Chang Mi, Thailand

As MCC Bangladesh volunteers, we are accustomed to long hours on rickety busses swerving to avoid various bikes, rickshaws, and animals. Therefore, a two hour flight to Bangkok was just too easy. We headed straight for the train station and after eating my favourite Thai meal (green curry with tofu and vegetables) we embarked on an overnight train ride. We were able to get sleeper seats, after a small diversion following the advice of an o so helpful Thai man informing us that seats were sold out for weeks, even months, but luckily we could get bus tickets just behind the station. Luckily, as we pondered the purchase at the bus station, we realized Lonely Planet discussed just such a scam. We went back to the train station just to check, and lo and behold, plenty of train tickets readily available! I’m used to scam artists in Africa, but they are typically easier to spot.

We were a bit late but finally pulled into Chang Mai around noon the next day. We took a while to figure out what we were doing, it’s difficult when you can’t trust any of the advice you’re given, but things looked much better after lunch and finding a room. For lunch I enjoyed long standing Thai favourites….falafal pita and cappuccino…ok, maybe more popular in other parts of the globe, but completely unheard of in Bangladesh so a real treat. In fact, our culinary journey through Chang Mai would maybe not appeal to those of you NOT living in a developing country, but for us it was truly exciting… “O look, they have wheat bread.” “Do you mind if I get a Starbucks mint mocha” (that wasn’t me…I found plenty of fabulous coffee alternatives- Thai coffee is really good and Italian coffee was also available). Being used to all the fabulous vegetables in Thai food, I was a bit surprised to see their huge affinity for pork. Street vendors everywhere are selling sausages of different types and sizes. I bought some pastries with an overwhelming (and disgusting) taste of lard.

OK, but we’ll never get through the journey at this rate, so let me go to lists

Night 1 – walked through one temple en route to night market where we lost each other and seemed to find completely different areas. I found an overwhelming amount of craft booths, and had a 30 minute head and shoulders massage which was nice but definitely different from massages as we know them

Day 2 – journey in the back of a pick up to a large temple where Thai people go to pay homage. Was a bit shocked at how many food vendors, trinket salesmen, and massage. I did actually take advantage of the massage because by the time we got up there, I had such a head ache and was so car sick I needed a time out. Temple visit was followed by stops at kings gardens and cultural village. See photos.

We did another night at the night market, this time managing to stick together.

Day 3 – Christmas day. I’d been having such a headache, I hadn’t booked any of the excursions. I woke up raring to go, however, and managed to get added to a trip to Doi Inothon, the highest point in Thailand. We stopped at 2 waterfalls which were really pretty, a village where we could see the women weaving traditional cloth, and then on to the peak. The brochure had sided like it was a bit of a trek to the peak. I think the description of this will maybe help you have a glimpse of the real Thailand, and I was less than enamoured. You first view the surroundings from the parking lot…very pretty. You walk a quite short paved path to the giant sign marking the highest point, you walk a few feet further (it actually seemed we went up more) to a Buddhist altar, and a short distance again to a snack shop and trinket shop. When we’ve hiked out to Cape Lookout in Oregon we have joked that it would be nice to have a vending machine out there, but seriously, in Thailand, they would.

That evening we had a nice Italian dinner followed by a stop at the coffee shop and joining all the other foreigners making skype or MSN calls at the internet café. I even found a mince pie to complete the holiday…the place selling them was more like an Irish pub so I was mocked mercilessly for charging into a bar and ordering a mince pie, but well worth it!

Day 4- our final day in Chang Mi so we visited the arts and cultural heritage museum which was interesting and very well done. After a snack, we headed for the train for another overnight journey back to Bangkok.