Sunday 19 March - Chiang Rai; Jewel of the North
Published Sunday, March 19, 2006 by Carolyne | E-mail this post
Headaches on the weekend seem to be de rigeur no matter where I am. Ouch.
We are in a (for us) fancy hotel - The Moon and the Sun - 500 baht each night, which has a lovely feel, despite the Muzak of Sound of Music Thai-style. It's all rather surreal. Now it's "The House of the Rising Sun" Thai-rised.
I spat the dummy last night at Bob, after the 12 hour train journey, a couple of hours walking in Chiang Mai and a 3 hour bus journey, probably left me a little dehydrated and weary. I needed to sit down and not think, and walked out and back to the hotel when I couldn't make a decision. (Sorry Bob). I slept straight away however, which probably did me the world of good. Even then, in my groggy state I travelled past a wonderful array of street life, and was delighted to be gadget girl. The garmin came into it's own as a navigational aid, and I found that by setting the location of my starting point (in this case the hotel) I am able to explore freely and end up back where I want to be easily.
Chiang Rai is a delight. The Rickshaw (check local term) driver/riders are universally wizened old lean, leathery men who would regard Rad suspiciously as a young upstart. These are used as a regular form of transport by primarily older women, whereas the tuk tuk's and motor scooter taxi's are used by the young everywhere. We had our cheapest meal ever today, lunch at a local stall, without an English menu. By pointing and smiling I selected a rich and spicy tomato based soup with chicken liver, chilli, rice noodles and bean sprouts. With a bottle of water and ice the total for two was 30 baht (a tad over one AUD). It was delicious.
Good value for money!
On Wednesday I worked all day in a primary school, on Thursday I had a few hours close to home, and on Friday also close to home I had a full day of mostly primary kids again. I'm hoping for more work this week, and I don't mind if it's on a Friday... ;)
Kerryn McCann won the Women's Marathon by 2 seconds, what determination, being dogged by a Kenyan for what seemed like the last 5km of the race and more.
TV coverage was %^&*()%$#@)!.
Following your wonderful journey daily, Carolyne & look forward to more!
Yes, of course I'll stay uninjured!! And Friar very accurately described TV marathon coverage! If I see or hear another swimming heat, I'll scream so loudly you'll hear me where you are!
any bad experiences with the "pick & point" method of food selection?!
sounds like you ae having a good time (except for the headaches of course)...
love yur posts and the photos - more please!
Mottram took a silver in the 5000, much improved TV coverage this time - yay! He does that thing with his arms too. Outsprinted at the end.
Hope your health stays well, pity about the headaches. That dear hotel was around 16 dollars a night, right?
Just had a look at the posted photos at:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_harlow/show
Please keep posting them them when possible.
:-))
I'm so glad you are still blogging so us poor souls can still enjoy your trip.
Oenoe Wood got gold in a time thingy on the road, and Cairns has been hit hard by the tail of a cyclone (It hit Innisfail) just so you know...
Sarah Jamieson got a silver in the 1500, and Benita got 4th in the 10k with a solid performance. (At least the way I see it, not the commentators).
Hope you are having a good time.
And John Steffenson just got gold in the 400, brilliant stuff, he went crazy at the end and has a really good attitude. :)