...and we're back! Just as before, it felt good to be back in Bangkok. Or was it just returning to the familiar (albeit smelly, dirty, and crowded) streets of our neighborhood and our apartment that felt so good? Even before I reached the apartment where Chris was still fast asleep in the 6 o'clock hour, I felt a bit of relief to be back home. Of course, it was also really nice to know as I walked home that I was going to see Chris very soon! I really missed the guy!! :)
Well, that was definitely an interesting trip! We started out on a night train Wednesday evening heading to the city of Chiang Mai in the Chiang Mai province of Thailand. This is the place I've been wanting to visit since my first day in Thailand, and I hope to get Chris up there before we return to the US. It is mountainous, green, and much cooler (in temperature) than Bangkok. We spent the first day (Thursday) exploring Chiang Mai and avoiding all tuk-tuk drivers. They showed bull-headed perservence in trying to get us to hop into their tuk-tuks and trucks by honking their horns and calling out to us as they drove past to get our attention. At first, I thought we were in the way, as it is common practice here for folks on and in vehicles of any type to honk as they pass pedestrians (despite the insult that Dad felt when they honked at him while we walked along the dirt roads on Koh Tao--little did he appreciate that that's how they do it all over Thailand and SE Asia) just to notify that there is a bigger vehicle approaching. However we soon realized that the drivers were, in fact, trying to get our attention to see if we would hire them for a ride! (Later, in Koh Samui, we welcomed this honking as we often found ourselves on the side of the road where the sidewalk had simply ended leaving us walking on the edge of a street instead of on the somewhat protected sidewalk ledge. If I thought the traffic situation was hairy in Bangkok, it was outrageous outside of the big city.)
Here is the general itinerary for our trip (with details for each section to follow):
Wednesday night: Spent on overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
Thursday night: Spent night in Guest House in city of Chiang Mai.
Friday and Saturday nights: Trekking (sleeping in wooden shacks under mosquito nets)
Sunday night: Guest house in Chiang Mai, again.
Monday-Wednesday nights: Guest house in Koh Samui
Thursday night: Overnight Train from Surat Thani to Bangkok.
5:30am: Arrive in Bangkok train station and catch the MBT (the subway) to the BTS (the skytrain).
A few hours after my return to the apartment, there was a knock on the door. Mookda was standing outside to let the engineer in to work on our water temperature (the kitchen sink faucet water gets scalding hot rather quickly and we have both been nearly burned from it). She was so excited to see me, she threw her arms around my neck and gave me a huge hug. It was so good to see her, too!! When I told Chris about her enthusiastic greeting, he said she was probably glad to see me because he worked a lot and hardly had time for anything else. One day, he left clean clothes on the bed, and when he came home, they were neatly folded in a pile on the dresser. Today, when I mentioned this to her, Mookda said that Chris must have been working really hard and late for nearly every day, there were boxes from Take-Out. As Dad realized when he was visiting, Chris and I do enjoy cooking dinner together, and we take the time to prepare food and have a nice meal.
Today I sent Mike off to explore the city by himself in his last day here in Bangkok. I am heading to the roof to read. I am determined to get through the pile of books and articles I brought over here before we return to the US. While it was great to be away from this city, it is so nice to be back "home." There is so much to share about the trip...soon, soon.
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