Chiang Rai (30.01.22 - 03.02.22)
Sunday 30th January 2022
I’m feeling really down this morning, I’m so pissed off I can’t just hire a moped and go and visit things, this inability is stopping me from doing so much and all the tours are so expensive – I’ll run out of money soon if I keep going on them. Perhaps I should see if there‘s somewhere near here where I can have another lesson.
The trip from Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai was good, the coach was very luxurious with large reclining seat that had head rests, leg rests and individual TVs, similar to those on long haul flights. My hostel was a 6 minute walk from the bus station which I wasn’t expecting. The hostel is ok, I thought I’d booked a bunk in a dorm, but is transpires I’ve booked a private room. The first room they put me in had an enormous bed and I was very happy until I noticed water dripping from the ceiling, so they’ve moved me into a smaller twin-bedded room with no window, but it is comfortable enough and I can vape, so I am happy. The only shit thing is the bathroom is downstairs which is a royal pain in the middle of the night.
Last night I had a little stroll around the block, I bought some street food, a sausage on a stick and some other form of meat on a stick – the latter was so chewy and being dark I couldn’t tell if it was cooked properly so I threw it away – fingers crossed I don’t get a dodgy belly later. There’s a reggae bar a few doors down from the hostel so I sat there, had a beer, chatted with the owner for a short while and then tried to top up my SIM card but neither of my debit cards would authorise the payment ☹ I got so bloody frustrated, perhaps that’s why I’m not feeling great this morning.
Much much later – what a lovely day, a not very lucky day, but none the less I type this with a smile on my face and a chicken and cheese wrap in hand – no wonder I’m putting on weight! Unable to use my debit cards to top up my SIM I decided to go for a rather long walk to a shop that was supposedly open – with supposedly being the main word. I ended up walking down a street only to realise I was heading down the wrong fork so I tried to cross over but couldn’t due to road works and had such a long walk back on myself, but I did come across this lovely little market which seemed to sell men’s clothing and flowers and there in front of me was a AIS phone shop – lol. Not that the guy was any help, he kept trying to call the helpline from my phone, which of course he couldn’t cause the SIM had run out and then he tried to sell me a new SIM – I would have bought one if it had roaming on it, but it didn’t, such is life. Finally, I stopped at an Irish bar full of little old men and had a couple of beers, by the time I got back to the hostel I was feeling hungover and had a cat nap.
This evening I decided to walk to Lovely Street night market, just as I was leaving all the electric and internet (not that I had any) across the town went out and I ended up turning left a few times too many and found myself back at the hostel – lol – I do make myself laugh. So, I set off again and guess what, Lovely Street was actually very sad, so sad it was shut! Why was I not content to just explore the night market that is 2 minutes away and open is basically beyond me, and 17770 steps later I was back in the Irish bar listening to the chatter of a group of expats and drinking more beer. Much to my waistline and bat wings horror the owner of this hostel, who is originally from Bahraini (I think) runs a kebab stall right outside the front door – ‘have you had dinner’ he asked me as I approached – well yes, I had Pad Thai for breakfast, some mini pies for dinner and a ton and a half of peanuts at the Irish bar – so why did I buy a chicken and cheese wrap to take to bed with me – gluttony – truth be told … I could easily eat another.
Monday 31st January 2022
Wow what a fabulous day – bloody exhausted but well worth it. The hostel owner lent me his rickety foldaway bike and off I went, doing the usual silly me thing…I looked at the map and thought ‘oh, the black temple isn’t that far’ and even though it said there was no cycle route I got it in my head that I could cycle the walking route – makes sense, yes? Well, it all did until I found myself heading out of the town and along a major dual carriage way called Route 1. Did I turn around and go back – certainly not, the road had a moped lane, and no one seemed to give a care that I was in it so on I trundled on until I saw a sign for Pong Phrabat Hot Springs, oh how wonderful, a little diversion and off along a country road I went until I came to a fishing pond with a restaurant. In need of breakfast and a drink I stopped and while there checked out Google maps. Only turns out the Black Temple is 15k from the hostel and then add on another 8 for the spring diversion and a further 15K get back – OMG – will my body and the bike survive?
The spring was more an open air bath / pool / lido type thing and full of Thais having a dip, so I dipped my had in to check the temp – yes I agree with the sign, it was hot, but I did not get my kit off. I was happy to do fleeting visit as I entered the back way without paying and the last time I did that (the clay museum) I was swiftly picked up and made to pay and escorted to a tour guide. The route from the spring to the black temple took me through a university type campus and here I learnt to hate Google maps…no I cannot walk, cycle or drive through dense overgrowth so please stop telling me to U-turn and go that way. Luckily I can read a map for myself and finally found a route that I could actually follow. The black temple was, what can I say, very black and had a very demonic / masonic feel to it, however it was rather awesome and I really enjoyed trekking round it taking photos and eating a whole pineapple, which was cut up into little pieces and put in a plastic bag with a stick to use as a fork.
