beer

When we last left off, Neil, myself and our counterparts from Germany and France arrived in Chiang Mai at our hostel “Living Place 3.”

The place was run by a man known only by “V” and his daughter Anna that was visiting from the Czech Republic. “V”, an eccentric, friendly Thai man who was equal parts kind, helpful and generous. His daughter Anna, a twenty year old girl with the same qualities as her father, tended to the front desk. Two of greatest hostel proprietors I would have the pleasure of meeting during this trip.

The hostel itself was quiet, most of the time. Our room was an eight person dorm that we had complete run of, save for a night when one other person needed a bed. There was one hard fast rule about this place, no food or drink in the rooms. Neil found this out the hard way as there was a chocolate milk that had partially spilled in a plastic bag in his backpack. He got ants, a lot of ants. Some rules are meant to be taken seriously I suppose.

Chiang Mai itself was very…..different from both places we had been already. Smaller in size than Bangkok and much larger than Ayutthaya, it was a welcome midpoint between the two. I saw many more expats and travelers here than in Bangkok, primarily because while there we did not stay on Khaosan road. Taking it’s smaller size into account as well. There was truly positive vibe here, a lot of that having to do with the people we traveled there with and the people we met. One of the things I wanted to do while backpacking in Thailand was to eat a tarantula. I was told Chiang Mai had many insect vendors, alas, I could not find my prize within the myriad of stalls available to us.

I had the worst scare of the entire trip here. A night of attending Muay Thai fights turned into a drunken, black out, can’t remember how I got back to the hostel kind of night. Then morning came, I woke up startled and in a panic, I knew something was wrong. I shot out of bed and realized that I lost my camera. I remembered we went to another hotel for an after party, but who knew where that was? I ran down three flights of stairs faster than I ever have before to see if I had left it there before passing out. No, not there either. I had no Idea what to do. I hadn’t backed up my Thailand photographs yet and half of my Europe pictures were on there as well. I was gutted, and simply wanted to cry or break stuff, I couldn’t be sure at the time. I went outside for a cigarette and tried to calm down. One of the other guests was out there already and noticing that I was sheet white asked what was wrong. My sob story was reiterated as calmly as I could. All of a sudden from behind me I hear another voice say to me “Man, I have your camera!” I looked back and saw Matt pulling my camera bag out of his scooter. Apparently he had stayed the night at the other hotel and brought it back for me. It would appear as though I have the greatest luck known to man. I hugged him as tightly as I could, almost uncomfortably so but at least I had it back. The days in Chiang Mai after that were spent ensuring I did not take my camera anywhere that may turn into a particularly un-sober evening.

We spent most of our time relaxing, eating, drinking and making new friends. We did however go zip-lining through the jungle on one day. I don’t think I have mentioned before that I am afraid of heights. It was difficult for me to trust the ropes that were holding me up, not to mention walking across a rope bridge seventy meters above the jungle floor. I did it, however, despite my entire body and mind telling me not to and I am happy that I did.

Two nights were spent in a tree house on the side of a mountain one and a half hours north of Chiang Mai. The views were breathtaking and it was quiet. A welcome juxtaposition from the cities we had been calling home as of late.

A Thai family called this place home and welcomed guests to stay with them. They fed us. Glorious, fantastic, mouth watering northern Thai cuisine.

We went on jungle treks through rivers that ended with us taking in the sight of a fantastic little waterfall. Temples were explored on the second day, along with a cave system that was attached to it. All in all there were a few of the best days I had in Thailand.

As I sit here in my dark hotel room, as my mum is sleeping a long day away, I wanted to reflect on the first twenty four hours of our journey. The flights we had were hardly unbearable, almost pleasant actually. Winnipeg to Toronto was the portion of the flight that I had taken countless times before, no surprises there. However once we were on the plane out of Toronto my nerves started up, thinking about possibilities and the things that could go sideways really quick. Missing our connection, losing or forgetting something or trying to remember how to communicate with people again when you cannot speak the same language. Lack of incident on the whole series of flights made me think that, just maybe, nothing would go wrong.

Fast forward a short while and we step off of the train in Uppsala. While walking to our hotel, a church, yes a large religious building, decided to jump out at me and slash the arm of my leather jacket. So that bit about nothing going wrong, right out the window. On the plus side I was immediately directed to a tailor one block away and they will have it fixed by the morning. Silver linings and all that.

Getting situated at the hotel we are at was uncomplicated and the location itself could not be better. We are very centralized, the train station is one block over and there are plenty of bars and eateries within a short stroll across the street. Which brings me to this….

My first beer in Sweden and likely not the last. I’m attempting to only drink local beers and local craft brews while in Europe. It tends to be cheaper and gives you a taste of the area.

The amount of green landscape and vegetation in the area (even for being in the downtown district) is astonishing coming from where I live.

This section of street was only three minutes from our hotel and was right next to a river that ran between two other streets. Now yes, there are
many places in the world that have green areas and rivers. My amazement was how green the people are here. Most are in great shape, bicycles are the preferred mode of transportation and the streets were a lot cleaner than I am used to. In fact to stress how important cycling is to these folks I will illustrate with the following:

These massive bike racks and rows of bikes were everywhere we went. Some seemed like they charged you parking fees akin to that of a car but much cheaper. Others at the train station, pictured above, were free.

So far the first day has surprised, shocked and pleased me greatly. The differences between the environmental concerns of Sweden and home are like black and white. Their transportation systems are incredibly efficient and reliable. Food, drink, transportation costs (train tickets and bus fares), all appear to be far more costly than they are at home. I came into this country knowing that things were a bit pricier so it was not a huge shock to me, but I can see how visiting here for a week can rack up costs pretty quickly.

Tomorrow we are heading out to Gamla Uppsala which is the old town just north of here. We will be visiting some viking burial mounds and seeing the countryside for the day. Afterwards, a short trip to Stockholm to visit with a friend of mine and have dinner with her family.

ToHeckandBack

An Independent Travel Blog of Culture, Cuisine, Scenery and Everything in Between

Chiang Mai and Welcome to the Jungle

My First Steps into Strange Lands