We arrived in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand Sunday evening. It was a pretty grueling trip: we took a night bus from Krabi at about 4 in the afternoon, got to Bangkok at 5 am, then another bus that left Bangkok at 9 am and got to Chiang Mai at 6 pm. Luckily we had already booked a room, so it was easy once we got here.
We had a pretty interesting experience on our two bus rides. The first bus was for tourists. They packed as many people into very tight quarters on a bus that had its front windshield held together with packing tape and sounded like its transmission wasn't going to last the trip. It stopped a couple times for food at fairly expensive places designed for tourists. In contrast, on the Bangkok-Chiang Mai bus, a significantly less expensive Thai government bus, we were the only Westerners. This bus was comfortable and roomy, and we were served a tasty lunch and several snacks. So now we know how to travel. The second bus trip was booked by the owner of our bungalow place in Tonsai. She called friends in Bangkok who got the tickets for us. There was a bit of confusion in meeting up with them. Brad ended up calling and waking one of them up at 6:30 am (they were meant to meet us at 6). They came and got us, though, and took us to the [decidedly non-tourist-oriented] bus terminal, helped us order breakfast (no English menus here), and made sure we got on the right bus.
Our first 12 days in Thailand were spent in Railay/Tonsai, Thailand's rock climbing mecca. It's about halfway down the "ax handle", directly east across the Andaman Sea from Phuket. Towering limestone cliffs, dripping with stalactites, surround several beautiful beaches. There are no roads into the area because of the cliffs, so the only access is by longtail boat--usually a 45-minute ride from Krabi Town--giving it the feel of a remote island.
We were there two years ago and it was interesting to see what had changed (a lot of new bars on Tonsai Beach), and what hadn't (quite a few of the Westerners who were living and working there two years ago were still there). Most of the prices are still at the same level as well.
We stayed in cheaper digs than we did last time--only about $6/night. Our bungalow was about as basic as you can get: a raised bamboo hut with daylight coming through the wooden floorboards, a mosquito net over the bed (BYO sheets--a good thing we did), a cold shower on a concrete floor that didn't drain very well, and a toilet that was flushed by scooping water from a plastic tub into the bowl (or, for more serious jobs, just dumping in the whole tub). We also had some roommates; mosquitos and ants notwithstanding, we shared our bungalow with lizards, at least one persistent mouse (who kept getting into our food and chewed through our camera's USB cable), and a frog that viciously attacked Jacqueline in the bathroom one morning.
Most of our time in Tonsai was spent climbing. When we first arrived, we hadn't really done any climbing for a couple months...and had been on a steady diet of French cheese, bread, and wine. Needless to say, we were a bit weak initially. By the end, though, had moved up a couple grades in difficulty, and were noticeably more buff (helped by a diet consisting largely of rice, curries, and banana shakes, with a bit of beer for good measure), making it all the harder to leave.
We did manage to get out and see a bit of the Krabi area on one of our rest days. We met a German couple and the four of us hired a driver to take us to a famous local wat (temple), Wat Tam Suea. Part of the wat is on top of a mountain, up 1200+ steps (some of which were about 2 feet high). We also went to a nearby national park to check out a waterfall there. It was ok, although the special foreigner admission price to the park was a bit steep (200 baht, which is about $5--about the same price as dinner for two here).
We will probably be in Chiang Mai for about a week. A few days will be spent taking cooking classes, something we've been looking forward to for a long time. We will also check out a climbing area not far away. Otherwise, Chiang Mai seems like a great city to just walk around and sightsee.
As a special Channukah/Christmas present to everyone, we've actually uploaded new pictures. See the pictures section on the left for pictures from France and Thailand.
We hope you are all doing well. Happy Holidays!
Cheers,
-b & j
Posted by brad at December 23, 2003 02:50 AM