Back in Thailand

Okay, that _was _a long trip. After three days traveling, two days by boat and one day by bus, I finally arrived in Chiang Mai in Thailand. Back in the city I visited about 10 weeks ago. Although this time the city looks different, it is more.. hmm modern? Yes, I am pretty sure it is. Many cars, supermarkets, small cinema. Was that here before? Must be.

It is funny to see how your vision gets blurred by the culture or country you compare with. The last time I was here, my reference was Holland. This time, my references are countries like Laos and Cambodia. Which are less rich, and less (do I dare to say it..) developed. Small things like the size of the local sops, the diversity in clothing, more cars compared to motorbikes, women wearing make-up, the presence billboards. Something you would not even notice coming from a european country. Something you will definitely notice coming from a poor south-east asian country.

I like it here. Chiang Mai is, compared to Bangkok, a quiet city. Even though it contains 1.2 million inhabitants. For a traveler there is a lot to do: courses, bars, nightclubs, big markets, rafting, many day trips, etc. So I decided to spend a few days here and do a Thai massage course! Spanning 4 full days, the course will hopefully teach me the basics behind Thai massage. Although I do not expect to be any expert afterwards ofcourse, it will be nice to be able to give somebody a massage that goes beyond the usual tickling of the muscles in the shoulders. Which, by the way, is something which I am even barely capable of (yes, some people out there know what I am talking about). Oh yes, and maybe it will impress girls.

I don’t know if I have mentioned it before, but massage is a very common way of dealing with stress in the southeast asian countries. Ofcourse many tourists endulge themselves in an hour of thai massage, herbal sauna, blind massage, swedish massage, oil massage, etc. Which I am not in the least fond of myself (I especially like the sauna combined with a massage). But also many local people are capable of giving a proper massage to family and friends. You can see massages being performed between local people on a market, in their houses (of which the doors are always open, so you are able to peek inside) or just on the streets. People in the SE asia countries are far more intimate with each other than in W. european countries.

Ok, so just a few days left before I leave S.E. Asia and head to the south of China: Hong Kong. Some people have asked me how traveling is here. You have to know that my former travel experience has only been in European countries, so that is my reference, but here is how I experienced it.

First of all, it is easy. It really is. The infrastructure and local bus system in Thailand is superb, some compare it to the bus systems in the south of Europe. But even in countries lacking the infrastructure, like Laos and Cambodja, it is still very easy to travel by local buses. Or to travel by organized tours. Because, you see, when there are tourists (or travelers), there is money. And where there is money, there are always people jumping in this market to provide you with all the means necessary to get to your destination. I can say that while traveling here I got a lot of help from the local people. Compare this to holland, where you have to figure most things out yourself (get to the trainstation, get ticket, lookup timetable, transfer to another bus, get local bus because taxi is too expensive, etc).

Second. The food. Obviously you must be a little resistant to eating rice and noodles a lot. But that is if you want to travel cheap. If you really want to, you can get european food (beef steak and fries, spaghettig, hamburger) at most places I have been to. Although at a price (up to 6x the price of local food), ofcourse. But don’t despair, the local food is very nice anyway. And in the former french colonies you can will find a lot of baquette (bread) too.

Third. Safety. As in every country, don’t be stupid. But, during my months here I have not felt a single time felt less safe than going around in Holland. In fact, bad neighborhoods in Holland give me more the creeps than walking in a dark city here. Although you have to be aware of theft, physical assault is very unlikely to happen.

Why do I say this? Well, I guess for those out there that are contemplating about going abroad, but are doubting whether to go to ‘safe’ Australia or ‘unsafe’ S.E. Asia, I can just say that there is absolute no rational to this. Just go :)

I’m heading back to my guesthouse now for dinner. Tomorrow the flower festival starts here, which is one of the biggest anual events in Chaing Mai, so that will be good!

La gone!

p.s. I have put some pictures of the boat-trip online. For those unable to locate the photo’s (Eljo?): they are on the right. I have moved the photo’s up a bit, so they are more apparent now.