The fish spa blog that I posted last December was very popular so when I returned back to Bangkok I was not surprised to see how many Fish Spa’s had popped up all over the Khao San Road area. I returned to my original spa for some foot fish therapy but this time I was armed with my camera.
Enjoy
Tags: Backpacking Bangkok, Fish Spa, khao san road
One of the best things about being back in Bangkok was being able to sample some delicious street Pad Thai.
No matter be it first thing in the morning or arriving at 4am after an epic 15 hour bus journey from Laos you will always find at least one street vendor rolling around their mobile kitchen serving up delicious Pad Thai. I am a keen chef and wanted a video of my vendor making it so I can re-create the magic when I get home.
It’s quick, easy, yummy and very cheap. A veggie Pad Thai will set you back a mere 30 baht which is roughly around 60 pence. I could and did eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner washed down with many of the delicious fruit shakes that are available around Khoa San Road or if you fancy a large bucket of alcohol. Either way Pad Thai goes with everything.
Here is the finished product.
Tags: Backpacking Bangkok. Backpacking Khao San Road, Pad Thai, Street Pad Thai
With just 48 hours in Bangkok and a big trip to Myanmar ahead of me
I wasnt really in the mood for adventure in Bangkok. This was my sixth visit now I was happy to chill out and pamper myself silly. There
is not a better city in the world to treat yourself.
My self-service day started with a trip to the dentist for a check up. This is my first visit to the dentist since, well my last pamper day in Bangkok. People think I am joking when I insist I only ever go to the dentist in Bangkok but given how hard it is to get registered by a dentist in the UK and that I tend to move around a little too much to make it worth my while I always nip into to my regular dentist in Bangkok any time I am here just for a quick check up. The dentist surgeries in Bangkok are far cleaner and modern looking than anything I have seen in the UK. They even have TV screens for me to watch Thai soap operas on whilst the dentist poked around in my mouth before giving me a good boy sticker.
A former work college recently underwent 600 gbp worth of dental treatment back in Edinburgh. I bet I could get a flight to Bangkok, get the same surgery done and pay for a few days in hotel in Bangkok for the same money. If I could be guaranteed the same incredibly hot dental nurse I wouldn’t even think twice about it. A check up, cleaning and whitener (it’s probably industrial strength bleach!) cost 12 gbp. The hot incredibly dental nurse was free.
Next stop was the hairdresser at MBK, with the stylist giving me his opinions. He took the task of remodelling my dishevelled backpacker mop very seriously before settling on a first stage mohawk look (think a brunette Sonic the Hedgehog). Shampooed, conditioned and massaged, I looked a million bucks, and all for the cost of 8 pounds. On the way home a tuk tuk driver shouted ‘Hey sexy boy!’ Money well spent!
Then it was off for a facial. There are facial treatment places all over Bangkok, and to be honest with the amount of pollution there it’s no surprise. 30 minutes and 8 different types of facial treatments later, including having my face caved in by cucumbers (weird feeling!), I was only 4 gbp poorer.
Next up was the traditional Thai massage which is the staple of any visit to Thailand, and otherwise known as lazy man’s yoga. I must confess to enjoying having someone else pressing and bending my bones, whilst I just lay there. Whilst the word ‘massage’ usually triggers thoughts of relaxation and enjoyment, a proper Thai massage will leave you gasping for breath and gritting your teeth with pain, but you do feel much better after it. A Thai massage in the UK will set you back anything from 40 gbp upwards. It can cost as little as three pounds in Bangkok. On my first trip to Thailand I think I had one every day. A word of warning / advice depending on who’s reading this (I mean you Gavin), if the person giving you the massage looks like she may offer you a happy ending, she probably will.
So there you have it. Free of all the stresses and strains of backpacking, looking and feeling great, and all for a mere 27gbp.
I love Bangkok!
Tags: Backpacking Bangkok, Bangkok, Thai Dentists
More of a flashpacker than a backpackers guide to how cheap Thialand is.
At the time of my visit, the exchange rate of 1 GBP equaled 53 baht. I will put the cost in both.
Accommodation
The price of budget accommodation worked from area to area. It was possibly to find a room at anything from 150-750 baht (3-15gbp)
Food
A typical meal of a curry dish and rice or a noodle dish like pad thai would cost anywhere around 25-80 baht (1.5 gbp). If you’re fortunate enough to be taken to a local all you can eat buffet, it will only set you back 200 baht (less than 4 gbp).
