Chillin' in Chiang Mai

Greetings from Chiang Mai!

It took us about 11 hours on a night bus to get here but we made it. The night bus was an interesting experience. Since it originated in Bangkok, the full bus picked us up on the side of the freeway in Ayutthaya where we were staying. There were six people picked up in Ayutthaya and exactly six seats available, none of them together. Sleeping next to a complete stranger is...awkward.

We arrived at our guesthouse around 7am but our room wasn't ready until 11am so, exhausted, we sat around for a while in the lobby, went out for a little breakfast, walked around town, then returned to the hotel after realizing we weren't wearing sunscreen. We napped until 4 (glorious) and decided to check out the Sunday Walking Street. After eating dinner compliments of street vendors we tried to find a cool place to hang out by our guesthouse, but realized that all of the establishments catered to old white men traveling alone...

Our second day in Chiang Mai was spent searching for a new guesthouse with a monthly rate.

Day three has held many interesting sights and interactions with Thai people. We were interviewed by two different groups of university students for a project and we also met a primary school teacher while walking around the Old City who gave us some helpful tips for the job hunt. So far we are really liking Chiang Mai.

This shirt is my sreason for hainess. :)

See?

The shirt really tickles Nick's fancy, too.

Our Sunday Walking Street perusing was interrupted by yet another torrential downpour, so we took cover. What better place than in a massage chair? The woman on the right got a kick out of giving Nick a good walloping followed by a "tickle tickle."

The students from the School For the Blind put on performances throughout the walking street.

After sunset the entire walkway is bumper to bumper walkers. I thought the street was busy when we took this picture.

On one of the offshoots we found a vendor selling wine to benefit Chiang Mai University, so of course we had to taste it. Mine was langon wine and Nick sampled the ginseng wine. Interesting.

This is one of the many illuminated Wats we found during our walk.

This little girl and her sister were beautiful performers. Both seemed quite comfortable with the attention from walkers.

Check out the dragons and the pillars inside.

This is the place we will call "home" for the next month, maybe longer.

Its so cute, and only $13.50 a night, including daily breakfast, cleaning and utilities!

Night 2 outside the Tha Phae gate to the Old City, where we met Tom, a Thai-American who hooked us up with a job lead!

A view of the new city opposite the Tha Phae gate.

We're having a ton of fun and are planning on looking for a job here within the next couple of days. Hopefully our next post will also include some new friends!

Hugs, kisses, and misses!

Ty and Nick