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Our last few days in Chiang Mai (and in fact Thailand, as well as SE Asia) passed by in a blur of relaxation, eating, and walking the markets at night. As an exception to this, Friday night we walked to Wat Suan Dok, where they host a "Monk Chat" three nights a week. We arrived just after 5pm and sat with a small group of other travelers, asking questions of two young monks (well, one monk and one novice) about their lives and Buddhism in general. The young monk was very well spoken and had a lot to say, and many interesting insights into the life of a Buddhist monk. For example, we learned that young boys will often enter the temple as a novice, and be educated their until about the age of 20. Then, he can decide to pursue his life as a monk, or leave the temple and resume a life as a "lay person". However, even if he choses to leave the temple, he can always return to the life of a monk, if and when he so chooses. He could go, find a wife, and live life as a married man, and return to be a monk again later in life. Very interesting. We also learned that the colour variations of the monk's robes will indicate rank and levels of respect to be shown to the monk.
We had some good luck our last night in Chiang Mai when a thunderstorm blew in and brought with it a cool wind, rain, and some lower temperatures. It was very welcome! It was a nice change to sleep with the doors and windows open and not melt from the heat. Waking up the next morning, the skies were still overcast and the day much cooler. It was great for our last day walking around the city to have a prolonged break from the heat.
At 10pm, we boarded our night bus to Bangkok. We opted for an upgrade from the regular backpackers bus so that we could have a better sleep on our first of two back-to-back overnight transits. This turned out to have been an excellent choice. This bus was easily the nicest bus we'd been on during this entire trip! The seats were comfortable and very spacious. They even had foot rests and an electric massage option. And, they fed us! We were also impressed by the fact that they left Chiang Mai on time and arrived in Bangkok on time. This is a definite first for Asia!
Arriving in sweaty, sticky Bangkok, we decided we'd had enough of the city the first time around and wanted to head straight to the area near the airport to relax until our night flight. From the bus station, we had to get to the skytrain station, and inquired about prices for the taxi to get us there. In typical Bangkok fashion, the prices were outrageously inflated, and would've cost us almost as much as our 10 hour bus ride! Luckily, we bumped into 2 travelers from China who'd used the buses there before and we found our way to the skytrain by bus, costing us only 60 cents!
Once at the airport, we found a cheap hotel nearby and rented a room for the day. Having a nice, long, daytime nap would hopefully help to get us onto UK time. Having a 2 day lay-over in London will hopefully make our jet-lag a bit easier to bear, since it's almost exactly half-way home in terms of time zones.
When we finally made our way to the airport to check-in, we were greeted by a huge line already formed for our British Airways flight. When we got to the counter, the lady told us our flight was overbooked and asked if we'd mind being switched to a Thai Airways flight to London that left just 5 minutes later. After checking that we'd have seats together and that had personal t.v. screens, Mark gave the nod and we went for it. Once we'd decided this, the lady told us we'd be given credit from British Airways for our troubles - to the tune of 125 pounds each! Huge score! That would easily pay for our time in London!
Our Thai Airways flight was great, the 12 hours passed easily, the food was good, and the seats were comfortable; we were landing at Heathrow before we knew it. We took the tube into central London and headed to Clapham, where we'll be staying with Clare and Chris for the 2 nights. They have a beautiful flat in a quiet, residential neighbourhood that is just starting to break into spring blossoms. Mark and I wandered around Clapham this afternoon and just took in the sights of the city. It is a bit of reverse-culture shock being back in an English speaking country. For example, I think our cab driver this morning was a bit put off when I bowed my head in thanks. Might take awhile to knock that habit off. Also, it was a bit of a difficulty finding a cab from the tube station to Clare's. Both Mark and I seperately wished a tuk tuk would just pull up!
However, I must say that it is lovely to be back in the land of toilets that flush and to not have to carry around my own stash of toilet paper anymore.
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