The highlight of this journey was a small Thai girl, around two or three years old who was singing to her mum. For some unknown reason she sung happy birthday, which I felt, in my state of cabin feverish delirium, to be the most beautiful coincidence imaginable and it even raised a small smile and a nod of acknowledgment from Josh. We arrived just before 11pm (we left at 8.30am) and after relieving ourselves of our bags at our cheap and ridiculously nice hostel, we went out in search of all the food, drink and nightlife that we had fantasised about so extensively on the train.

We ate two main courses each and, unable to walk, asked a tuctuc driver to take us to a lively nightspot. As far as tuctucs are concerned this is pretty much the stupidest thing you can do and we found ourselves driven out to a horrific club at the edge of town where we were greeted by a collection of young girls and extortionate drink prices. We left and, somewhat disheartened, headed back to the hostel where we hoped to at least find a bar with some cheap beer (ideally a mojito for Josh as he had become slightly obsessed). This time we got lucky.

A BUCKET of mojito and a few beers later we found ourselves playing pool on a fantastically worn out and lopsided pool table for 100baht per game (to put that into perspective, a pad thai is 25baht and a beer is 50baht) with a group of really friendly Thai guys. They told us they were the house band and we promised to return on the next night at a more reasonable hour. We left drunk and feeling that we'd successfully redeemed the evenings previous failings. After a drunken leap into the pool from our 2nd story balcony (which Josh recorded but has not posted due to it's considerable coverage of my genitals) we had a long and luxurious sleep.

The next day we wandered into a nearby temple and did of bit of life admin. In spite of my best efforts my broken camera was not stolen at Ko Phangan so I decided to see if it could be repaired. I found a man who agreed to fix it for 1500baht which was a lot cheaper than buying a new one but I managed to get him down to 1000baht anyway by explaining that I was a traveler and this would mean sacrificing an almost incalculable amount of pad thais (I may have used slightly more Tarzan-esque language).

Speaking of Tarzan, Chiang Mai is famous for it's proximity to jungles of the North and we signed up immediately for a 3 day trek which would involve elephant riding, bamboo rafting, and staying a night in a village with mountain folk. Happily my camera was fixed and fully functioning by the end of the day (which was lucky because we left the next morning) and, again in my best Tarzan accent, I thanked the indifferent man in the shop with the emotion and enthusiasm you would expect of someone thanking a fireman who has just carried their children from a burning building.

True to our promise of the previous night, we returned to the bar that evening where our friends were already mid set. When we walked in the singer, whose name - like most - eludes me, spotted us and with the packed bar eagerly waiting for the next song, made a point of having a little catch up. He even remembered my name, shame on me. I have to say that the warmth and genuine friendliness of the Thai people are the things I will miss most about Thailand. All the way from north to south, they really are the nicest of people.

We spent the evening listening to our friends playing covers of popular indie bands including Kings of Leon, The White Stripes and, best of all, The Arctic Monkeys - which provided the rare opportunity to see a Thai man singing in a Northern accent. With our trek bags packed and ready to go, we got our heads down for a decent nights sleep.

written by  steve_stamp on May 18, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand
from the travel blog: The art of being lost
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I fink Sam may be in Thailand afterall!!

written by  Nickon on May 19, 2009

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not happy about the 2nd floor leap into pool but enjoying the rest-thanks for describing so vividly. Luvxx

written by  sue stamp on May 20, 2009

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