The cycle back was awesome even though it was 15k and mainly down the same dual carriage way. I set my mind to the challenge and peddle frantically while going very slowly. At one point the cars very being diverted due to a new road surface being laid, but all the moped drivers were ignoring the diversion and driving through the road work area – as there is only a small matter of an engine difference between a bicycle and a moped I followed the mopeds – lol – I had to get off and push the bike for a short distance as the hardcore / sand became a little too deep to cycle on – lol – but no one seemed to notice me, in fact two of the workmen ushered me on with a smile like I was doing the right thing – but as I have previously mentioned (about 8 weeks ago) Thais on mopeds will happily drive the wrong way down one way streets and even on pavements, so driving /peddling through road works is highly acceptable.
When I got back to the hostel the owner was extremely shocked when I told him about my adventure and was concerned his bike was ok – lol – what about me?
Tuesday 1st February 2022
Happy Chinese New Year – health wealth and happiness to all.
Frustration, frustration, frustration. I had a lovey Thai chicken noodle soup for breakfast, then sat in a coffee shop for a short while, after that the day went pear shaped. I tried to rebook my flight back home, which is tomorrow, for August 3rd but the cheapest ticket I could find, stopping at Zurich (where I would alight and get a coach to Croatia for Defected) was £349 – FFS – I’m not paying that, I’m sure I can get to Croatia for half that. Then I spent ages trying to cancel my flight, all to no avail, so I am going to be a no show. That basically took most of my afternoon. I then started to research what currency I need for Cambodia, only to remember that I need a fit to fly PCR test 72 hours before I leave Thailand – FFS – talk about put my plans to go visit One in Bangkok in jeopardy. Anyway, I got chatting to an English guy who is also off to Cambodia this week and he pointed me in the direction of the hospital, so I took a stroll there and have been told that I can attend as a walk in patient tomorrow at 4pm, then collect my results Thursday at 4pm, it’s gonna be a tight squeeze but the flight from here to Bangkok is only an hour so I may still squeeze in a One visit before my flight to Cambodia on Friday evening – so excited to be going there.
I was all set up to lull around the hostel this evening, but the hostel owner convinced me to go to the festival area located in the old airport – so off I walked, it was only 20 minutes away. OMG, I am so glad I took his advice – what a sight, it was a food market which then turned into a clothes market, which then turned into an arcade which then turned into a fairground, and that was only one side of it, walking back up the other side you could buy anything from a combine harvester to a washing machine to a bed mattress – I have never seen anything like it before. And there were so many Thai bands, all singing ‘shit dong pong’, OMG they love their ballad come love tunes and their lyrics are just hysterical. I bought some delicious stuff, meat on sticks and sushi and steered away from the fried cockroaches but got a few photos – lol and to think that when I went to my first night market I was too self-conscious to take photos and now I am happy to stand in front of any stall, phone camera in hand and zoom in before I snap away 😊 what a difference 8 weeks makes!
When I got back I had an awesome conversation with the hostel owner guy about goshts, religion, death and the internet, and he told me so many funny stories about his childhood in Cashmere and one in particular about how he hid, from his parents, in a coffin for 4 hours after which his mother took him to a priest who proclaimed that he never ever be scared of anything for the rest of his life – lol. I thought his wife was also from Cashmere, but it turns out she is Thai and their staff are not staff – lol – they are students and this is a training hostel – don’t you just love it.
Wednesday 2nd February 2022
Today started off well really well and ended in frustration. As planned, I woke and dyed my hair – love the hair dye I’m using out here, knocks 10 years off me in 15 minutes – lol. I watch The Gate – a film on Cambodia as I twisted – and then went to the Hilltribe museum. It was interesting, there are 6 tribes in total from different parts of Burma and China, all with their unique cultures and costumes. One, which I thought was quite unique, when a man has desires on a particular female, he kidnaps her for 3 days and then negotiates their marriage with her family, they only have a 6% divorce rate! Another think that twins are a sign of demons and if the mother does not kill them at birth then she has to leave the village and live in the lower hills so their spirits do not fall on those in the higher village, and another where the woman are happy to do all of the work while the men do very little. After the museum I had a wonder around and the headed off the hospital for my fit to travel jab at 4pm. The plan was to cycle to the Blue Wat after, which doesn’t close until 8pm and is supposed to be magnificent at night (this is my last night in Chiang Rai). I sat in the hospital for over 2 hours watching the PCR nurse running around as though she was a receptionist. I really thought that I would be out of there in half an hour but she processed the paper work of everyone as they turned up in drip and drabs, and I’m talking about 25 people, she then sat in her little room and prepared all the tests for everyone, and stopping the paper work process anyone who turned up, and then moved us all to another waiting area where finally were all tested, one after the other, and then told to sit back down. The test room must have been a covid hot spot and I was so glad I went in first, it was a the size of a large cupboard, half of which was screened off and a nurse sat behind the screen with her hands in a pair of rubber gloves 100 times too big for her – it was a bit like a scene from a hazardous chemical lab, and the bitch stuck the swab so far up my nose she must have touched my brain and it sent me into a coughing fit, so everyone moved away from me thinking I must have covid! Half an hour later, after watching enough people enter the mini covid cupboard for swabbing I was given a receipt and told to come back tomorrow at 5pm – FFS – I need to catch a plane to Bangkok tomorrow evening, please don’t let it take 2 hours to hand out the certificates. On the way back to the hostel I bought two muffin looking things, the woman said they were chicken, well that they weren’t, and although I ate them both I could not for the life of you tell you what meat they contained – could have been ground insects for all I know.
