Chiang Mai and The Golden Triangle

My health and vitality have been restored after a week of peace and harmony in Chiang Mai. It's the second biggest province in Thailand and is historically very important (Chiang Mai natives are very proud!): during the colonial times when the French and British were over here colonising, the various provinces of what is now Thailand came together and decided rather than be ruled by a foreign power they would put aside their differences and join forces to eject the invaders. So the King of Bangkok married the princess of Chiang Mai and to create Thailand, which means 'The Land of the Free'.

Chiang Mai city is perfectly square and is surrounded by a moat, which you can see in the pciture above. There are four gates north, south, east and west around the city and they are the only way in or out. Makes navigating the city fairly easy. The north is a lot cheaper than Bangkok and for the equivalent of 10 pounds a night I have my own double room, with a/c and an adjoining shower/bathroom. My dinner each night costs less than a pound and is delicious. I usually cycle between pad thai (fried noodles), chicken and rice and spicy beef noodles in soup! Yum. Although make sure you ask for original spicy rather than Thai spicy. I made the error once and was wounded LOL.

On my second day I spent my extra cash renting a motorbike. Disraeli once said: 'expect the expected'. How well this man knew life! Bearing in mind I've never ridden a motorbike, plus have been off the road for two years in my own country after losing my license, you might be able to guess the result. The guy showed me how to start it, handed me the keys and said off you go! I crashed after about five minutes LOL, narrowly avoiding a collision with an oncoming truck!! It totaled the wing mirrow and scratched up the right side of the bike but they say if you fall off, you should get right back on so that's what I did. I kicked the debris to the side of the road and jumped back on... by the end of the day I was a pro! My tenacity (recklessness??) served me well. Sometimes you have to test the fabric.

Spent a day even further north in Chiang Rai too and up by the Golden Triangle, which is where Thailand, Burma and Laos meet. This area is historically very important and is where most of the opium and heroin was traded in times gone by. Opium is distilled from the poppy flower which grows best on the hills in cooler climes. Heroin is then distilled from opium. Poppy farms are still widespread in Burma and parts of Afghanistan and pure heroin is cheap and readily available for the more intrepid addict...

A night out in Chiang Mai proved surprisingly fun too. Far from the hedonistic raves of Bangkok, Chiang Mai is well known for it's jazz bars and reggae scene! So I sat in on a brilliant jazz set then walked five minutes down the road to the reggae district and drank in Babylon and the Roots Rock Reggae Bar! Brilliant. Travelling up to Pai (three hours north of Chiang Mai) on Saturday. Will miss Chiang Mai. Big time.