bangkok chiangmai part 2

day three - 9th feb 02. sat. start of ambitious day number 2! got up late, and missed service bus, so we took cab to chong nongsi bts, and bts all the way to chatuchak weekend market. market is HUGE! we barely covered 1/8 of it the whole morning we were there. there walked through rows and rows of stalls selling all kinda stuff. after awhile, it's hard to remember where you have been and where to go next. we ate thai noodles there for breakfast, walked around the stalls. oso walked past this furniture place, that looked as good as those at purvis street. i was most impressed, unfortunately no photo of that place. after, we went to chinatown by taxi. very crowded, chinatown, and we ate at this roadside stall late afternoon. following, we discovered a pier and took a boat. followed some backpackers and landed up at khao san road! well, not exactly, we went to this off khao san road place and walked around happily thinking this was it until we asked another guy on the street. we had dinner at the off khao san rd place, and took cab back to apt to pack for train ride to chiangmai. cab guy took forever to find apt, wy thinks he's doing it on purpose. anyway, went to hualomphong to catch train. never take the 3rd class seats coz it is pure nightmare! lasting 15 hours! we had stiff shoulders, i had butt cramp from the tiny half seat. grumpy looking faces, and i had a mini dispute with this thai woman opposite me. she looked more like a man if you asked me, anyway she was too big for me to fight, and i cannot argue with her since we have no common language. very frustrating for me. more amazing were those who took the standing tickets, and they stood cramped in some uncomfortable little space for the whole train ride!

day four - 10th feb 02. sun. finally chiangmai! at the train station, there is a little booth to 'welcome' travellers and to arrange travel schedule, accomodations etc. on hindsight we should have taken that, coz they bring you to accomodation place for free whereas we ended paying a tuktuk to bring us to the city, and he tried to get us to stay at some guest house away from the city. guest house away from city was pretty nice actually, and at 200 baht per doubles room. prior to tuktuk, we bought 2nd class sleeper tickets back to bkk following afternoon, and oso tried to call is' fren jeremy but was unable to get him. unreliable tuktuk guy dropped us on outskirts of town. we walked into this lanna festival where they closed the entire thaepa road for road and lantern paintings and some music. had lunch at ratana kitchen, with a huge 'recommended by lonely planet' sign outside. went to a few guesthouses which were all fully booked, and ended up at this sad looking thaepa guesthouse for 150 baht per doubles, with fan and no hot water. we walked around the new town, and crossed moat into old town. went to check out activites in chiangmai but all hill treks take about 4 days so we couldn't take that. considered visting the tribes for half a day, plus doi suthep. on way back to thaepa, we went by night bazaar and saw some tribal women peddling goods. finally back to thaepae and realised lanna festival very happening. whole street was in a festive mood, and we oso saw those rice paper lanterns in the sky. lantern trail led us to temple where they were letting ppl light one for 80 baht. spent quite some time there, and to dinner at main street. back to guesthouse after that. called jeremy again, and this time we managed to get him. so we arranged to meet at 12.20am across the bridge at the end of thaepae rd. all 3 of us took his motorbike and went to this pub that was celebrating its 1 year birthday. apparently the new prime minister has made a law that no alcohol can be sold after 12mn, so he brought a bottle of gin and we ordered mixers, ice, and lime for it. after pub closed, we went to another night place which opens the whole night and sells alcohol. we stayed till 4am and back at guesthouse to sleep at 4.30am.

day five - 11th feb 02. mon. got up at 9.30am amazingly. went for breakfast at jj cafe, and i had coffee! the first since day one of trip. went to bike shop to rent bike, and cycled to songthaew pick-up point across the moat from chung thaw gate. met australian couple who had similar bkk tutktuk experiences on songthaew trip up to doi suthep. at doi suthep, locked bike and walked around the place. after which, we cycled downhill on our bikes. my gear chains came out midway, and we met a motorbike guy who helped me fix it. on our way back to town, went past chiangmai zoo, and took long road back to thaepae rd. wy wanted to see chinatown firecrackers but we missed it. rest and pack to take 4.25pm train back to bangkok. train ride back was comfortable since we had best seats in the house. major contrast to previous trauma. a few stops from chiangmai, our remaining railcar filled up with french ppl. felt like i was living in france for the rest of the 15 hours ride.

day six - 12th feb 02. tue. finally in bkk at 8.30am vs the scheduled 5.30am. went back to apt and slept till 11am. down to mahboonkrong to find durian chips, then to siam square for lunch at this forest cafe. back to mahboonkrong to continue hunt for durian chips, and to develop photos. realise we have to cancel muay thai plans since running low on cash. got back to apt at about 8pm. hweelim reached back at about 10+ pm, and we went for cny dinner at 11.45pm, his 3rd dinner for the day. :P packed dinner back to eat since only dinner place we found was swamped with flies. wondered how ppl can eat with so many flies around them. finally turned in at almost 2am for me.

day seven - 12th feb 02. tue. got up at 6.15am. left apt at 6.45am to take cab to airport. flight home good, with some turbulences which wy was really happy about. took mrt home from newly opened changi airport mrt station.

cab to airport = 190 baht + 70 baht; airport tax = 500 baht

day seven total = 760 baht