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So..... the bus journey from hell, aka Laos to Thailand was not a lot of fun. There was absolutely no leg room whatsoever. It was a sitting up bus but you could recline the seat a tiny bit and when the person in front did it almost literally took your knee caps off. Thankfully the bus was not full so once everyone was on Gemma and I rushed to the back and got 2 seats each to ourselves - otherwise I don't know how I would have coped! The only way to get half comfortable was to wedge yourself with your back against the window (and the arm rest sticking into your spine) and your legs up on the seat beside you. Once you finally got comfortable enough to maybe manage to sleep, your hopes were crushed as the road out of Laos into Thailand is one big fecking pothole- everytime we went over one we all bounced so high we left our seats - if you were lucky it was just a small pothole and you smacked your head off the window instead- so sleep was impossible. The only funny thing on the bus trip was that we stopped for a toilet break in the middle of the night - it was pitch black but Gemma and I ventured down the path a little to find a 'good spot' and had just crouched down to wee when two other girls from the bus - who we obv did not know - walked straight over and joined us in a circle as if it was a mothers meeting or something - I was just astounded - what could you say? The four of us communal weeing in the middle of nowhere - why why why! Why did they think it would be ok to join us? Bizarre! I couldnt stop laughing at their weirdness!
Basically we got picked up to leave to Laos at 6pm and we arrived in Chiang Mai at 4pm the following day - 2 buses, a tuk tuk and a boat later! Checked into the first guesthouse we found and headed out in search of McDonalds as we havent had one since the UK and even though neither of us love it that much, we were determined to have it just because we could! Felt like a western sell out afterwards but it was good! Afterwards we were good for nothing so went home to chill out with some telly and air con and catch up on some sleep! I got into bed and couldnt keep my eyes open!
The following day was really great. We'd had a great nights sleep and went straight out exploring Chiang Mai. Went to several Wats which were pretty cool and most of them you can chat to a monk about buddism which confused me as in the other asian countries I've seen monks almost have a heart attack at the thought of having to sit next to a woman on the bus yet here you can talk to them! We walked round for a few hours and stopped for lunch, I got my mitts on some glass noodle soup which is the best soup in the world and I loved it last time I was in Thailand - it was yummalicious! Next we went to an arts and cultural museum which was really great. It was raining a bit but we were glad as we didnt want to be too hot walking around. We got home about 5pm and booked our bus to Bangkok.... we're not staying there - just passing through on the way to Kanchanaburi - I hate Bangkok from my last trip and thankfully Gemma is not fussed about seeing it. The 12 hour bus journey down there sounded like a piece of cake compared to the Laos-Thailand journey! And the bus ticket is only 6 pounds - happy days. You cant go from London to Surrey for 6 quid!
We chilled out for a few hours then headed out to the night market - yes we are obsessed with night markets now! This one was very different to the one in Luang Prabang but was great and lots of new stuff to look at! It was absolutely chucking it down with rain but at least it was warm rain. We were supposed to go out for a drink but by time we'd mooched all around the market it was 11pm so we went back to our guest house, ordered a cup of tea each and went to bed - how sad are we!
Next day we got up and packed up everything as check out was 11 - left our bags with the guest house and headed out to the National Museum which was good and very informative (great picture of the Queen and Prince Philip visiting Chiang Rai many many moons ago). We also took a tuk tuk to the immigration office to enquire about our visas but the queue was massive so it was a wasted journey - never mind! We will need to do a border hop once we're down south to extend the visas - which isnt too big a deal. We went back into town, had some lunch, and sat in Starbucks having a coffee -the rain was the worst I've ever seen, and sitting in starbucks looking out onto a grey wet high road with mcdonalds, well I almost thought I was in London for a moment!
At 6pm we were picked up by a tuk tuk and taken to our big bus for the 12 hour ride to Bangkok - very happy to see we had lots of leg room on this one. Snoozed a little on the journey but didnt sleep - was ok though. It was still dark when we arrived in Bangkok about 5.45am - we literally got off the bus, got a taxi to the other bus station, went to the ticket counter and bought a ticket to Kanchanaburi and we were on the bus by 6.10am! The less time spent in Bangkok the better as far as I'm concerned!
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