Chang Mai in the Morning

Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for your funny, sweet, and inspiring emails. I really hate mass emails, but I had 40 some emails to read through this morning and there's no way I can get back to each of you individually and still be alive in this HOT internet cafe! I really appreciate hearing from you and definitely will keep you posted. Keep sending me emails too!

Sidenote - The election in Thailand created some interesting side effects. When I was out and about in BKK the days previous to Sunday (election day), I saw and heard many protestors and activists...many times driving around in cars with loudspeakers. I know enough about the state of affairs just to sound ignorant and be dangerous, so I won't regail you with stories of the tales that I've heard...but it will be interesting to see how and if Thailand changes based on the results!

So...I'm now in Chiang Mai, the second biggest city in Thailand. To give you some perspective on the current state of affairs - BKK is around 8 million people, then comes Chiang Mai, weighing in at an astouding 800,000 or so. WOW, what a difference 7 million make! This is definitely a great city and so much more easily navigated than BKK!

I arrived yesterday morning. I took a night train from BKK, that departed at 6pm. Turns out I got the last ticket on the train (apparently you cannot arrive at 4:30 and expect to get a first class air con ticket). I slept in an upper bunk (read child sized), but shared a few beers with an English girl who lives in Chiang Mai and works as a teacher. We spent a couple hours chatting, and then realized that everyone around us was asleep at 8pm...so we took the universal Option B: the bar car. Met several travelers from around the world, and took a shot of Thai whiskey (OUCH) with a Thai porter who knew two English phrases: "Coffe or Tea", and "You're so beautiful". I'm an easy sell.

So much I could say about the filth of the train, but I'll leave it to your imaginations as I'm sure you all have seen more toilets around the world than I. I have to say though that men have the clear advantage when it comes to Thai facilities!

Anyway, I digress. Met some folks on the train that I ended up taking a cooking class with yesterday ... met more English speakers in the class, which by the way was amazing. I've never known that Thai cooking was so easy! (Keep in mind that the course faciliators did most of the work, so I'm being quite facetious here...) Proceeded from the class to an American style bar to chat over cold beers, then walked through the night market and onto a place called the Roof Top Bar, where we sat in the semi darkness, drank Singhas, sweated, and watched the geckos run up and down the walls. A couple of cousins from Vancouver BC, a gal from South Africa via Sydney Austraila, and another Brit from Liverpool.

Now I'm off on a free day in Chiang Mai....going to sign up for a one day trek tomorrow, and do the elephant ride, waterfall, rafting gig of which everyone speaks so highly. After that it's up in the air...the pull of Laos is great at this point, as I'm only a bus ride and a visa away from a three day float down the Mekong River...

Cheers to you all! Hope all is well wherever you may be.
Genevieve