Notes From Thailand

Housekeeping: I turned on comments, but have set it to allow me to review them first. I did that because I don't know how bots work and don't want them posting garbage in the comments section. I will likely get over that sometime in the future... after I talk to Mitchell.

Also, I don't know why my font has gone funky and I don't seem able to fix it.

Cleaning crew on Chiang Rai street

Chiang Rai
In Chiang Rai, it is cool in the morning making moving around pleasant. Chiang Rai is in the north of Thailand and is a jumping off spot for trekking through jungles. For reasons you'll see when I talk about Chiang Mai, we spent our 2 days in Chiang Rai relaxing rather than exploring.
We found a great bakery with fast internet access. There is less humidity and it is a smaller city with a heavy European influence. We ate in a restaurant that looked like we were in Holland! It was a strange feeling to be in a foriegn place and getting the wrong visual clues as to which foriegn place you were visiting.
Our Chiang Rai hotel, the Diamond Park Hotel, was comfortable, clean, had a pool and good service.

Chiang Mai

One of many Chiang Mai temples

Our visit to Chiang Mai will forever be the part of our Asian adventure that went wrong.
Matt and I lost our Asian Scam virginity and Kathleen recognized just how tired she was when we booked through a place a Tuk Tuk driver took us. We asked for the train station and he took us to the Amazing Grand Thai Adventure Ltd.  "for better prices."
Claudette's top 4 recommendations for 1st time visitors to Asia
1) Before you do anything that requires you to make costly decisions in a foriegn country, get your body and mind on the local clock. I found myself fully awake at 5 am, but groggy/foggy by 2 pm and no longer capable of making complex decisions. Oh trust me, the decisions are complex in a foreign country where you know NOTHING about local services, language, customs, seasons or any other factor on the table.

2) Never, ever pay for anything under discussion until you've taken 5-10 minutes away from the Salesman and his pitch. I liken what we went through to doing your taxes after staying up all night and then having a fast-talking accountant lead you through the process.

3) If they can't prove the Guest House is up to your standard, don't buy it. Go to the nearest internet cafe and do it online.

4) Listen to the Lonely Planet advocates. Buy the book and use it.

That said, we are troopers, so we managed to enjoy Chiang Mai through our frustration and disappointment at our accommodations - they were REALLY  bad.
We visited Doi Sutep, a ceramic factory (dear Lord I LOVE ceramics. Shipped a box home.) and a silk farm. We wandered the streets discovering beautiful temples, great eats and fascinating people.

The staircase up the mountain at Doi Sutep - 240 steps I heard.
Note the snake/dragon decending the stairs as hand railings.

Our last night in Chiang Mai, we stayed in the Sri Pat Guest House ; which I highly recommend. I would go back to Chiang Mai now with a reservation at this guest house and time to really enjoy the moat, the old city wall, the bustle of the markets and the temples of amazing diversity.

A beautiful elephant thingy on the peak of a Chiang Mai temple.

Back to Bangkok
When we hit the ground for the 2nd time in Bangkok (literally - don't fly Orient Thai. I think it's a training airline), the humidity hit me like a wall. Coming from Chiang Mai, I really noticed it because we moved from one climate to another in less than an hour.
We stayed in the tourist zone at the Rambuttri Guest House (meh). First, we Canuks are just not accustomed to that level of teeming humanity. Also the Rambuttri can't hold a candle to the Swan Hotel starting with the grumpy front desk lady and the huge damage deposit for the room. But, we had less than 24 hour in Bangkok before we landed here in Siem Reap; which is a tale for another day.