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Day 12. Travel to Chaing Mai
Easy start to today... We are getting collected by coach for Chaing Mai at 10am from outside our hostel which is very convenient.
Another night sleeping on a bed made from granite is taking its toll so for that reason alone we'll be glad to move on.
We soon notice the terrain change within half an hour of our 5 hr journey North and we stumble across something we have not seen before... A hill.... In fact lots of them... All with flat land between and all covered in trees... The otherwise flat green land now looks all bumpy on a massive scale...
The fields have given way to trees, and they cover every inch of available space and a huge variety... We drive for hours and soon pull in for a 5 minute break and driver change...
Once on our way again we start to climb, mile after mile, gently weaving our way up, passing big lorries which make very slow progress, struggling with there loads on the steeper sections of this long dual carriage way ( H1 ) eventually we get to the top... And we've slowed a fair but ourselves... But not for long.....
The top of the small mountain we've just climbed is covered in warning sings to "keep in a low gear... " and "test your brakes"
Our old coach slowly increases in speed... Faster and faster we travel... Up a gear... Then another, then another, we are the fastest thing on the road by this stage... Nothing passes us for miles... I begin to ask myself just how fast can a tiered old 1970's coach go..... Well it looks like we are going to find out... We carrier down this roads taking up both lanes on the bends and brushing past other cars with what feels like inches to spare, passing them like there stationary... Some of the bends are pretty sharp.... Far to sharp for this old coach at these speeds, objects begin to fall from the overhead rail and a young polish couple sat near us are clearly concerned. The brakes are not used much, but when they are there used hard, the smell from them soon enters the coach as they quickly overheat....
Desperately looking to ease your sense of imminent doom you try to reason with yourself.... These guys are doing this every day.... It must be fine....... Right ?
We shoot passed another coach that's getting winched out of a lake which became its final resting point after smashing through a crash barrier which does nothing to easy the current tension level in this coach... After another ten minutes we come down to a more normal speed as the coach no longer has a down hill slop to its advantage and everybody starts to breath again. There is a area at the back which is pretty much a big bed over the engine... I place myself here for the remainder of the journey.... We are all glad to disembark at Chaing Mai and we count ourselves lucky to be there...
Whilst in Chaing Mai we are staying at Paradise hotel, it looks far from what its name suggests as you approach but once inside it improves.... It's a proper hotel with pool and sauna rooms... Our room is nice... Soft bed and pillows that move when you put your head on them.... We're pleased.
We dump our bags and head out in the direction of town for tea...
As soon as Shiree finishes informing me that she didn't enjoy today's coach ride at all, and that she'd really like a glass of Chardonnay we pass a shop front call "Wineday" we head straight over and enter the first wine bar we've seen in Thailand. We stay here for a while...I think the shops new... It's empty, very clean and the smell of the new exposed wood work is still noticeable....
Its really nice... Like a little piece of home in a far away land.
Chaing Mai seems nice.... Although much smaller, its a "bigger" city like Bangkok so everything's available... Just without the hustle and bustle.
We grab are first bite to eat in a restaurant that almost solely caters for western appetites and head back for a good nights sleep...
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