Alcohol
Local beer is the best bet for drinking on the cheap, and depending on size, goes for 70-130 baht (1.3-2.5 gbp). Mix drinks, like a rum and coke, will cost around a heftier 140 baht (2.6 gbp) The local Samsong rum will set you back 80baht (1.5 gbp) A classic bucket of alcohol can be purchased 250 baht (5gbp) and will ensure you feel nothing afterwards.
Water/Soft drinks
A liter of water will cost a mere 12 baht (.22p), where a soda runs around 15-30 baht (.30-.60p), and a good iced cappuccino won’t even hurt your wallet at 35 baht (.65p). Starbucks’ 4gbp lattes aren’t sounding so appealing. Fresh juices from Juicy 4 U were well worth the 50 baht (.95p).
Travel
The overnight bus between Bangkok to Chiang Mai, at around 12-14 hours overnight, cost 400 baht (7.5 gbp). Taxis in Bangkok, as long as they take, are often times cheaper if you can negotiate a price before you get in the backseat. For the trip to the shopping mall from Khao San Road, it should cost around 100-200 baht (1.8-3.7 gbp), depending on the time of day. Tuk tuks run around 100 baht, again depending on location you’re headed to.
Here’s a brief insight on how I spent my money and the costs involved.
Thai Cooking Course…………… 850 BAHT / 16 GBP
T-shirts…………… 100 BAHT / 1.8 GBP
Calvin Klein Jeans………………… 750 BAHT / 14 GBP
Paul Smith Shoes…………………………… 3000 BAHT / 57 GBP
Facial ……………………… 200 BAHT / 3.7 GBP
Hair Cut and Color……………………………… 1500 BHAT / 28 GBP
Fish Spa …………………. 100 BAHT / 1.8 GBP
Hour of Internet………………… 50 BAHT / 0.95p
Massage Course…………… 1200 BAHT / 23 GBP
3-Day Yoga Course…………… 1400 BAHT / 26 GBP
Homestay………………… 350 BAHT / 7 GBP
Foot Massage…………………. 100 BAHT / 1.8 GBP
Full Body Massage…………………. 200 BAHT / 3.7 GBP
After a couple of months of hard toil backpacking around India and Nepal, the stress of not having to work, not knowing what day of the week it was and the horrendous feeling of avoiding the harshest European winter in years in exchange for a glorious Asian summer, I woke up one Sunday morning (it may have been a Saturday I’m not sure) hungover after yet another late night and saw a beaten man in the mirror and decided I should treat myself for a change.
My self-service day started with a trip to the dentist for a check up. This is my first visit to the dentist since, well my last pamper day in Bangkok. People think I am joking when I insist I only ever go to the dentist in Bangkok but given how hard it is to get registered by a dentist in the UK and that I tend to move around a little too much to make it worth my while I always nip into to my regular dentist in Bangkok any time I am here just for a quick check up. The dentist surgeries in Bangkok are far cleaner and modern looking than anything I have seen in the UK. They even have TV screens for me to watch Thai soap operas on whilst the dentist poked around in my mouth before giving me a good boy sticker.
A former work college recently underwent 600 gbp worth of dental treatment back in Edinburgh. I bet I could get a flight to Bangkok, get the same surgery done and pay for a few days in hotel in Bangkok for the same money. If I could be guaranteed the same incredibly hot dental nurse I wouldn’t even think twice about it. A check up, cleaning and whitener (it’s probably industrial strength bleach!) cost 12 gbp. The hot incredibly dental nurse was free.
Next stop was the hairdresser at MBK, with the stylist giving me his opinions. He took the task of remodelling my dishevelled backpacker mop very seriously before settling on a first stage mohawk look (think a brunette Sonic the Hedgehog). Shampooed, conditioned and massaged, I looked a million bucks, and all for the cost of 8 pounds. On the way home a tuk tuk driver shouted ‘Hey sexy boy!’ Money well spent!
Then it was off for a facial. There are facial treatment places all over Bangkok, and to be honest with the amount of pollution there it’s no surprise. 30 minutes and 8 different types of facial treatments later, including having my face caved in by cucumbers (weird feeling!), I was only 4 gbp poorer.
