First Impressions

[Marc]

Well despite flying air India I made it to Bangkok in one piece. Most of that piece was covered in sweat and Indian yoghurt when some bright spark put there's in the overhead luggage compartment on the plane but none the less one piece. Bangkok was definitely culture overload and I spent the first three nights in the Rambutri village Inn just off Khao San. I almost spent three days there aswell suffering from instant travellers stomach and paranoia as every tout saw pasty skinned just off the plane solo traveller and seemed to eye me for the kill lol Thankfully the hotel had a rooftop pool so it wasn't a bad place to lounge around whilst trying to get used to the new bacteria and heat (which is nothing compared to the 60 seconds I spent outside in the smoking cage at Delhi airport)

I found Khao San to be mainly travelling groups and couples but met a few ex-pats who gave me the lowdown on getting across the river to the Chinese restaurants which serve amazing food. For me at least on my first time and alone I felt I would be better suited exploring Bangkok after getting a little more used to Thailand so went to the train station to book my ticket to Chiang Mai. The taxi back must have took the long way back to the hotel as it cost twice as much (90 bhat) but I was happy to see the huge sign of Buddy lodge and then hand over the additional 50p as for a moment I must confess I thought I was about to have the epitaph "Bangkok has him now" lol

The sleeper to Chiang mai was fun but not the best nights sleep but being up early just gave me more time to take in the amazing misty mountains on the way. Arriving at the train station I was picked up by Libra guest house despite being three hours late. This place is run by a family who are very friendly and literally sit you down with a map as soon as you arrive and give you the idiots guide to the local area. It also seems to attract far more solo travellers so is a much better place for meeting people than my hotel in Khao san. Chiang mai is definitely more laid back and far more what I was after so I'm very happy to be here.

Tomorrow is trekking and we have our briefing in a minute so I'll say so far so good and now I've got my camera out I hope to get some awesome pictures to share soon. Oh and thanks for giving me the smallest backpack on the block (50l 10kg) which I note very very very few people have....and then suffer for.

[JosephB]

Exciting times! Anymore pictures to share?

[Greg]

Nice hat, haha!

Cool to see some pics in the forums for a change....thanks for sharing.

I'm down in Kuala Lumpur at the moment, but heading north back to Thailand in a couple of days...will you still be around that part of the world Marc?

Catch you on the road!

[Marc]

Indy hat is most important item to take with you lol

So Chiang Mai is amazing. I have no frame of reference for comparison but off peak it's got just the right amount of bussle for me and surprisingly the weather has been great excluding the fact that it meant my bamboo rafting was infact grade 3+ white water but hey how many of you have done white water rafting on a handmade bamboo raft lol

If you ever go travelling this has to be near the very top of places you plan to visit and yes Greg I shall still be here in a few days........months.......years 


The second class sleeper from Bangkok





Civilization going, going, gone!


Mountain Taxi's. Make sure they switch the meter on!


♫Highway through the danger zone♫


Reggae Bar, the source of all my budgeting blues.


Caturdays, they're greeeaaaat!

[Greg]

Ha, fantastic photos...thanks for sharing!

I LOVE Chiang Mai as well...and you can get a room by the month for damn cheap there.

The Reggae Bar (and THC Rooftop Bar) are also the source of why I no longer track expenses.

I just got back to Bangkok last night...man, it feelsgood to be "home."

[Abstract87]

Hey guys - I am trying to post some photos in the forums but cant seem to find out how to add them to the body of my message?  If i try and attach them it says my files are too large and i cant just copy past them.  when i try to hit the add photo button it just comes up as coding

[Greg]

Hey Abstract, sorry about the trouble.

I believe the max image size is 400K -- so you'll have to reduce your image sizes using some graphics program. I also believe the max total of all pictures allowed in one post is 1 MB...so just resize those things down to a few inches wide and it should work fine.

Cheers!

[Abstract87]

No apologies needed mi amigo!

This just means get my butt in gear and get my web stuff set up so i can post a link...soon to come

Cheers!