July 22—Sukhothai to Chiang Mai and Shopping at the Sunday Bazaar

Dear Family and Friends,

Sunday, July 22, we decided to get out of town and leave Sukhothai as early as possible. Our duo awoke close to 6 AM, packed up, and headed into the street by 6:30 AM, prepared to walk to the bus station if necessary. A back-packing couple slept soundly on benches in the open-air lobby; had they arrived too late to secure a room? Lucky for us, two tuk-tuk drivers stood ready to transport awakening guests just outside the doors, so we hopped in one for 40 baht to arrive at the waiting area of the bus station by 6:40 AM—even before the ticket-agents arrived for the day. As soon as she saw the agents, Dani hopped up and procured two tickets to Chiang Mai on the 7:15 AM bus; we would be in Chiang Mai shortly after noon!

Safely on the overly-cold air-conditioned bus, where the young monk behind us had even wrapped his orange tunic over his head for warmth, Martha and Dani took up their bus-snoozing habit, taking pictures of the beautiful mountain scenery and watching an American movie dubbed-over to Thai when not watching the backs of their eyes. Dani had the window seat, and thus the arduous task of trying to get clear photos through the bus' too-smudged windows. The bus stopped frequently in towns along the way to drop-off and pick-up passengers, finally reaching capacity with about 10 Thai men standing in the aisles. Dani awoke to Martha poking at her at about 11:45 AM: "We have to change buses." Huh? But ... sleeping …

We found ourselves standing on the side of the road with two other foreigners and a busload of Thais. Everyone was calm. Following the lead of a local woman, Dani opened her umbrella to shield from the mid-day sun. Martha remarked that the last time she was on a Thai bus with a flat tire (as we’d been told was the problem), someone came and changed the tire. We could see no flat tire on this bus, and Dani commented that “the air smells like Louisiana,” meaning that the aroma reminded her of the roadside odors when her car took its last sputters back during our roadtrip in early-May 2007.

As no change of tire seemed imminent, other means of delivering the Chiang-Mai–bound people cargo was found shortly thereafter, in the form of an entirely full bus that pulled over to take some of us on-board. Martha and Dani were really in no rush to make it to Chiang Mai, so stood back as others pushed their way onto the overloaded bus. However, as the other foreigners pushed their way on just before us, a lady conductor made everyone push back in the aisle as far as they could go on, and beckoned us onto the front area of the bus, waving us on with her palm-down as is the traditional Thai way. We hopped on the bus, with a driver’s-eye view of the scenery, the traffic, and the heat index of the bus as it worked hard to get us up the mountains to Chiang Mai without overheating. At times, the driver had to slow us down to first gear and slowly, but surely, make his way up, up as the needle came closer and closer to the over-heat mark of the heat gauge, and finally to flatter ground, where he picked up speed and the needle fell back to green. In fact, the heat index was about the only indicator that worked on the bus—odometer didn’t work; the speedometer didn’t work; the bus was just meant to go regardless of time and distance!

As we stopped at routine drop-offs along the way, Martha and Dani got some extra exercise, hopping on and off the bus to allow others to depart. Yet, even as about a dozen people exited the bus, we were still stuck in the very front with no way to move back in the aisle! Suited us fine, as our arms got a decent work-out holding each other and ourselves up around the curves, and the bus driver was extra-cautious in letting out little honks to tell other drivers that he needed a little extra space or time.

In total, it was a 70 kilometer adventure to Chiang Mai after the bus broke down, and we were amazed that it only took an hour and 20 minutes longer than our original arrival time (we got in at 1:40 PM instead of about 12:20 PM). It had been a rather neat experience, embraced in its silliness and unusual encounters—the brace-faced young Thai who was in the front, hanging on along with us and the pushy-monk whose baggage almost threw Martha into the windshield when he couldn’t seem to patiently wait for us to move off of the bus and out of his way when the bus stopped! (Apparently, not all monks have found their inner peace.) Martha’s mood lifted from the previous day as the silliness of this series of multiple-mis-adventures set in. Martha and Dani smiled at each other and easy worked past the day before, confident that someday Sukhothai would be among one of their most infamous stories to tell!

