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Its day 3 of being in Chiang Mai and I’m feeling pretty comfortable. The heat is naturally a big deal as, we wintry British folk are just not used to humidity in the same way- but I have to say, I love stepping outside to hot sun every day- it’s good for the soul I think.
Apart from obvious things like sleeping in a hotel bed every night, it’s sometimes easy to forget we are in Thailand-I think this is for a couple of reasons. Mainly, it’s pretty astonishing how good human beings actually are at adapting to surroundings-whatever they may be.
As for Chiang Mai itself, I’m really glad we started here as, it’s quite the busy town-which is just what we wanted to start off.
Walking down the swarthy streets in early evening, there are very clear signs of other westerners (an occasional backpack or streak of blonde hair) and more than a few eateries offer an English language menu- but apart from this, Chiang Mai still feels like it is Thai at heart.
The abundance of Tuk Tuks and ‘songtaews’ (red pickup trucks that are the standard mode of transport for people here), as well as a real presence of the Thai language in the street signs and day to day iconography, all are reminders that this is not yet a homogenised ‘city centre’ with a McDonalds every 10 feet and a Starbucks around every corner (incidentally, of our travels of the centre, there is only 1 of each of these-although there are bound to be more).
Our first night was spent in ‘Julie’s guesthouse’ which was a really colourful place-perfect for backpackers: but not really a long term option for the 5 weeks of our language course. The first night we found we couldn’t sleep, so ended up on the veranda at 4 in the morning, flicking through our travel books whilst hot tropical rain hammered the roof-I thought it was a very exotic start to the trip. And then came the dogs.
Apparently, what Chiang Mai has, more than red corrugated iron roves, more than enormous banana trees branched over the dusty streets, is dogs. Dogs. Dogs. Dogs. From what one of the locals told us, there are a lot of strays (lack of neutering) and as a result, they are taken in by the orange-clad monks that dwell in the beautiful temples scattered all over.
In the night, the dogs congregate (appropriate use of word I think given the location) at the temples and throughout the evening, the sounds of dogs growling, barking and fighting bring the dark alive. If only the reality was quite so poetic! In actual fact, every time you do manage to fall asleep the intermittent dog-noise is sure to wake you up sooner or later and at around 5am (this alone is worth a visit to Chiang Mai), the bells are rung in the temples all across the city to which the canine citizens create an annoying yet highly bizarre howling cacophony (sound bite recorded using digital camera coming soon) Very disturbing!
Don’t get me wrong, being here is such a liberating experience, and a friend of ours from the language course said that we will soon get used to the noise which is great because ultimately, the dogs are just one element of our stay here. Apart from this, there is a lot to do here, and as it happens, Dante and I aren’t doing much shopping (we travel light you see) but if someone came here to go shopping, they wouldn’t know where to look-the markets are huge! Then of course, there’s the travelling and options for exploring the native hill tribe villages, as well as authentic Thai foot massages on almost every street corner for less than 3 quid- and let’s not forget the food! Oh the food! Chiang Mai is definitely the place for us to be right now…
One person has commented on this article.  1. UntitledPauline, UnregisteredIts Saturady night - slighty drunk after 1 1/2 bottle of merlot and just reading about your stay in Chiang Mai. Sounds fabulous and I can definitely relate to the barking dogs!!! A cacophany of which echos around my house every morning when the postman puts the mail through the letter box !!!! Envy you waking up to the sunshine each morning. love reading your diaries xxx |
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