This morning, I woke up and decided for a change of scenery and booked a flight to Chiang Mai, a city in the northern part of Thailand. I waved my new friends goodbye; Sarah is off to Koh Pha-ngan and George is headed to Koh Tao.
I arrived in Chiang Mai rather late and forgot to book a hostel... I got a taxi into the center of town and popped into what I thought was a bar to get wifi and search for a hostel. It turns out that I walked into a hostel. The entrance was nice but was filled with mosquitoes and the internet didn't even work, not a good start. The guy asked if I was looking for a place to stay, telling me that they had a 30 bedroom dorm with two other people in it. There is probably a reason for that. I made up an excuse that I was trying to get into my email because I was meeting up with some friends and I needed to find out where they were staying. Slugged down my beer and got out of there as quick as possible. I then walked into a great reggae bar where I was able to find a good place to stay. The only problem was no one knew where the hostel was. I walked the streets of Chiang Mai, chasing random peoples directions until I finally came across a massage school run by a nice old couple. The man called the hostel and figured out exactly where it was and gave me a ride on his moped. He was so nice and he would even accept any money for the ride.
Since I got checked in late, I asked the two Thai girls working the desk what there was to do around here at night that would be fun. Luckily, the good looking one invited me to come join them a the Jazz pub that plays live music every Tuesday night (it is Tuesday). I quickly changed, showered, and met them downstairs. Before we even got to the pub, I could hear the amazing music playing down the street; the pub was overflowing into the street. As we walked up, I began to feel like one of those westerners that I always criticize or laugh at for having a Thai girl with them, thinking that they are a prostitute; I wanted shout out and tell everyone that theses girls work at my hostel, "I dont know them." Regardless, the night went on. I was able to meet some of their friends and I became good friends with the guy who owns the hostel. He is a great guy from Hong Kong, so the hostel caters to people from China, Korea, and Japan; I was the only westerner in the hostel. Eventually the police came and almost shut down the bar because the crowd was completely blocking the only two lanes of the road.
Knowing that I wanted to book a good trek in the jungles of Chiang Mai tomorrow, I headed in before I joined them in closing the bar down.
I arrived in Chiang Mai rather late and forgot to book a hostel... I got a taxi into the center of town and popped into what I thought was a bar to get wifi and search for a hostel. It turns out that I walked into a hostel. The entrance was nice but was filled with mosquitoes and the internet didn't even work, not a good start. The guy asked if I was looking for a place to stay, telling me that they had a 30 bedroom dorm with two other people in it. There is probably a reason for that. I made up an excuse that I was trying to get into my email because I was meeting up with some friends and I needed to find out where they were staying. Slugged down my beer and got out of there as quick as possible. I then walked into a great reggae bar where I was able to find a good place to stay. The only problem was no one knew where the hostel was. I walked the streets of Chiang Mai, chasing random peoples directions until I finally came across a massage school run by a nice old couple. The man called the hostel and figured out exactly where it was and gave me a ride on his moped. He was so nice and he would even accept any money for the ride.
Since I got checked in late, I asked the two Thai girls working the desk what there was to do around here at night that would be fun. Luckily, the good looking one invited me to come join them a the Jazz pub that plays live music every Tuesday night (it is Tuesday). I quickly changed, showered, and met them downstairs. Before we even got to the pub, I could hear the amazing music playing down the street; the pub was overflowing into the street. As we walked up, I began to feel like one of those westerners that I always criticize or laugh at for having a Thai girl with them, thinking that they are a prostitute; I wanted shout out and tell everyone that theses girls work at my hostel, "I dont know them." Regardless, the night went on. I was able to meet some of their friends and I became good friends with the guy who owns the hostel. He is a great guy from Hong Kong, so the hostel caters to people from China, Korea, and Japan; I was the only westerner in the hostel. Eventually the police came and almost shut down the bar because the crowd was completely blocking the only two lanes of the road.
Knowing that I wanted to book a good trek in the jungles of Chiang Mai tomorrow, I headed in before I joined them in closing the bar down.
Waoo, impressive!
ReplyDeleteI just googled about Chiangmai then I found your blog. Your trip is amazing.
I'm going to Chiangmai and the Golden triangle in the mid of August. Then Hong Kong in November.
Thanks for your information.
Good luck, guy! Stay trong :)