Chiang Mai

We spent our last day in Bangkok shopping in the modern and "upscale" area called Siam Square. There are tons of shopping malls and modernized internet cafes and a HUGE food court. Then we headed to the train station and got on the overnight triain to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand). It was such an amazing experience! First, we get dinner in our little booth (2nd class) then ask the security guard to make up our bunk beds. The booth on the bottom flattens out and the top booth comes down from the ceiling. It was actually quite comfortable!! The rocking of the train was really soothing and it was a pretty smooth and quiet 14 hr ride to Chiang Mai. The bathrooms in the train consisted of a squat toilet with the hole leading right outside to the train tracks below! In the morning we watched the sun rise in our cozy bunks and had some coffee.

At about 10:30am we arrived at our hostel, A Little Bird Guesthouse, which is very quaint and much less modern than LubD. We have a 4 bed girls dorm here and it is not air conditioned (yikes!), but there are fans and little resting areas with mats and pillows and the staff is very friendly (plus it is literally $2.50 a night to stay here)! Today we visited the wats of the old city (there are 4 major ones- Wat Phra Singh, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phan Tao (my fave), & Wat Chiang Man). Chiang Mai is VERY different from Bangkok not only in the style but in the pace- much more laid back and friendly and very clean and nice cafes everywhere. Tomorrow we are going on a tour, possibly elephant riding and bamboo rafting. :)

Pics of the temples until I post pics:
http://www.chiangmai.bangkok.com/attractions/temples.htm