This evening I did manage to get to see the clock tower light show, which went on for 5 minutes – it was good but not as exciting as the review I read on the internet said. If all goes to plan I must squeeze in the White Wat and the Blue Wat tomorrow – I am so disappointed that I won’t get to go to the Golden Triangle, even if cancelled going to see One tomorrow evening I wouldn’t have time to squeeze it in; not that I need a reason, but I now have one for visiting Chiang Rai again – I so it here.
Thursday 3rd February 2022
Happy 17th birthday grandson number 1, and 25 years ago today we buried my dad – I miss him so much, I shed several tears on several occasions today. But the day did start really beautifully with a face time chat with Teon, I put a birthday post on FB and he replied immediately, so I called him. My god, his eyebrows have become even more bushy, I think they are now even bigger than my dads were and certainly bigger than Titus! After that I went to catch a bus to the White temple (Wat Rong Khun), and although the bus was only 20 baht I got a tuk-tuk and paid 100, the driver wanted to do me a deal, 300 baht, and he’d also take me to the blue temple and then back to the hostel, he was very upset when I turned him down. Oh wow, what a magnificent beast of a Wat the white temple is, I was 100% gob smacked, it really is a Wat not to be missed, so ornate and so white and covered in pieces of glass that make it sparkle in the sun. ‘Every detail of the temple and structures as the bridge of “the cycle of rebirth” and the “Gate of Heaven” carries meaning and encourages the visitor to reflect on the Buddhist teachings that show the way to escape from the worldly temptations, desires and greed and focus on the mind instead’ (https://www.renown-travel.com/temples/wat-rong-khun.html).
After some food I decided to get the bus back, and was standing at this wooden pergola, wondering if it was a bus stop, when low and behold a bus stopped for me 😊. As I still had time to wait before collecting my fit to fly certificate, I jumped on the push bike and went to the Blue Wat (Wat Rong Seua Ten), it is not as ornate as the White Wat but the inside was magnificent, the walls and ceiling artwork so beautiful, and what can I say, so blue – lol.
After getting my fit to fly I went directly to the airport, all excited to be seeing One before leaving Thailand. OMG, at the counter they wanted £200 for the flight, I’d seen in on the net for £18, so off I went to book it online and what did I stupidly do, I paid £25 for a non-exchangeable, non-refundable flight for March 3rd! So I had to book again, so upset I lost £25 and all because I did not double check the details before paying. Anyway, as happy as Larry I got to Bangkok at 10pm and jumped in a taxi and headed straight to One. He seemed shocked to see me even though I had told him I was coming, and he had even invited me to go out partying with him on Monday, which obviously I couldn’t as I was in Chiang Rai. I was really quite perplexed, then I went to get a beer and the girl in the shop, the one that I told One really likes him, said, quietly but loud enough for me to hear, ‘oh no, she’s come back’. One was really quite distant and made it fairly obvious that he didn’t want me around, but I had no choice, and even though I had a hostel booked it was too late to go there. So, I went with One to a hotel spa/pool where his friend works, as it was 2pm no-one was around and we had a swim and he was his normal self but after that he was moody again. I slept on one side of the sofa, he slept on the other and by the morning he had received 17 messages (I not only heard the beeps as they came in, I saw the number on his phone) from the same person, none of which he responded to – I am presuming they are from the girl in the shop, and I am presuming that she and One must have hit it off at the party I wasn’t able to go to. So, as you can imagine, I left Bangkok deflated, with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye. However, I have made a promise to myself, that is it, no more chasing men while I am on my travels, I do not need to feel miserable like that again, it really put a downer on the end of what has been a fantastic 2 months in Thailand. But don’t get me wrong, if he is seeing the shop girl then I am really happy for him and his daughters – everyone deserves to be loved and the first time I met her she came across as a very happy bubbly person. Now for Cambodia 😊