Next up was the traditional Thai massage which is the staple of any visit to Thailand, and otherwise known as lazy man’s yoga. I must confess to enjoying having someone else pressing and bending my bones, whilst I just lay there. Whilst the word ‘massage’ usually triggers thoughts of relaxation and enjoyment, a proper Thai massage will leave you gasping for breath and gritting your teeth with pain, but you do feel much better after it. A Thai massage in the UK will set you back anything from 40 gbp upwards. It can cost as little as three pounds in Bangkok. On my first trip to Thailand I think I had one every day. A word of warning / advice depending on who’s reading this (I mean you Gavin), if the person giving you the massage looks like she may offer you a happy ending, she probably will.
So there you have it. Free of all the stresses and strains of backpacking, looking and feeling great, and all for a mere 27gbp.
I love Bangkok!
When I first saw a local walking down Khao San Road with a sandwich board advertising ‘His fish will eat your feet,’ I thought it was yet another of the many weird and tacky gimmicks that you find along the Khao San Road. So when I went north to Chiang Mai I was surprised not only to find numerous fish spas, but they were also full of local people(and not the Euro trash types you find in Bangkok). If it was good enough for the fair people of Chiang Mai then it was good enough for me.
However, I waited until I returned to Bangkok before getting my first ever fish spa. It really is catching on to the point where you don’t have to go to a specialist fish spa. Bars, restaurants, hairdressers, as well as random opportunists with a padding pool are getting in on the act. I chose a fish bar which was also showing Scottish football knowing that if I did not enjoy the fish action then I could still be reminded that worse things are happening in the world.
The spa cost 100 baht, which is roughly two pounds, for thirty minutes. Fish therapy originated from the fish called Gara Rufa in the river basins of Turkey. Gara Rufa are the original species used for fish spa skin pampering and nibbling treatments. The idea is that they work together as a team to improve foot skin condition through natural exfoliation by removing dead skin (nibbling it away). This also allows newer skin to regenerate by releasing the enzyme, diatanol.
You lower your legs into a large aquarium and the Gara Rufa start attacking your feet. At first it is excruciatingly ticklish and feels like you are having thousands of little electrodes poked at your feet. Watching hundreds of fish sucking at your feet whist they move in-between your toes is not for the squeamish, but after five minutes of the treatment I got used to it and enjoyed a coke and had some chat with curious passers-by.
Once my time was up and the fish returned to the bottom of the tank satisfied with their efforts I cannot say I was that impressed with the immediate results and my first thought was that I would have been much better served going for a pedicure. However, the following day I noticed my feet looked much healthier than normal, and since the fish spa have remained so, which given the wear and tear of donning flip flops everyday and walking on the beach for days on end I’m surprised how well they are holding up.
Whilst I’m 100% convinced by the powers of these fish, I wont be rushing to get my own little fish slaves in New Zealand, but it was quite good fun and made for an amusing tale. You should try everything at least once, and it is certainly much less painful than watching Scottish football!
Tags: Backpacking Bangkok, Fish Spa
All roads, as a backpacker in South East Asia, lead to Bangkok.
Backpackers flock to Bangkok’s Khao San Road, attracted by cheap accommodation and a mass of bars, street food, knock off clothes and pretty much every illegal DVD you could wish to buy. At night it turns into one massive party street with extra mobile bars brought in to compliment the already bustling bars.
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Bangkok and had never been able to make my mind up but I’ve firmly decided after this five-day stop: I love Bangkok; I hate the Khao San Road.
To me Khao San sums up the worst elements of backpackers/tourists from every country. Chavy British/Irish guys walking about with their football tops on and the mandatory white socks and trainers, Euro-trash / fat Germans, the stereo-typical Aussie male with his sleeveless vest or beer logo t-shirt and Israeli girls getting their hair braided and wearing cheese cloth trousers, going on and on about Thailand like they were the only people to have ever come here. Also, before I came to Khao San the American word “doucebag” is not a term I used because I was never sure what one looked like. A few days here and I can spot an American Doucebag a mile away!
There are however streets close to Khao San that offer a somewhat nicer experience. I stayed a few minutes away on Soi Rambutri which also offers a fairly nice nightlife, and the best street Pad Thai you will find. It costs a little bit more, but in return you will get to sleep at night, rather than sweat to death in a non air-conditioned room.
Sukhumvit is the other tourist area of Bangkok. Based a little more in the centre it caters for people on package holidays, or flash-packers that don’t want to have to deal with Khao San but do not want to pay to stay in the Hilton either. On the plus side it’s much cleaner and quieter than Khao San and you’re not likely to bump into guys called Stevo and Shane from Sydney.
