So, Jon and I have gone our seperate ways. I"ve finally had to face the reality that I am in SE Asia all by myself!! Wow. Jon and I had a really good time together.... or at least I'm assuming he did as well. He and his family took excellent care of me in Singapore, where I lived in nothing short of luxury, and their family paid for almost everything for me (despite my ardent objections). In Burma, our hotel was quite nice.... especially considering it cost 22$ USD a night - split two ways!! Our room came with its own tv, which had such wonderful channels as Myawaddy TV - the Myanmar governmetn channel - and Al-Jazeera, which showed the same stories over and over again. Nothing says it better than the slogan of the Panda Hotel in Yangon: "our sweet smiles make you fine". In Burma, we were treated as celebrities, for next to nothing. Then we get to bangkok, where Jon helps save me from being completely overwhelmed.
Alas, yesterday morning, at about 4:15 am (or about 5:15 pm Thursday night Montreal time), we officially parted ways. i was sad to see him go, but I knew that this whole summer experience needs to be MY experience, and I can't be spoonfed by my Swiss-Asian friend the whole time.
As I already said, Bangkok wasn't inspiring. At least not when I don't have my bearings. I decided to leave right away for Chiang Mai. I was at Bangkok's northern bus station by 9:00 am yesterday. I wanted to buy a first-class ticket to Chiang Mai (which, according to lonely planet, is rather nice, cheap, and leaves every half hour). I was told that there were NO first-class busses- only VIP (I'm 99% sure this was a lie). Of course, who am I to argue? I wasn't horribly upset becuase the VIP bus ticket, while much more expensive than the first class bus, was still pretty cheap at about 800B (or roughly 25$ USD).... and it was quite comfortable.... AND it left RIGHT AWAY. I know they were desperate to fill seats on the bus, becuase it wouldve left with almost no one onboard.... and of course, thais seem to enjoy taking advantage of ignorant foreigners like myself.
The bus ride was surpisingly comfortable, considering it was a 9 and a half hour journey. They even showed an onboard movie- entirely in Thai (no subtitles)! We got a free meal.... a decent Thai home-cooked meal at a bus stop.... where no one spoke English. In fact, the languag barrier in Thailand seems much larger than in the three other countries I've visited. In Singapore, everyone knows English. In Malaysia, most people have a pretty good grasp of English. In Burma, a lot of people have a working knowledge of English. Here... evne in Bangkok and CM, most people know either no English, or know very little.
Nevertheless, I was happy to arrive in Chiang Mai. The city is much less sprawling than Bangkok, much less polluted, a few degrees cooler, and much more navigable. I found a really sketch, but clean guest house for 150B a night (our room in Bangkok, which was half the size and lacked a private WC was 400B).
This city is much nicer than Bangkok. The streets are cleaner (although aren't yet increidbly clean), there is less traffic (although there is still quite a bit), the people are more honest (although not extremely friendly), and the city looks asthetically nicer (although not quite as nice as its hyped up to be).
Alas, yesterday morning, at about 4:15 am (or about 5:15 pm Thursday night Montreal time), we officially parted ways. i was sad to see him go, but I knew that this whole summer experience needs to be MY experience, and I can't be spoonfed by my Swiss-Asian friend the whole time.
As I already said, Bangkok wasn't inspiring. At least not when I don't have my bearings. I decided to leave right away for Chiang Mai. I was at Bangkok's northern bus station by 9:00 am yesterday. I wanted to buy a first-class ticket to Chiang Mai (which, according to lonely planet, is rather nice, cheap, and leaves every half hour). I was told that there were NO first-class busses- only VIP (I'm 99% sure this was a lie). Of course, who am I to argue? I wasn't horribly upset becuase the VIP bus ticket, while much more expensive than the first class bus, was still pretty cheap at about 800B (or roughly 25$ USD).... and it was quite comfortable.... AND it left RIGHT AWAY. I know they were desperate to fill seats on the bus, becuase it wouldve left with almost no one onboard.... and of course, thais seem to enjoy taking advantage of ignorant foreigners like myself.
The bus ride was surpisingly comfortable, considering it was a 9 and a half hour journey. They even showed an onboard movie- entirely in Thai (no subtitles)! We got a free meal.... a decent Thai home-cooked meal at a bus stop.... where no one spoke English. In fact, the languag barrier in Thailand seems much larger than in the three other countries I've visited. In Singapore, everyone knows English. In Malaysia, most people have a pretty good grasp of English. In Burma, a lot of people have a working knowledge of English. Here... evne in Bangkok and CM, most people know either no English, or know very little.
Nevertheless, I was happy to arrive in Chiang Mai. The city is much less sprawling than Bangkok, much less polluted, a few degrees cooler, and much more navigable. I found a really sketch, but clean guest house for 150B a night (our room in Bangkok, which was half the size and lacked a private WC was 400B).
This city is much nicer than Bangkok. The streets are cleaner (although aren't yet increidbly clean), there is less traffic (although there is still quite a bit), the people are more honest (although not extremely friendly), and the city looks asthetically nicer (although not quite as nice as its hyped up to be).
It seems the city is divided into two parts: the local's Chiang Mai, and the tourist's Chiang Mai. To me, there seems to lack an area where the two are balanced. In the tourist part of the city, everyone you see is a farang (foreigner), in other parts, there isn't even roman script on any of the signage. However, it is a city which is both modern and manageable. The Night Bazaar is also really nice..... there is a great selection of different things to buy, most notably silk. Things are pretty cheap there, although nothing compares to the prices we had in Yangon!
Tomorrow I leave for Mae Sot, where I will spend the rest of the summer. From now on I will TRY to update pretty regularly on Saturdays.... so for those of you who dontk now how often to check my blog, check back every saturday. Thanks again for reading, and cheers!
PS. I hope to have pictures from Burma and Chiang Mai up soon!
Tomorrow I leave for Mae Sot, where I will spend the rest of the summer. From now on I will TRY to update pretty regularly on Saturdays.... so for those of you who dontk now how often to check my blog, check back every saturday. Thanks again for reading, and cheers!
PS. I hope to have pictures from Burma and Chiang Mai up soon!
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