Out of the Big City

Vietnam has been added to the "Nationalities I've Met" page, bringing the total to 29!

I had mentioned in the previous post that Lisa and I recently left Bangkok in lieu of other places. We first took a train to Ayutthaya, a small city about two hours away. We were floored by the accommodations: a really nice hotel with A/C and television, for about half the price of our previous guesthouse in Bangkok! It was even conveniently located, as it was within walking distance of some beautiful ancient ruins. Numerous Buddhas with their heads lopped off (presumably from some kind of conflict) lined the broken walls.

That night we rented a motorbike and drove around the empty city for hours. It was glorious! 

As a last minute decision, we decided to head all the way to Chiang Mai, located in the north of the country. We rode the third class train for budgetary reasons. A 13-hour ride, it was fairly uncomfortable. We spent three days in Chiang Mai, and really enjoyed it! It is pretty much the San Francisco of Thailand: smaller, cleaner, and nicer than Bangkok. I bought a Northern Thai instrument, the Seung, which I intend to learn to play.

Just yesterday, we arrived in Pai, a small town near the Myanmar border. It's extremely scenic and has lots of elephants! More on that soon.