The only draw back for me about Sukhumvit is this is the area all the sex tourists stay in to be close to the famous Soi Cowboy. So if the sight of a fat, bald, blinged up 60 something male walking around with a Thai girl half his size and a quarter his age makes you want to vomit, then this is not the area for you.
Sex tourists look exactly as you would imagine, and are easy to spot. They are not ashamed of what they are doing so you will frequently see the aforementioned males walking around Sukhumvit, proud as punch with their rented entertainment for the night. Whilst they are doing nothing illegal in Thailand, I would feel a whole lot better if their names were on a watch list somewhere in their home countries.
Sukhumvit is also located next to Bangkok’s excellent Sky train service, the roads here are very congested and it’s the quickest way to get around town. Just three stops down is the famous Siam Centre where you will find MBK, Bangkok’s premier shopping mall where you will find all the cool Thai teenagers and cool people like me at the weekend. MBK is a shopaholic’s dream with floor upon floor of cheap designer labels and electrical goods. It’s a good job my xmas presents had been deposited in my bank account a few days earlier! For those who are weak in the wallet Bangkok is not the place for you. Temptation is everywhere and I estimate after quite the shopping spree at MBK I must have spent easily 350gbp in four days, and this time I did not take advantage of the many cheap tailors on offer!
What I like about Bangkok, and what sums up what a great city it really is, is that every time I come here I find a new way to spend time. At this rate I will make an excellent tour guide for someone new to the city. This time it was the river taxi ride down the Chao Pharaya River. For a mere 11 baht you can sail down it passing all the major Bangkok landmarks at a nice pace, avoiding all the hustle and bustle of the roads. I also highly recommend stopping off for a drink at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and seeing how the other half live before getting asked to leave for not obeying the dress code.
Bangkok really does have so much to do, great bars, clubs, shopping, amazing temples, riverboat rides, floating markets, Thai boxing and even the odd ping pong show if that’s what floats your boat. Bangkok is a fantastic city. You just have to look further than Khao San Rd to see it.
One of the highlights of my trip to Chiang Mai was finding a little café named Juicy 4 U. I do love those cheeky suggestive Thai translations! As the name suggests they make a host of fresh fruit and vegetable drinks as well as providing a host of healthy veggie goodness meals on the menu. Be it with a beetroot, apple, celery and ginger juice, a wheatgrass shot, a veggie breakfast in the morning to start my day or a delicious Thai mixed veggie and tofu stir fry in a satay sauce, and my personal favourite Khao Soi Soup for dinner, Juicy 4 U never failed to make my stomach smile.
As well as providing amazing food at a low cost, they also looked after their regular customers like me. To be fair I was ensuring a good pension for the owners, but they ran a promotion that allowed me to take part in a lucky dip for every 500 baht (10gbp) spent. Given that I was running that up every two days it was no real surprise that I eventually won the big prize: one free night at the owner’s home-stay farm. So at the end of my stay in Chiang Mai I took the one hour journey north to the estate that I dubbed ‘The Juicy Factory’ to see where all the healthy goodness came from.
Kitty and her husband Tommy from England own the cafe. Kitty has the ideas and is the face of the company whilst Tom works from the farm providing all the hard work, labour and common sense (according to him) that go into living the organic dream. Both had lived in Thailand, then moved back to England whilst Kitty brushed up on her veggie cooking skills as well as experimenting with traditional English dishes like Yorkshire puddings and making them Thai veggie friendly. Whilst staying in England they became avid viewers of the C4 show ‘How Green Are You?’ and felt inspired enough to make the effort to try and live entirely organic, and needless to say it was made a lot easier with a move back to Thailand!
Their house is just amazing as is the home-stay. A renovated old farm house, with high ceilings and wooden floors to give it the old fashioned barn house feeling, decorated with an eclectic mix of old typewriters, tv’s, cameras and bicycles used as planters all around the house. Literally nothing goes to waste in their house, and whilst giving me the guided tour, Kitty proudly boasted the price of her finds in second hand junk stores. My favourite was a 60’s style television that doubled as a small table. This was the type of luxury that a backpacker like me simply does not come across too often on my travels.
The farm is 3.5 acres, filled with all the ingredients I had come to know and love in the café. As well as a duck pond and hen house and the all important outdoor spa, strolling around are two of the luckiest cats in the world. It really was inspiring hearing Kitty and Tommy’s story. Tommy had no experience in farming and basically learnt from scratch from books and the internet and to my eyes is making a darn good job of it. He works long hours in the hot Thai heat on the farm and there is still lots of hard work to be done, but watching the sun go down from his beautiful new handmade porch overlooking his farm certainly explains his motivation.
