Thurs 7th Dec – Villiage outside Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai

As my first ‘backpacker’ experience, the shared upstairs sleeping mat arrangement was okay. Lights were turned off around 10pm. With my eye mask and ear plugs, I did sleep. Going to the bathroom was stressful, as it was necessary to traverse squeaky floorboards and a very narrow step of stairs, trying not to wake anyone. I found the sleeping conditions more tolerable than the group desire to play cards before bed. Why? Why is this considered a fun thing to do in a group of strangers or equally in a group of friends? I played the obligatory three rounds of uno, managed to insult the eager American that was steadfast in her belief uno had strategy, than ran upstairs to the sleeping mat.

I woke to the group talking softly outside and gentle sounds of Ms Aoi and co shuffling breakfast around in the wok. To my disbelief, I felt peaceful. Breakfast is an outstandingly flavoursome fried rice and a salty, crispy omelette. I am nervous about the coffee offering (instant), but I go with it and find that I can indeed drink instant coffee if surrounded by an abundance elsewhere. Shower facilities were one hot and two cold. I had the cold shower. What a relief to feel cool again.

Around 8am we leave for a casual cycle tour around the village. This is lovely and relaxing. There is a mix of rice paddies, fields for meat cows and dairies for milking cows. One visit is to a family that makes (mills? farms?) their own rice. To make your own rice, you need a paddy, you need to harvest the rice, dry the rice, seperate the rice from the husk and sort the rice from the husk. For those doing to sell, there is machinery to assist. For this family, who consume what they grow and prepare, all is done with rudimentary tools, and is done daily.

After the 2hr cycle on dilapidated bikes, we return sweaty for lunch with produced selected at the local grocery store and mushrooms picked by us at the local mushroom grower. Understandably and unsurprisingly, it is again incredible. I have heard a lot about Vietnamese food being very good. It will be hard to compete with most of my food so far in Thailand. It’s helped that the tour guide has identified me as “someone with a love of food”, and has been making sure I eat what she orders.

We catch a songthaew to Chaing Mai. I love this. It feels very dangerous as we approach the city, couples on motorcycles giggle at us, and is so bumpy at one part I almost hit the roof. The best part though is the back of the truck is down the whole time so I am practically tailgating into Chaing Mai.

During the afternoon, I wander off alone into the old city of Chaing Mai. It reminds me a bit of an Asian Surfers Paradise, without the beach. Inside the moat surrounding the old city, there are mostly hotels, western coffee stalls and marijuana shops (I am presuming it is legal here). The traffic is manic. There are pedestrian crossings, I gravitate to them solemnly, but I am yet to understand what they actually mean because no one slows down or looks you in the eye and it seems indistinguishable from any other part of the road. The fear of being splattered across the road at any given time surpasses any other concern about terrorism or theivery. In some ways, it is freeing.

On my way to meet the group at the nightmarkets, I stumble across a pop up makers market. Gee it is very very cute. I purchase many tiny things. I am late for dinner with the group. Nightmarkets prove to be very inauthentic, confirmed by when our Thai guide comes back to the table with a kebab. But it is fun with the group and hearing about what they have done with the afternoon (they got a taxi to a temple on the mountain). I stay for 750ml beer, which is a lot, and enjoying being with the offshoot of the tour group that I get along with best. I dare say, the sharing of the room last night may have served as bonding. They seem sad when I leave after one beer (but noting it was 750ml..) and I am declared to be a very “independent” person. I have blogs to write and books to read.