Visa Runs, Temples, and Ping Pong

We have arrived in Chiang Mai. At this very moment we are in an internet cafe, but not your typical one... We are surrounded by Thai gamers! There are about 30 computers (compared to the usual 5-10), and signing in was a process including setting up an account, typing in 2 passwords, and trying to communicate with the staff member who spoke little to no Engligh. This place is for the most serious. With chips and pop lined up on the table, they appear to be set up for the night. We are trying to incorporate more pictures into the blog, and this should document where we have been since Phuket (albeit out of order in some spots!)

Recap before the pics:

Koh Phi Phi was beautiful, and so much fun. Everyone was around our age group, and it was very easy to meet people. The island was pumping full of bars and restaurants from the streets to the beaches. The evenings usually began at the Reggae Bar - a place where anyone would receive a free bucket (for those of you that don't know... imagine a sand bucket a child might bring to the beach, then fill it with rum/whiskey/vodka and coke/redbull/sprite and ice, throw in 4-10 straws and you are good to go!) if they offered to fight a friend or fellow partier for five rounds in the Muay Thai ring. Parties would move to the beach where there was fire shows - demonstrations, jumping rope, etc. etc. It was really interesting to see how many Westerners must have fallen in love with the island, while running out of money - every afternoon and evening there would be hundreds of them handing out leaflets advertising different bars. Their pay we learned from a few was rent, food, or drinks.

We had to leave Koh Phi Phi to head to the Myanmar border to do a Visa run (we were only provided with 30 days when we flew in). For this, we ended up in a small, sleepy fisherman's village called Ranong (with Thailand's best hot spring we were told.) We woke up at 7am, had our exit stamps placed into our passports at the Thai border, piled into a boat with 15 other travelers. and headed for Burma Island in Myanmar. The process was quick and painless, we crossed over a bridge, had our passports stamped for the day (where we were asked to purchase all sorts of goodys from 12 year old children - alcohol, cigarettes, viagra, you name it), then hopped back on the boat for Thailand. We have received an additional 15 days here, which should be just enough time for us to explore Northern Thailand. Matt happened to see a lady putting giant snakes into separate bags as I was getting my passport stamped. She just stood there with the giant snakes dangling from her grasp.

Next came our 24 hour travel journey to Chiang Mai... We took an overnight bus from Ranong to Bangkok, arrived at 5am, went straight to the train station, waited a few hours, then took the 12 hour day train to Chiang Mai. Although we slept until 2pm the next day, in the moment the journey wasn't even that bad! A good book always helps :) Matt is reading the 1st volume of Sherlock Holmes, and I read Water for Elephants on this journey (Geo - we found it the day after you told us you had just read it in your email! I loved it.)

So here we are in Chiang Mai. This place is beautiful, I could easily spend a week or two here alone. There are temples everywhere you look; I believe there are 300 in Chiang Mai, which is a comparable number to Bangkok. The climate is quite drier and cooler here (almost even cold at night) It is very similar to Calgary summers - a nice hot during the day, and cool evenings. Part of the city is actually lined by a moat, and you can still see remains of a fortress wall (this was where we stumbled across the Sunday Market). Prices are also significantly lower here - we can pay between 200 - 350 baht for a nice room, and a good Thai meal is $1-3. We have visited both the Sunday Market (think Saltspring's Saturday Market), and the Night Market. The people here are always smiling, and their sales approach is much more laid back, until the bargaining begins! Matt seems to love it, I am still receiving tips after I finish haha. The products here are also somewhat different from what we have seen in Bangkok and the Southern islands. They are very artsy, hand made products, lots of arts and crafts. From beautiful silks, pashminas, masks, to vases, furniture, and jewelery, there is so much to see.

We have come to Chiang Mai to partake in a Trek (an overnight experience including visiting a minority village, riding elephants, and bamboo rafting), as well as a Thai cooking class. We arrived two days ago, and there are already so many more things we are hoping to fit in.

