After Hong Kong we have tried to avoid larger cities like the plague. Hence no Bangkok or Phuket. Regardless, we thought going somewhere with a bit more Thai culture would be wise. Maybe we would even increase Veronica's Thai vocabulary (as you would expect the only thing she knows how to say is "more chilis" ) so we headed up to Chiang Mai, the largest northern Thai city.
There are numerous tours in and around the city that we were able to sign up for. We did a 4 hour Thai cooking class, spent some time walking around the night bazaar and Chinese New Years celebration in China Town and I learned a little bit about myself....... I learned that there are some things in this world that I won't eat. Perhaps it is the fact that traveling abroad can be a constant cycle of diarrhea and constipation and I'm weary of which street side vendor will start that cycle over again, or perhaps it is that caramelized locusts and cockroaches just aren't meant to be eaten. Either way I could not bring myself to try one.
We found a plaza with multiple discos and reggae bars that we went to a few times. They were full of travelers so at any one time we may be having drinks with people from 6 different countries. One of the most fun things about traveling is meeting all of the other people that are out here doing the same thing as us. There are lawyers, professors, school teachers, drop outs and people working odd jobs just to be able to live outside of their original countries. So we all got some beers in us and laughed the nights away while poking fun at our cultural differences. Nothing like alcohol and politics to keep an international conversation alive. Everyone is pretty open minded out here so surprisingly no fights erupted.
Our favorite tour consisted of a hike to a waterfall where we could go swimming, an elephant ride, a white water rafting trip, a bamboo rafting trip and a visit to a market run by the tribe of long neck women ( the one that wears all those gold rings on their neck which pushes down their collarbone to make their neck longer). All of that was done in one day.
I rented a scooter for 2 days so I could get around town, I've been walking for 3 weeks and I'm sick of it. The fact that I didn't understand any of the street signs or traffic laws didn't seem to matter because from the looks of it nobody did. It was the cheapest thrill I have had in Thailand. For 5 bucks a day I could zip around dodging people, bikes, potholes and cars. Don't worry Ron and Barb, I didn't take Veronica with me : )
Currently I'm sitting on a river bank outside of Bangkok watching people feed the catfish. The catfish here are the size of small tarpon and there are so many of them that when you throw bread in it looks like you could walk across the river on their backs. This river must be crazy polluted because even the Thai people aren't eating them. Veronica has just flown home to earn me some more Baht in case I decide to stay here : ) . This evening I am flying back down to the beaches and those famous rock climbing cliffs.