Chang Mai

We caught the sleeper train up to Chang Mai last night. The sleeper beds were surprisingly comfortable. The following picture shows Marie surreptitiously drinking thai rum and pepsi, in an effort to make the train ride easier.

The only downside was the full court press from the tuk tuk drivers as we came off the train. I thought Bangkok touting was aggressive, but obviously I need to harden up. On the plus side: after the 30+ degrees that was Bangkok, Chang Mai seems waaay more bearable due to its altitude, say 20-25 degrees. Which means we don't need aircon, and can therefore get a fan room at a place with a pool for the same price as our aircon room sans pool in Bangkok.

There is Muay Thai on tonight so might try to go to that. The fights go from 830 to midnight, with the bigger (by thai standards) boys being on toward the end. Then it is a couple of days lazing around (might hire a scooter for a day to get out of the town), with a full day 10 meal cooking course on Monday- no breakfast that day!