Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Chiang Mai, Thailand
So Tegra and I left the beautiful Nan for a noisy city- Chiang Mai. 5.5 hours, and conversations about high school, later we reached CM and went our own ways. Gonna miss having company.
Now I am staying at a couchsurfer's place and my gawd it is the most impressive place. SHE OWNS A 5 STAR HOTEL!! And I get to stay here for free, eat for free etc.. I certainly wasn't expecting a hotel, much less a 5 star hotel. Usually it is just a room!
Chiang Mai is definitely not as cold as Nan,what a disappointment.
One night I went out to the Anusarn Market and met a German girl who has been in Chiang Mai for the past 3 weeks, learning dressmaking! Haha.
I celebrated my 21st alone at an expensive Italian restaurant (400baht), had thin crust pizza and tirimisu. If only I had some company it would have been perfect. When I got back to the hotel though, Gaeng (my host's employee) celebrated with me with MORE CAKE and we even lit up a paper lantern. She said it would bring good luck.
I also joined a tour group (I just hate saying that, makes me feel old) to visit Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand, some waterfalls and another god-knows-what palace. 1500baht I say! Jesus. So I celebrated it on the top of the world. Well, not quite but it'll do.
Did I mention that everyone on the tour were retirees? There were 2 french-canadians from Quebac, 2 canadians from nova scotia, 2 grumpy Italians (italians are always so grumpy eh), and 2 Thais.
With my touristsy-looking pose
We also visited a White Karen village and a Hmong market, which sold only organic fruits and veggies. I was quite apprehensive before the tour as I did not want to contribute to the "human zoo" effect of all these villages, but I was glad that the White Karen village I visited wasn't being treated like a human zoo.
Hmong market
