Thailand - Day 2

Day 2
This morning didn't start out too great. We were planning on waking up at 4:30 and be down at the lobby by 5am to check-out. Throughout the night, I kept waking up, wondering if it was time to wake up. I didn't want to be late. Strange. The alarm never sounded. I finally checked the time, and OH MY GOD. It was 5:07. I broke my record time of getting ready. I was done and packed in 8 minutes, and was in the lobby soon afterwards. When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by a man in uniform and a megaphone screaming at everyone in the temporary parking area. Screaming! It was kind of funny. Well, Giselle forgot her backpack in the taxi, so that wasn't great, but it turned out fine. There really wasn't anything too important in there. The flight there was great. We were even served a meal on a one hour flght! (We flew Bangkok Air.) Our first impression of Chiang Mai was great. The weather was much cooler and the town seemed smaller, and in a way, more honest. Hope that makes sense. Anyway, we had an awesome day. It was the first series of "the best day ever."

BTW, the coffee so far has been incredible! What a great surprise!

We checked into our beautiful hotel, Malil...something hotel. (Will fill in later.) During the cab ride to the hotel, our taxi driver offered full-day services to drive us around anywhere in the area for the entire day for 1000 baht. I don't know if that's expensive, but we all agreed it was okay. Our guide for the day was Nong. He took us around to wherever we wished. He suggested many other places he thought that we might like to visit. Our first stop was to see the long neck woman originated from Burma. Nong drove us to (name) where we can see a number of different tribes that live here. This entire setup was really strange. These people were like zoo exhibits almost, but sold things to tourists. They all lived in their own homes, but in front of thier homes, there were signs in Thai, and sometimes in English, saying what tribe they're from. These families are not allowed to leave this area, so it was basically like a refugee camp. I thought that it was really sad that people would have to tolerate living this way. People were constantly peering into their homes, peering at them, and taking random photos of them. And they're supposed to smile and pretend they enjoy these visitors' company. I wouldn't! But that is how they make their money, and it's actually really good money too. So I guess it's a good for both parties.


We were pretty hungry so we were thinking of going to one of the restaurants recommended in my Thailand book. But we ended up going to Nong's favorite restaurant for a delicious bowl of fish ball noodle soup. This would be our first time trying street vendor food, so we were all a tad nervous. We all turned out fine. =) I treated all seven us for this meal (including Nong), and it was only around $6! What a steal.


Nong then drove us to Doi Suthep temple. This was very intricate and beautiful. There are so many Thai customs that we weren't used to so it made us a little uneasy. For instance, when seeing a monk, you're supposed to "wai," but it just didn't feel right doing that, so I ended up giving them nervous smiles and a small nod. Not sure if that was rude. =\


Stopped briefly at a jade factory and saw how they make beautiful jade pendants and sculptures. Sounds boring, but it was actually really cool.

We took a brief break at the hotel, and then proceeded to a cultural show and dinner. This was created for tourists showing us traditional dance and music. It was very enjoyable because of the company I had.

After washing up back at the hotel and buying some booze, we retreated in one of our rooms and played "I Have Never." What a dangerous game. Let's just say we all got to learn things about each other, some things NO ONE knows...