Bus to Chiang Mai

Last night was one of those nights that you wish you could erase from your memory. We boarded what we were told was a VIP FIRST CLASS bus but was actually just a glorified double decker transit bus with some dress up.

Let me tell you, the road to Chiang Mai is paved with hatred and fury. 10 hours of horror! What a terrible sleep – it felt like we were fighting our way through the elements when I woke up at some undetermined time to thunder and lightning. The suspension of that bad boy left me with aches and pains today. My body is starting to punish me for punishing it with a lack of sleep and I am feeling worse for wear. In addition to that, this sleeper bus started with a movie, dubbed in thai, at high volume and all the lights on.

Before the bus even started moving though, B had to use the bathroom. She came back to our seat in complete shock. It was the worst bathroom she has ever been in. She described it as entirely stainless steel but rusted and dripping wet. The toilet was a metal bowl no larger than the palms of her hands with a bucket of water beside it which also held a ladle. It wasn’t until later that we figured out the use for such tools.

The fine folks on the bus were kind enough to provide us with a delicious and nutritious meal though:

Yup, the mystery drink and custard filled bun stayed in that package. We were on a very strict liquid limit for the next ten hours so sampling that was not on the agenda.

Now... the real thing I’ve been waiting to tell you, dying to tell you, is that when we stopped at 1am in the morning at a rest station we simply HAD to use the bathroom. There was no avoiding it. People, I peed into this last night:

I’m serious. The scoop is for putting water into the “toilet” after you go in it. Somehow it washes it away. Needless to say, THIS is the worst bathroom I’ve ever been in. Welcome to Thailand!

It wasn’t all bad though, I did see these adorable little kitties. I’m not allowed to touch any stray animals because I’ll probably get some sort of parasite and spend the next 25 days in a hospital but it is damn tempting.

Today has been a chill day exploring Chiang Mai by foot. We went for a Thai massage (one hour for 7$) and had some delicious lunch. I have settled on fried rice and chicken for now and it cost me $1.60 for a plate of it today! The massage was quite painful to be honest. They do a lot of contorting and a lot of sitting on you. I did feel good afterwards and I kept telling myself, “She is a trained professional” but really, this is Thailand after all. The prices are so ridiculous here that I fear I will be the most frugal person in the world when I get back.

We are off to the night market tonight and something very exciting but secret for tomorrow!

S.