Warning!!!! Family don't freak out!!!

Sawasdee!

We arrived bright and early into Chiangmai via over night train which as an experience and a half.

Just like the river taxi, it gave us a completely new view of Bangkok. Watching the sun go down over all the squatters in their make shift accommodation, small children running around the railway lines, stray animals, washing hanging from windows. There didn't appear to be any wealth living along the railway line, but they all looked pretty happy.

The train ride was great!!! It's honestly the best way to travel- I can see why people would pay so much money for a first class airline ticket, being able to lie down and have a sleep was the best thing. Unfortunately for us we booked our ticket same day of travel and for a Friday of a long weekend so it wasn't cheap! We'll not by Thai standards anyway. It came to about $50 NZ, that included an air condition carriage, a spacious seat that folded out into the bottom bunk while the top was pulled down from the ceiling, sheets, pillow and blankets. Great deal. Had an amazing sleep (thanks to an eye mask and ear plugs- the train is pretty noise, and shakes a fair amount) and got to see a decent amount of rural Thailand. As you can imagine, it is luscious and green with a few Buddhas, or temples spotted around the place. There was one spectacular buddah statue that we watched the sun rising above, along the way. It's was absolutely huge, we initially only saw the top of his head sticking out from amongst the trees, but as we got closer we were able to see more of it, right down to its facial features which was very impressive considering it was built a few hundred meters from the train line.

Chiang mai is a beautiful city! It's still busy and bustling, but not chaotic like Bangkok. I definitely don't feel like I am risking my life when crossing the roads here.
Being the unseasoned travellers that we are, we hadn't rebooked any accommodation and instead thought we would have a look at a travellers guide on the train and just stop into a few places to see if they had any vacancies for the night. Pagoda Inn sounded pretty good in the travel guide, recommenced by lonely planet and had good user reviews. When we arrived there in our sawngthaew (a red shared taxi that is the locals preferred mode of pubic transport. It more or less looks like a single cab ute/hilux with an enclosed tray at the back with 2 benches either side for seating) the Inn was gone. The driver, Jazmin and Pam all got out to have a bit of a look around while I stayed with the bags. Next thing I know, the driver is back from looking around, back in the cab and starting to drive away. With me and all our stuff. Images of Liam Nesson in 'Taken' began flashing through my mind!!! I was freaking out, banging on the window telling him to stop- he must have thought I was crazy! Turns out he was just going around the block because there was no room to turn around. Phew!!!! Would have been nice to have been told that.

We eventually found a room at Lanna guest house. Who the heck is Lanna?? Lanna is actually Lan- meaning million and Na- meaning rice fields thus literally translating into 'million rice fields' and refers to group of provinces in Northern Thailand, of which chiang mai is the final location made capital by King Mangrai in 1292. The name Lanna is a reference to the rich agriculture of the region. Anyway, enough of the history lesson...

Exploring the city has been a lot of fun, there is so much to see. Chiangmai is divided into two areas, the old city and the new. The old city is built in a perfect square and was originally surrounded by a large wall and moat. The moat remains as well as some of of the original wall. The new city surrounds this.
The old city is jam packed full of stunning temples- it feels like there is one on every second block!! And they are STUNNING... Intricate carved statues embellished with colourful glass. Detailed gold paintings on the doors. Flowers. Giant Buddhas. Scarily life like statues of monks. Live monks. To be honest, no description I could write would ever do justice to how beautiful they are so when I am able to access my camera card I will attach my photos of them. In the mean time if you wanted to have a bit of a look the two main ones we visited were Wat (temple) Phrasingh and Wat Chedi Luang. Wat Chedi Luang is very different compared with most of the temples in Chiangmai, rather than being very decorative and pretty, it is made out of brown brick and has grey concrete carved elephants on the sides. While it sounds quite dull, particularly compared to the others, this was actually my favourite temple we visited. I'm not entirely sure why, maybe it's the fact that it is so old, maybe it was the scale of it or maybe it was just that the grounds felt so peaceful...

After all the temple gazing....and walking the street in 35+ degree heat it was definitely time for a Thai massage. I got massaged a massage from a convict-well ex convict actually. In Chiangmai, the women's prison have a rehabilitation programme where they teach inmates how to cook, sew and/or massage. As part of the programme they spend time working in a restaurant come massage spa which is open to the public. The place is a popular tourist destination- a cheap massage and a good story- and so they were completely booked out. So we were sent off down the road to 'branch one' of the ex convicts spa. Here we changed into lighter clothing- brown loose top with matching brown baggy pants- now who looks like the innate?!?! Unfortunately there were only 2 free massage beds so one of us had to wait- I volunteered- and by wait I mean wait 2 mins for my masseuse to take me via SCOOTER down and around the corner- looking like an escaped convict fleeing- to 'branch two'! The massage was amazing!

Kap Khun Ka!

Big love to you all Xxxx