Hopefully the next few pictures tell more of a story:

Some of the streets are lined with the most colourful flowers. We walked to this one part of town today (Northeast), where all of the streets had original art galleries. The streets and houses almost looked European. (Chiang Mai)

This monk loved his dog "Micky". He would lift him up in the air by the teddy bear you can see him holding - reminded me of Penzy! (Chiang Mai)

At one of the temples ("Wat"s) we came across a man that was playing Ping Pong with his son. He asked Matt if he wanted to join, and of course he couldn't say no! (Chiang Mai)

A street in Chiang Mai. It is probably around 25 degrees celcius on this day, yet you see all the Thai locals wearing sweaters and turtlenecks. At night they even wear parkas!

This is where we are staying at the moment - Banilah. Highly recommended if anyone comes out here (Chiang Mai)

More Ping Pong. (Chiang Mai)

At Wat Chompu (Chiang Mai)

I believe they call these lions "Singha" - also a popular brand of beer and drinking water. (Chiang Mai)

This was the Wat with the Ping Pong table (Chiang Mai)

This is the moat and fortress walls in Chiang Mai. There are now fountains set up at various points as well, they light up the otherwise murky water during the day.

We saw a real elephant last night as we were walking back from the night market. (On Matt's camera, I will have to post it later). He was just hanging out on a leash, outside of a convenience store! (Chiang Mai)

The attention to detail here is most impressive. (Chiang Mai)

The train station in Bangkok. Moments before I was quite embarrased to realized that everyone had dropped their baggage as the national anthem was played. I quickly shuffled to the back and stood as still as I could, trying not to look like such a tourist.

Thailand / Myanmar. On the boat, waiting to leave. This area had hundreds of boats (we actually walked over 5 or 6 longtails just to get to our boats! This area was a lot poorer, you can see in the background. The houses were all raised on stilts. The Burmese children and women would rub mud onto their cheeks, and sometime whole faces. This was a very popular border crossing, so it was a hussle and bussle of (mostly) Burmese people making the same journey as us.

Myanmar border - Burma Island.

Our guesthouse had so many cats in Ranong. There were even 2 week old kittens. They were all well cared for and clean (most of the cats here are very sick and hungry). You can usually tell if they have owners as they put them in collars (or sweaters and leashes as we have seen in Chiang Mai).

The twin (other boy below) grandsons of one of the ladies that ran the guesthouse where we stayed in Ranong. It was run by 3 sisters, their brother, and their mother! These little boys loved to run up to us and give us high fives. This guy here didn't want to leave as his mum tried to convince him to climb back onto the motorbike. He was hiding in the corner!

The quieter twin (you can just tell even by looking at them eh)

One of the many tsunami evacuation signs that are stationed all over Koh Phi Phi.

This is the infinity pool at our hotel in Koh Phi Phi. Our room was TINY but very bright and clean. For $20/night, I don't think it gets any better!

There was a sign outside this restaurant, from the owner, that thanked a "John from England" that rescued him from the Tsunami, and helped him to rebuild his restaurant. In the left of the picture is writing from people from all over the world complimenting the food and service, and Samee's (the owner) smile. It was by far the best Thai food on Koh Phi Phi, and it was hidden away in the back alley.

The water treatment plan. On our way to our hike to the viewpoint of Koh Phi Phi. This island was very lush with its flowers and greenery, but it is nothing compared to before and after photos that can be seen at some of the restaurants and shops.

The viewpoint of the "H" of Koh Phi Phi. We hiked up a steep set of stairs to get here. We then decided to trek down the other side of the mountain, as we were told there was a nice, private beach. This trail reminded me of Mount Erskine on SaltSpring Island. It was a vertical path, lined with roots the whole way. We passed a small hut along the way, and they were growing sunflowers and corn (and raising a handful of cats of course).

More from the Koh Phi Phi viewpoint.