Chilled Chiang Mai, if not a little rainy

The air-conditioned carriage was a welcome suprise and the bunkbed was fairly comfortable. I got on the train pretty early but was soon joined by two girls, Clare and Kate. They had spent the last year working in Australia working for Toni and Guy and managed to save enough money to explore south east Asia before heading back to their home in Petersfield, England. We sat up talking for a few hours, drank a few beers and then went to bed.

We awoke to a view like no other. Paddy fields, rolling hills, palm trees and and a rural backdrop... we must be in Chiang Mai. Hitching a ride on a Sawangthaew (a kind of taxi with two benches fixed on the back of a pick up truck, with a tin roof and open windows), we drove through the narrow alleys typical of the centre to my guesthouse called Julie's (recommended by my friends I met in Bangkok).

Paying just 100baht a night, I wasn't expecting luxury, but the place turned out to be a kind of hippy utopia. The bamboo entrance is covered in creeping vines which lead to a restaurant and bar with a pool table and plenty of triangular cushions used for reclining. The place is colourful and eclectic and the staff very accomodating. I was taken to my room which had a double bed and fan with a shared bathroom adjacent.
After settling in, I met a guy called Nicholas from the Ivory coast, who works in Bangkok. He advised I hire a bicycle to explore the city, so that is exactly what I did. A Thai man on a moped drove me 200 meters up the road where I rented a bike for 50baht and then set off to see what I could find.

I was immediately lost, but I managed to find 3 temples along this one road. Wat Pan Ping, Wat Lam Chang anf Wat Chiang Man. All were totally different but the last two I would highly recommend. Wat Lam Chang was so called as, during the time when Chiang Mai was being constructed, the King, King Mengrai, lived nearby and the wooden building used to house the Elephants he used for transport was located where the temple now stands. The temple, meaning 'shackled elephants', was constructed in their honour. The elephant god Ganesh can be seen at the temple and stone carvings of elephants are visible everywhere.

Wat Chiang Man, the largest of the three temples, was built at the end of the 13th century and was the first to be erected in Chiang Mai. Chedi Chang Lom (the Elephant chedi) is a square structure supported by 15 lifes-sized stone elephants which keep the guilded chedi secure. Next to the Chedi is a lotus pond and then infront of the two sights stand the main Wihan and it's newer counterpart. The former contains a mondop ( a pillared hall for rituals) surrounded by buddhas - with one claimed to be the oldest statue in Chiang Mai, dating from the Lanna Kingdom. The latter houses a clear quartz buddha, which is suprisingly small (about the size of a barbie doll) but thought to protect against disaster (which is pretty handy as there have been torential downpours the last couple of days).

I headed back to my guesthouse after abouty 5pm and spent the evening taling to Dee from Cumbria and Dave from Bristol. Both are veteran backpackers and Dave has now been travelling for 10 months. He has now headed to Laos but we may cross paths at somepoint. After booking a two-day one-night trek, I headed to bed.

The vibe is so much more chilled here and there are a lot more ventures to be had.
Still more to write, but once again, run out of internet time. Love to all and you will here from me soon x