Part of our wonderful deal from the TAT included the VIP bus to
Chiangmai. A 11 hour journey in a bus with supposed reclining seats,tv's showing current movies and meals. All true...to an extent. The seats reclined slightly, the tv was a 17inch black And White screen showing thai soap opera's and the meals consider of a bottle of warm water and some strange crackers with reminded me of sweet tuk biscuits. None of that actually bothered me. Stories I'd been told prepared me for the worst so I was pleasantly surprised especially as it had a working toilet.
The drive was pretty uneventful. Chatting to other travellers as the exchanged stories, I found myself enjoying the trip and as we stopped at various places for breaks we met other passengers from other busses with the same destination. I saw my first grasshopper the size of my fist and used my first squat toilet( an experience in itself, using a water hose that resembles a post mix gun to wash with).
We arrived on time at 5 am and caught a open air van taxi to our hostel( TAT organised) where we had a 2 days to rest before heading on our 3 day trek into the jungle.
A quick nap and a shower and we were out exploring and searching for some cheap dinner and a bar.
The roof top bar is a dangerous! Im pretty sure its held together is string and you can feel the floor creak and give way with every step. The mozzy's are a nightmare and the floor cushions are full of bugs. Apart from That it has the beat view around.
Sitting with our Chang beer( a good taste but lethal as its percentage varies between 6.4 and 12 ) I heard some familiar voices and recognised it as three of the boys we'd traveled with. Camillio and Jolio from columbia and Greg from France. A few beers later thing got kinda fuzzy.
A tuk tuk to A shanty bar, a shot of tequila the size of a 12oz tumbler and a drunken Emma hanging out the back
Of a van all led to a very late night and a very sore head in the morning