We ignored the Taxi signs that littered the bus station terminal of Chiang Mai and headed right to the ladies’ room, paying 3 baht for Martha to manage the Eastern-style toilets once again. Dani enjoyed a 7 baht bean empanada, Thai style, while Martha continued her fast, but admitted to its 24-hour limit that would be completed for a late lunch. A tuk-tuk took us to the S.K. House, recommended by the Lonely Planet and only about two kilometers from the bus station in this large (but not Bangkok large!) city, for 60 baht. Room F324 came with a fan, one double bed, one single bed, and en suite Western-style bathroom with hot water, and cost us 300 baht for each of the two nights that we asked to occupy it. The hotel itself was also equipped with a restaurant with big-screen television, a swimming pool, and Internet café, which we took advantage of since we had left our computer in Bangkok with Sheila.

We dropped off our baggage, threw an extra lock on the door (it is said that credit cards and other valuables might take a walk without their owners in Chiang Mai, so a few extra precautions never hurt!), and turned the corner to Bia Porn for an awesome vegetarian lunch—a shared spicy papaya salad for 40 baht (anyone who visits Thailand is missing out not to try this dish at least once!); red curry with eggplant, mushrooms (that went to Dani), lemon grass, and other delightful yummies for Martha (40 baht); and glass noodles with veggie medley for Dani (30 baht). Both of us enjoyed a refreshing lemon shake at 20 baht each for a total of 250 baht for lunch.

From dining, we walked towards the main road outside of the ‘guest house ghetto’ where S.K. House is located. As we walked, we looked at what kinds of adventures were offered by different travel agency groups. Many touted two- or three-day hikes into the mountains to visit the Thailand native villages. Others offered waterfalls, elephant rides, or other single-item excursions. Not shying away from a full-day’s exploration, Martha and Dani walked into the air-conditioned, neat and clean travel agency where we found signs for a one-day package that included an elephant ride, lunch, trek to a waterfall (with swim), walk through some native villages, and white water rafting! Unsure if we would take the package, it dropped from 1,200 baht each to 1,000 baht each to 900 baht each, and we went ahead and booked for the next day, to be picked up between 8:00 and 8:30 AM on Monday from our guest house!

Excited, we talked about our next day’s excursion as we walked to see some of Chiang Mai while we had the chance. Past a local wat (we’re about wat-ed-out by now, by the way), we found a large collection of people cluttering some side-streets and joined the foray into the Sunday Night Bazaar, which is quite a local and tourist event! We found ourselves finally letting go to begin our for-family-and-friends shopping, picking up several items for family members and other loved ones to remind them that they are loved and thought about during this time away. The bazaar soon became overwhelming for us, as Martha still hurt and both of us were a bit tired from the long, hot days of travel. So many people, so many new things to look at!

As we hunted for an exit to the street fair, the King’s Song came over the loudspeaker … and the world-in-motion stopped still in an instant. Everyone stood and listened to the music, showing their respect to their well-loved king … and then bowed once, returning to perpetual motion as soon as the notes died from the air.

After two days of serious walking and standing, and a full day’s trek on the horizon, Martha needed to stop and rest her injured thigh and calf. So, we found some water and a G&T for Dani and a Thai whisky and coke for Martha along with a nice green curry with chicken and rice that we shared, all for 220 baht at a roadside restaurant called Khan-asa. The place was grand, with good music and good food (what ARE those little pea-like bitter balls that were in Martha’s curry earlier and now appear in her green chicken curry here?) as we listened to the Beatles and other classic rock iconic music. Khan-asa also serves as a venue for live jazz music performances, but we had just missed the routine ‘20th of the month’ presentation by a couple of days. Bummer.

Back at the hostel, we left the room once again to fill our platypus and other water containers for 3 baht at the local oxidized, filtered water station before tomorrow’s trek, packed for the trek (including towels and bathing suits), and headed down to the Internet café to check in with parents, Cindy Stew (we were originally supposed to meet up with her the 24th before heading on this Northern excursion), and the Chiang Mai Thai Cooking School to confirm Dani’s reservation for a day-long cooking class on Tuesday … and to see if Martha could join the fun! We were blissfully asleep by 11 PM to make sure we were fresh for the morning’s hike!

In love and light,

Martha and Dani