To ChiangMai and Beyond!

Let’s just cover the last day in Bangkok first, shall we?

We went to the Palace – a must see. The adjacent temple is incredible, the palace is beautiful and there are some museums – including the Coins Museum – that are wonderful. Give yourself a good 3+ hours though, as there is really that much to see.. Unlike us, also try to get some sleep before you go..

After the palace we went back to our room – which we took for another 4 hours so I could sleep some, which was wonderful! (I sent Oded out to run some errands. I think he had a good time..)

Then some running around looking for a car (which we didn’t find), deciding to take the train to Chiang Mai and then actually getting to the train station.

Don’t buy ANYTHING in Khoa San – including taxi & samran (tuktuk) rides. No one will use the meter and the prices they suggest are insulting. 5 times what we would consider paying for the ride..

We did get to the train station eventually, and we finally had our first rain! A nice heavy shower – lasting all of 10 minutes! 🙂 Lots of fun.

I made the mistake of eating McDonald’s – I wanted to see the difference between Israeli and Thai McD’s. Got the same immediate stomach reactions, though.. But that passed quicky enough.. 🙂

The train was a nice ride, and the food was really good – what I was able to eat anyway.. Though after I managed to drop the entire meal in my lap, oops!

We got to Chiang Mai and after a bit of checking things, decided to leave the car rental for a while and check out the local trekking.
We found a nice guest house called the “Eagle House #2” (Yes, #2. #1 is across town), which have a pick-up policy – we ordered rooms and they picked us up from the train station! 🙂 It’s got a really nice room with a/c and a fan, and hot water, for 290 Bhat. About half the price from Bangkok. 🙂 Actually, it looks like almost everything here is half the price of Bangkok, which leads me to suggest that travelers here should probably not spend more than a day or 2 in Bangkok for the Palace and a few other specific places, then go on the Chiang Mai for shopping and trekking. Maybe spend another day or 2 in Bangkok when you’re ready to fly so you can souveneir shop or somthing..

Of course, we got here, got a room, and slept pretty much the whole day.. So we walked around for a little (and got me some new books to read 😉 ) for food, sightseeing and internet. Later we’re going to an authentic Northern Thai dinner and tomorrow a 2 day trek. Should be fun! 🙂

Miss you all!
Karen

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