I think deep down I would love to own my own little café, just like Juicy 4 U serving veggie food that most of you would turn your noses up at, making fresh juices most of you could never afford and playing snobby art music that none of you are sophisticated enough to like. It might only last two months, but it’s my dream right? It was very nice to see a couple living their dream first hand, but also to see how much hard work goes into running such a niche styled café.
In the morning I was given the job of picking the fresh eggs from the chicken coup which were so fresh they were still warm, and then cooking omelettes with tomatoes, mushrooms, and basil all picked from the juicy farm. Delicious! As I mentioned in my previous blog I quite fancy coming to live in Chiang Mai one day and used this as my audition for a job in the Juicy kitchen one day. Whilst I’m sure Kitty was very impressed, omelettes don’t exactly have the wow factor. Next time I’m coming back with veggie haggis in the backpack.
Tags: Backpacking Chiang Mai, Backpacking Thailand, Homestay, Juicey 4 U
As I’ve mentioned previously, there is a wealth of things to do in Chiang Mai, but the most popular activity to take part in whilst you are here is to take a Thai cookery course.
The food in Chiang Mai is more than enough reason to come visit, it’s just so good and there are so many places to sample it. What sticks out the most for me is the amount of yummy dishes you can eat here that you will not find on any menu in Bangkok, on the islands or any of the other popular Thai backpacker destinations. Visit any Thai restaurant in your home country and I am happy to wager you will not find Khao Soi soup on the menu. If they have it, order it and you will not regret it.
Once you are here there are numerous cookery schools to choose from. You can take courses from a one day introduction class to a four day advanced school or there are vegetable carving courses for those of you who want to be popular at Halloween. The courses range from about 850 baht (17gbp) to 3,000 baht (60gbp). Already being a massive Thai food fan and being a bit of a whiz in the kitchen, I knew quite a lot of the dishes being offered on many of the courses, so I picked “Perm’s Thai Cookery Course”, who looked like they could offer to teach me more new things than the others.
I was picked up from my guesthouse at 8am and taken to a local market where your course starts. This is where we met Perm, the owner, who gave us a guided tour of the market, pointing out and explaining the differences between the various vegetables, rice, and tofu, we would be cooking with. Perm has owned his own cookery school for several years, which explains why Perm is an accomplished performer, and could easily double as a stand-up comedian. He giggles like a small child on cue at every bad joke he makes like it was the first time he has ever delivered the line and in turn my fellow class mates and I laugh on cue at every ‘same same but different’ comparison. Such ‘highlights’ include him telling us his parents gave him the perfect name as in the Thai language Perm apparently means ‘strong and handsome’ and that he feeds his wife coriander before bed every night as it makes women horny. Given my skills in the kitchen and knack of telling unfunny dad jokes I think I may have missed my calling in life.
All the other cookery schools are also at the market, which gives all the schools a chance to show off to the others, such is the competition between them. Perm seems visibly delighted to see that his two brothers’ classes have attracted less numbers than his and bragging rights for today are his. Sibling rivalry runs very high in that family for sure.
At the class we are all stationed behind our cookers with Perm in the middle orchestrating. We were then introduced to Boom, his assistant. It’s a real good-cop, bad-cop routine, Perm with his plump face, big smile and terrible jokes leading the class and Boom with her hair tied back, serious face, walking around the class barking instructions and bossing around those who cannot follow Perms instructions. I enjoyed this act, as it was quite clear in Boom’s case it was not an act and she did not suffer fools gladly. Later in the day Boom told me she gets lots of unwanted attention from older men on her course that see her as the ideal women. Attractive, bossy, and can cook. Says a lot more about them than the delightful Boom, whom I became good friends with and who was responsible for many of the highlights of my visit to Chiang Mai
I learnt to cook six dishes, Tom Yom Soup, Spring Rolls, Papaya Salad, Sticky Rice with Mango, Panang Curry with Tofu, and Pad Thai. I already knew the last two but they are so yummy I could not resist a little refresher course and to pick up a few tips on how to improve both dishes, so it was well worth it.
Along the way there were plenty of photo opportunities for my master chef application form, including the flaming wok picture, which I would imagine is a staple of any Thai cooking school. My flame was not so big, but it’s what you do with it that counts! I hope anyway…….
