Chiang Mai

We spent a few days over new year in Chiang Mai. We arrived by overnight train which is definitely a more comfortable way to travel than by bus. It isn't that much more expensive as well. We got into to Chiang Mai early morning, and found accommodation, a motorbike and a map (the three essentials whenever in a new place).

In Chiang Mai we checked out many temples and Buddha statues, did some shopping at the local markets and ate lots of tasty Northern Thai food.






After that, we got on the motorbike and got out of the city. There are some great rides once of out Chiang Mai. We opted for the National Park which is about 10km out of town but the traffic was crazily busy because so many Thai people flock to Chiang Mai over the new year. We stopped at one of the famous waterfalls, enjoyed the views of the city and dropped in to the local zoo.






And on New Years Eve we made the few kilometer walk from our hostel to the center of town. Along the way we stopped for a drink at a countdown site where a band was playing live to pretty much no one. They were very happy when we arrived and sang to/for us as we had our drink. We stopped for dinner on the way at a busy market/open air food court before arriving in the middle of town where things were getting busy. As it approached midnight everyone was lighting lantern type things which floated up into the sky. There were thousands flickering away in the dark night sky. We ended the year sitting by the river, with heaps of Thais and foreigners, watching amateurs lighting countless fireworks (one guy got hit in the head).

The end is near

No more tuk tuk

Our year in Bangkok, and 3 years in Asia, is about to come to an end. In a few weeks we are going to leave Bangkok and move back to the UK; not before I have a short break in Australia and Celine in France. We have had such an amazing time in Asia. We have learnt so many things and met so many interesting people. We feel really lucky to have had the chance to live in two different Asian countries and learn about their cultures. We arrived in Asia uneducated and have come up against a number of culture shocks along the way. We fear that the culture shocks will come again as we move back to western society.

I have been rubbish on the blog in Thailand, but I will try and keep the posts coming to document what we have been up to in the past few months. Here are some of the things we are going to miss from Thailand.



Street food

There will be no more street food in London. This is such a great part of Asian culture. The grilled chicken, grilled fish, som tam (papaya salad), and sticky rice is one of our favourites and costs just a few dollars.


Beaches

There will be no more Thailand beaches. London has rocky beaches in Brighton I guess :(

Pool on the roof

There will be no more relaxing on the roof of our apartment block, enjoying the sunset, getting a tan and swimming in the pool. I think it is around 10 degrees in London at the moment. I don't have a jacket. Hmmmm.

Asian Markets

There will be no more Asian markets. No more hanging meat, flapping fish, and squawking chickens and the vast array of unusual and sometimes awful smells that go with it. The smells I can do without but the markets a very typical to the culture and really makes you realise you are far away from home.

Songkran

No more festivals - Thailand style. This means no more Songkran - the worlds biggest water fight. I will however get one more in before I leave. The water festival this year is from April 13-15 and I will be enjoying it with my brother Chris.

Chao Phraya River

No more river trips.

Temples

No more temples.

With all this in mind we plan to get the most out of Bangkok in the next few weeks.

Christmas in Bangkok

Christmas day for Celine and I started with a morning class. You can definitely find elements of Christmas throughout Bangkok but in terms of work, or in our case teaching, it was business as usual. All the shopping centers are decked out with Christmas lights and decorations. The hotels as well.



There was a mass of options to choose from for Christmas lunch with many pubs and hotels putting on a real Christmas feast. We had our Christmas lunch at a German restaurant in Nana on soi 11. We had planned to go to another restaurant for a Christmas lunch but when we arrived it was empty and playing rap music. It was a typical Christmas lunch with a German tinge; turkey, potatoes and a German style red cabbage recipe. Add some ice cream and a German beer and you have an enjoyable Christmas lunch.



In the evening we went for a walk in the city to check out the Christmas lights around Central World and the nearby hotels. There were people everywhere. It was a real East meets West atmosphere. There were Christmas trees, lights and kids playing Christmas songs mixed with traditional Thai dancing, Buddhas and late night praying.