Chiang Mai, Thailand
Well...
Off on another adventure.
I'm kinda in a funk -- the train ride up here was fun but I did not sleep well. Too many other sounds that would wake me up and as of recently if something wakes me up at 2am or 3am or whenever I am wide awake... laying there for a good 30-45 minutes before falling back asleep. I wish I could get over that and be a sound sleeper once again but it just isn't happening yet.
We are in an honest to goodness hotel -- probably the nicest we have stayed in yet. All though the one in Kathmandu was really nice as well. We have a 3 day trek coming up -- we meet the guide tonight and tomorrow we leave. We will be riding elephants, taking a bamboo raft, and exploring the local jungles. It should be awesome! However I know that we got very spoiled with our "private" guide and porter while in Nepal -- sharing a guide with 10 other people will be quite difficult.
After that we are going to see the "long necks" and then from there it is on our own for a week or so. We plan on 3 days in 3 spots... here in Chang Mai to go climb, 3 days in Pai to just explore at the recomendation of Brad (who gave me great advice on Nepal so I'll trust him again) and then 3 days somewhere else (yet to be decided). These are the times that I will probably enjoy the most -- getting out on our own and exploring. Not that the trek will be bad -- any time you get to ride an elephant it's going to be fun. But getting out and exploring things is a great way to experience the local culture. Heh -- look at me -- I sound like a seasoned traveler. But still...
Then it's back to Chang Mai for 3 more days for the light festival -- then a 3 day (?) slow boat ride up to Laos. I'm not quite sure how long we will spend in Laos -- nor exactly how we get back to Bangkok yet. But hopefully that will all fall into place before too long. I'm thinking that if prices are decent that we will just fly back -- saving us 2 days of travel by bus/train. That gets us back and down south a little bit quicker -- possibly 4 days which would be enough for us both to get our divers certs so we can go diving -- one of my goals for the trip.
OK -- on a completely unrelated side note... I was just reading a travel-blog about going to Laos to find out what city we end up in -- and how to get to their international airport from that city... the lady mentioned that Laos food is cooked with a lot of MSG -- and it makes her feel woozy. Well here I am sitting here with a headache going yah -- I kinda feel the same way -- I wonder if breakfast was cooked with Mono Sodium Glutinate (or however it is spelled) when a lightbulb went off in my head. While in DanRaj and Ravy's village I learned to make Dal Baht -- they added this white crystal "spice" to it and after going to the local store I wrote down in my journal, "White Spice = Mono Sodium Glutinate". Now -- over a week later -- it dawns on me -- they added MSG to every part of Dal Baht EXCEPT the rice. Hah! I wonder if might be what makes me not sleep well...
Anywase, I'm off for now. We have a "complimentary" (free) tour of Chang Mai starting at 11am today. I need some caffiene and I'll be all set to go!
Posted by BBBach at
10:41 AM
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