Last but certainly not least is the feast at the end when you get to eat your cooking efforts. Very yummy, even if I say so myself. There is such a quantity of food that you may not need to eat again for the rest of the day so that alone justifies an already very modest price.
I would highly recommend anyone go on the cooking courses. You don’t need to be a whiz in the kitchen, nor really enjoy cooking as Perm and Boom practically spoon feed you, if you pardon the pun. It’s a really fun and relatively cheap way to spend an afternoon learning, taking goofy pictures and chatting with fellow travellers.
A fun day out. Now I’m off to find myself some coriander
Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai is an eleven-hour bus journey from Bangkok. Whilst it would be untrue to say that Chiang Mai is ‘off the beaten track,’ as it does attract a large number of tourists, it is fair to say that most backpackers in Thailand do not stray any further north than Bangkok. This is a real shame, as for me, Chiang Mai is the best backpacker destination in Thailand.
Certainly to the naked eye there is nothing special about it. It’s not the prettiest city in the world. In fact I’d go so far as to even say it’s a pretty ugly town and lacks all the characteristics that you associate with Thailand. It doesn’t party like Bangkok and it doesn’t have the blue seas of Kao Tao, or the golden beaches of Krabi. It’s the welcome respite from the usual backpacker attractions that makes Chiang Mai what it is.
Chiang Mai is the town where people come to chill. There are endless ways to spend your days there: from taking Thai cooking courses; trekking in the nearby jungle; mountain biking; and the famous Flight of the Gibbon, which has the world’s largest zip line. Then there is the food. There are more dishes on the average menu here than in any other Thai destination, including many that you simply cannot get anywhere else, like the super yummy Khao Soi soup. Not a day passed without my trying a new dish and washing it down with a fresh fruit juice or wheat grass from my favorite café—the wonderfully named Juicy 4 U.
It’s incredibly easy to come here and detoxify and leave feeling healthy and full of energy. Being a vegetarian has never been so easy. That’s not to say you cannot live it up here, with a host of cool bars and clubs, including several mobile bars popping up all over the place, Chiang Mai has it all.
So how did I spend my days? Well after the craziness of India, and the physical tests of Nepal, I was more than happy to come and sit here and do nothing but eat myself into a healthy goodness coma. However, I spent my time between taking Thai cooking courses (more soon) and taking up yoga, which I have meant to do for a long time. I was a little apprehensive at how I was going to be at it in my first class, but I really wasn’t that bad and learned that it’s not all about who’s the most flexible and more to do with where you are and not where you want to be. Despite the fact that I hurt like hell after my three-day course I really enjoyed it and look forward to taking it up on a full time basis once this trip is over.
One of the other great things about Thailand in general is how cheap Thai massages are. Having enjoyed the odd couple of hundred over the years I thought it was about time I learnt how it was done and enrolled in the Nittaya Family massage course. The course was instructed by Nittaya herself, who despite being nervous at first, was a lot of fun and made the course a bit of a giggle as well as highly valuable. I was surprised into how much of a work out it is to be the masseuse. Given the state of my chosen profession and my lack of passion for it, I’m thinking if things get desperate in NZ, I now have something to fall back on. Working the hostels and giving Thai massages at a backpacker rate of course!
I met several nice people during my time here. Mainly through a wonderful woman named Boom who I met through my cooking course. Most nights we meet for dinner, with her bringing along someone new every night who she had met during her classes. It led to a nice eclectic bunch of people getting together most days and after the isolation of India it was nice to be hanging out with some new people and having the occasional boozy evening.
Someone recently asked me, ‘What type of traveler are you?’ I told them I had only been drunk once so far this trip. It simply has not been that type of trip and, to be honest, I am quite pleased about that and have enjoyed doing and learning new things rather than spending my time sleeping off hangovers. I’ve been there, done that, and I would feel a little sad chasing former glories. So the answer to their question is, ‘I’m the sort of traveler who wants to develop as a person,’ and there is no better place to do that than Chiang Mai.
The biggest compliment I can pay Chaing Mai is that I could easily see myself living here one day. I really fancy it. It has everything I would ever want. I just need to figure out exactly how I do it.
I spent eleven nights here, I did not want to leave, and if it was not for a promise to meet a friend in Bangkok I would still be there. I don’t need to be too sad; I will be back for sure. It will be interesting to see in what capacity!
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