turns out it only took me about 4 hours to wander round. I buy myself a bus ticket for 12 to Chiang Mai, so just enough time to get some lunch. Same place as dinner, and against my better judgement I decide to get a coffee, just before the bus, great idea Marty. The lady at the restaurant recognises me from this morning and comes over to talk to me. Her English is pretty good and she keeps telling me how handsome I am. I'm pretty sure I could be blushing with the frequency of this statement, followed up with the classic, "If I was 20 years younger...." Next thing I know I am up and she has her arms around me with her friend taking photos of us. Maybe she just collects foreigners, Ha.
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Bus time. The man I bought my ticket from calls me over, while he flags the bus down. On I get. The bus is fine and I'm tired after my early rise and walk. So curtains closed, hat and buff on, let sleep commence. The journey goes in quickly, mainly because I am asleep for the majority. Hello Chiang Mai. I have the name of a couple of hostels and as I disembark I am sniped by a tuk tuk driver, I know the distance isn't far, but I want him to take me round a number of hostels until I find one I'm happy with, so we agree on 100bht. This is the first time I have been in a tuk tuk in Thailand, they are noisy, uncomfortable and overpriced, but all part of the experience ehh? you can't see out of them because the roof declines so quickly, so you are largely moving about blind. First hostel he takes me to, I run up and ask about a room, the guy tells me he has tonight, but doesn't know about any other days, just has to wait to see if someone checks out. Now with it being so close to new year, I really want to have something sorted so back in the tuk tuk. Next place, they have space and the girl is super friendly, I have a much better feel about this place, I take a look at the room and take it. I tell the girl that I'll definitely stay for 3 nights, to cover new year, then I would see after that.
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In the dorm I meet a Dutch guy, Alex and we grab a beer in the hostel and get chatting. Turns out he is studying gemmology in Bangkok, how interesting. Grab a map from the hostel and luckily enough it is a Saturday and so we can hit up the night market. After turning the wrong way through some bad map reading on my part we head in the right direction. Chiang Mai has a canal that runs in a square around the old city, it is in here that I am staying. We need to cross the canal to head to the night market. I am hit with sights, smells, sounds and a high density of people. A complete sensory overload. From the quaint little backstreets where the hostel is, to the hum of a thriving night market, I love it! Progress through this market was reminiscent of my ascent of Mt Fuji, or any mode of transport in China. You are surrounded on all sides by people slowly jostling through the market. It is a long straight street with stalls up either side, it appears that you stay to the left to progress. There are police at the entrance, directing cars, and they are not afraid of using their whistle. Movement through the market is slow, this is not helped by the fact that every so often there is someone sitting in the middle, playing or singing, or just begging. My personal favourite was the 4 piece band sitting on the ground in a train formation. Lead guitar an singer in the front, rhythm behind him, base behind him, and drums and percussion at the rear. Brilliant. Playing a rendition of "Money for Nothing" as I'm passing by. Nice. A lot of hand made stuff at this market. Bags, shoes and various other clothes. Highlights include, hand made soap in the shape of flowers and some funky lighting. Running adjacent to the market are various side streets, more goods for sale, food included. All of them appear to have a karaoke stage at the end, local up giving it stacks, absolutely horrendous, however better than fighting over a flag! We try various foods, pumpkin and banana, dumplings, lotus tea which tasted just like a bottle of perfume, yummy. It takes us at least 2.5 hours to walk to the end of the street. We walk back a parallel street on our return in 10mins, that gives you an idea of the congestion. I have been here for a few hours and I can already tell that this is somewhere that I am going to like. It just has a really good atmosphere, nice feel about it. Back to the hostel and in to bed. Alex is away to some national park tomorrow and I will wander around old town and take in some of these temples.