Merry Christmas from Chiang Mai!

I spent Christmas Eve in Phuket Town on the super touristed island of Phuket. It was nothing to write home about, and this morning I caught a cab to the airport for my two-hour flight north to Chiang Mai. Ever since I arrived in Thailand I've been wondering, where are all the American tourists? Well, it turns out they are here, for better or for worse. I wasn't quite sure what to expect here, but it's a little more like Bangkok than I imagined. There's quite a lot of traffic, but it also seems like there are ways to escape it to some quieter streets.

I'm super stoked to report that the prices, for some things at least, have plummeted. I found a room for 150 baht, about $5, and this includes free wifi. Sweet. Of course, it also includes an Asian-style toilet and a cold water shower, but frankly I'm quite used to both of these things. Besides, once you've traveled enough on buses and trains in Asia, you can pretty much handle any bathroom set-up.

I spent a few hours wandering around this afternoon, trying to get my bearings and figure out where the best places to shop might be. This will likely take some time. There seem to be some cool clothing styles here (both for me and my pipedream of an import business), but I will have to hunt for quality and price. As I write this I'm sitting in a generic coffee shop as I was craving something sweet. It's Christmas, after all, so I might as well indulge in something. I settled on some mocha chip ice cream. They're playing the Carpenters, which is pretty amusing, but it's better than some other places which are playing Christmas music, which when I hear it just makes me wish I were with my family celebrating the holiday. It's about 7:30 a.m. in the U.S. and I can picture my little nephews waking up to see what Santa brought them. Awww...

So no traditional Christmas for me this year, but that's OK. It was my choice to travel at this time of the year and although I am missing my favorite holiday with family, I am not missing the cold weather.

Update: In the middle of typing this, my sister chimed in with my brother-in-law and the boys on Skype, so it was almost like being there. Technology = amazing.


I made a friend on the streets of Chiang Mai today, a newborn kitty. :)