Bangkok to Chiang Mai

On my way up to Laos, I got to spend some more time in Bangkok before heading to Chang Mai in the North of Thailand. This experience was quite different from my last trip to the capitol as I had learned a good amount of Thai and had gotten accustomed to the country by then. The Thais yelling "tuk-tuk" (which is their onomatopeic term for a Thai taxi), offerings of pad thai from street vendors, people dressed in all sorts of wacky styles, and of course the hustle and bustle, all seemed to be second nature to me. I felt that I blended in, I felt that I knew what was going on, I felt I had spent my "time" in Thailand and was a Thailand vet by then. I was with my friend Andy, from Bristol, England, and we both knew the ropes. We were now looking at the tourists from the other side; we were the locals. It was nice to be able to get where we wanted and not be overcharged (too much at least) for purchases. We headed to the MBK center in our free time. This is a huge shopping complex 8 stories high. There is everything here from contact lenses to cell phones to packaged dried fish. On the top floor there is even a huge cinema and bowling alley. Of course we had to stop by and see Spiderman 3, quite corny if you ask us. We did, however, experience something that I had only read about in the travel books. Right before the movie started, the national anthem was played and everyone was expected to stand. This is not like our anthem that they play at a Braves game with some 13 year old girl forgetting the words. This is a tribute to the revered King of Thailand. Pictures are shown of the King visiting the people of Thailand while the anthem is being played behind it. I realized that not many people would go to movies back home if they did this for Bush. Then again, Bush hasn't ruled the country for over 60 years, thank God. That night, Andy and I headed to the train station to board our 10 o'clock bound for Chang Mai. We were fortunate enough to get sleepers but the jerking of the train throughout the night proved too much for my REM. I was up early the next morning to sit by the window and soak up all of the rural life of Thailand that I could. Travelling by train always prove to be an amazing experience for me. You are able to see the small towns and villages that are off the main roads and experience a bit of the country life. This particular ride showed me rice fields covered in water, people fishing the streams using big nets suspended between sticks, huge drop offs high in the Northern mountains, water buffalo grazing the open fields, Thais in huge circular hats harvesting their crops, old houses constructed out of bamboo and wood, and people playing games of wicket ball (this game is basically volleyball with a wicker ball and the inability to use your hands). As we rolled in to Chang Mai, I was commenting on how nice it was to get away from commercialism for awhile. Of course, I spoke too soon as a McDonald's popped up on the horizon. The city of Chiang Mai is a gorgeous old town that is popularly known as the gateway to China from Southeast Asia. It is surrounded by moats and a broken down wall that used to provide protection from the invading empires around Asia in the 12th century. The city is known for shopping and food. The food is different here with things being a bit more sweet. The biggest difference between the food of the North and the South of Thailand is the sticky rice. Here they serve sticky rice that is meant to be bundled into a ball and dipped into sauces with the hand. The markets around the city are open almost all day. They have a huge night market called "Chiang Mai Night Bazaar" that offered everything you can imagine. These markets were quite different from the MBK in that they sold more authentic merchandise like real silk, spices, handicrafts, and other traditional Thai works. Since it is now the rainy season in Southeast Asia, market hopping would always be interrupted by a short rain storm. One of the most amazing things we saw was the insect museum. Yeah, call me a dork but can you say that you have seen all of Thailand's 436 species of mosquitoes? The guy who owns it, Mr. Manpoi, is the world's leading expert on mosquitoes. He has dedicated his life to them and their knowledge. He actually made me feel alot better about getting malaria (considering I have about a 1 in 2,000,000 chance of getting it). That feeling, however, was lost when he saw what I did, or almost did, in his museum. I was intently reading a poster on elephantitis when I noticed I was getting mosquito bites at a rate of about 3 bites/minute. Now being a westerner with a tolerance for bite rates at about 0 bites/minute, I was getting a bit perturbed. Not to upset Mr. Manpoi by killing his roaming "pets", I took out some repellent and started to protect myself. As I was spraying it, a big guy landed right on my arm. I could not just pass up this wonderful opportunity to kill my enemy. I reared back my hand in preparation to annihilate him from this world. I started to move my hand in the downward motion when something caught my eye, the Mosquito Man. Here I was on his grounds, with insect repellent in one hand and a open fist in the other, ready to kill his little comrads that were "just completing their life cycle" from my forearm. The dissapointed look on his face shot me down to a new level. Had I not learned anything about the mosquito? How could I just kill these things out of cold blood and hatred for the mosquito bite itch? Who in their right mind would do such an act as this? I guess me. I think he got over it later though as he asked me to sign his guestbook. Thank God because there is no telling what is in the Thai law about killing mosquitoes. Our time in Chiang Mai came to an end as we were ready to go to Laos. We were able to find a travel agency up to the border city of Chiang Khong, Thailand a.k.a. Huay Xai, Laos. My time in Thailand would be halted for a trip into the extremely laid back and pristine country of Laos.