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Five flavours: Day 13 Bangkok to Chiang Mai
Soundtrack: “Young and Beautiful”, Lana del Rey It probably says something about the last few days that I slept almost okay the night before a flight. I woke up once or twice too often, and certainly didn’t feel refreshed and bouncing by the time the alarm went off, but I’ve definitely had worst nights this (and other) trips. It wasn’t the most organised and elegant packing job, but everything fit okay. It’s just over an hour to fly from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, so while I packed essentials into hand luggage, I wasn’t too fussed about making sure I had a book to read and stuff like that. There’s also…
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7NNT25 Day 16: Chiang Mai > Bangkok > Ho Chi Minh City
Soundtrack: “Khe Sanh”, Cold Chisel Having left day 15 on a cliff hanger, I can reveal that I was able to get up in time to head out and get my laundry just after 9am, so I won’t have to buy any new clothes anytime soon. While I’m travelling with a few treasured items, my green The Clouds t-shirt that I got at a gig the night before I last came to Thailand, which has travelled a bunch since, was recognised by a friend of the band in Fort William, and was also photographed in the main court of the Rijksmuseum (two of us have now done this, so it’s…
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7NNT25: Day 15 – Chiang Mai
Soundtrack: “Yellow”, Coldplay (sigh) Khao soi day. I dragged my slightly tired carcass out of bed, quick stop for some hotel noodle and egg breakfast, and then headed out to a laundry I’d spotted on my wanderings that offered 50 THB/kilo. I handed over my trusty orange laundry bag (it’s been with me since at least 2009) and was told it would be ready after 6pm (note that I put in this detail about the time because I occasionally think I can do clever writer things, like foreshadowing future events, so you’ll just have to read along until I get to 6pm — FYI I’m under no pretensions that this…
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7NNT25: Day 14 – Chiang Mai
Soundtrack: “Umbrella”, Rhianna Sunday in Chiang Mai. Managed to wake in time for breakfast, it wasn’t the best sleep as congestion and coughing was a pain. Hotel breakfast nothing much to speak of, no types of cheese, congee, rice, noodles, sausage, and eggs basically. I skipped the rice and the congee, as I wasn’t sure how long they’d been sitting there, instead opting for the noodles, sausage and eggs. Noodle 7.0: Unnamed Thin Stir-fried Noodles (Royal Lanna Hotel breakfast) They were okay. Possibly an egg-noodle, with some green leaves in the mix. When you’re a tired and hungry traveller and want something to soak up egg yolks that isn’t white…
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7NNT25: Day 13 – Chiang Mai
Soundtrack: “Born This Way”, Lady Gaga / “Relax”, Frankie Goes to Hollywood The battle of the aircon continues. On one hand, Chiang Mai is starting its hot season, so daily temps are high 30s, mostly dry during the day but getting a bit more humid in the evening, so turning it off isn’t an option. But I’m yet to find the right setting that doesn’t require a bit of tweaking, but I’ll keep trying (of course, part of it is that now I’m here and unpacked I’m too lazy to as reception to change rooms, which might not make a huge difference as far as I can tell it’s just…
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7NNT25: Day 12 – Chiang Mai
Soundtrack: “Nikita”, Elton John I’ll probably keep throwing occasional remembrances from Uzbekistan into these entries as they pop up in my thoughts and as I start to process the similarities and differences to other places. One that I completely missed mentioning is that Elton John’s “Nikita” possibly plays constantly on a loop in the background of Uzbekistan Airways flights. I first heard it when we boarded the flight from Urgench, and thought it neat: the story of someone going through a soviet checkpoint and deciding they love the guard (pretty sure Nikita is generally a male name, but the film clip had a female playing the part, as Sir Elton…
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Thailand days 2-5: Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is the largest city in Thailand’s north, and while still quite large feels a lot less busy than Bangkok. Like many cities, it’s pretty quiet on Tuesday nights, so when L and I checked out the 6ixcret drag show, for the first half of the show we were the only audience before another couple wandered in. All credit to the performers, they turned it on as if it was a full house, and all credit to us, we tried to make as much noise as we could (some strong mojitos helped). For all the pop and disco, drag is punk, polish is fine but attitude is everything, and…
