So, I left Bangkok with a raging hangover and an iced coffee addiction (probably brought on by going cold turkey on the chai). The question that I had been struggling with for a few weeks was where to go in SE Asia. Since I'm writing this with the benefit of over a months hindsight, I can be fairly sure that my overall route is about set now, but back then I was left with several very tempting options to fill in 110 days. I could;
1) Do the "Lucy" route with added Cambodia - the classic 'backpacker' circuit of SE Asia that begins in Bangkok and follows a loop through N. Thailand (with maybe a dash of Burma along the way?), Laos, Vietnam (north to south), Cambodia and ending in the islands of Thailand (my flight back is from Bangkok).
2) Head straight southwards through the Malaysian Peninsula, maybe stopping off at a Thai island or two and perhaps dallying for a little while in Malaysia before exploring Indonesia
3) Do the first bit of the circuit in 1 before deviating off in North Vietnam and peruse through China
4) A mix of any of the above depending on what I feel like from day to day, who I meet etc etc.
As it quite predictably has turned out, although I started out with the not so noble intention of slogging my way round Asia's party circuit, I got pleasantly sidetracked in Laos, having been persuaded by 3 girls to go to the 7th June full moon festival in S. Thailand, and so ended up breaking free of the circuit and making a mad dash through Malaysia to absorb as much of Indonesia as is possible in less than 2 months. But, I'm getting ahead of myself here...As I was saying before I wildly deviated off course, I left Bangkok nursing my brooding headache and vowing never to touch a bucket again (or at least for a day...). I took the bus north to Chiang Mai, Thailands second city, and its cultural capital. I ended up staying at a place called Julies guesthouse which, if you ever happen to be in that neck of the woods, is the place to stay. I went there on a glowing reccomendation from Lucy, and it was an awesome hangout whilst I was there - there was a huge area for backpackers to talk, drink, play pool, chill and do whatever, and the food there was amazing. Plus it had its own travel agency to arrange tours, treks and courses. Whilst in Chiang Mai I did a cooking course (also recommended by Lucy) which included a trip to the market, cooking some really good food (thai fish cakes are worth killing for) and an absolutely crazy instructor called Miow. Chiang Mai also has a huge Sunday market in the evening, which me and a Belgian guy I met named Tommy walked through for several hours, trying everything available on the food stalls from Noodle Soup to Fried Insect Larvae (which just tasted like incredibly salty, slightly sour fish). Tommy and several other people in Julies had mentioned plans to go to Pai, 3 hours north west of Chiang Mai, a place I had not thought of visiting before. However I decided it would be worth checking out and left with the intention of staying a day or two. I left with one of the dutch guys I had been drinking with in Bangkok. I met both of them again in Julies, and although they could bring me no more clarity about what had happened to me that night ("Um... You wondered off after a bit. I think. I can't really remember though") they none the less filled me in as to what they got up to that night, which involves a Subway, an angry policeman, Khao San Jail and a 300 Baht (6 pounds) bribe. One of them had lost his passport and so had to head back down to Bangkok, giving Peter (the slightly less crazy one) some time to kill, so we left for Pai together. The many shenanigans of Pai will have to wait for another day to be told however, as the suns just come out and the coral reef here (Pulau Weh) is looking pretty snorkalable right now. Ciao.
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