Same same but different

2/22/12:

Knock on wood but we may be getting this travel stuff down. After being scammed a few times transportation-wise, we decided to go straight to the source and skip all the travel agencies. So we made our way to the Chiang Mai bus terminal and found several tour / bus operators and windows. Quite a daunting scene as there is so much going on and not a whole lot in English.

Side note: traveling in a foreign land is hard enough when you speak the language. Harder still when you don't speak the language but the foreign tongue atleast uses the same alphabet. However it is insanely difficult traveling in a country with a completely different alphabet like Thailand. Luckily for us, English is the defacto universal language which means most things are posted in Thai and English ... but not everything.

Anyway, we finally figured out that the only bus going to Chiang Rai is run by the Green Bus Company. Before getting in line, we agreed that the top price we'd pay for a bus ticket is 250 Baht. We saw a couple travel agencies advertising bus trips to Chiang Rai for 350 Baht / person. We got to the counter and paid 162 Baht / person .... Winning!!!!!

Checked out of our hotel (edit: left keys on table since owners weren't around), flagged down a song-too to the bus station. A song-too is the most popular form of transportation here. They're basically pick-up trucks with a top over the bed and benches on the sides. They drive all over town and are pretty inexpensive. We paid 60 Baht to go to the bus station which probably would have been 150 Baht in a taxi. It's also spelled differently and probably pronounced differently but who knows. Ok back to our trip. Made it to the bus station with time to spare so we walked a bit and grabbed breakfast. I wish I could say the food was even edible. My belly also wishes this. We ordered omelets and toast. We got nasty runny scrambled'ish eggs and a piece of white bread. Oh and the eggs had my favorite food in them ... Onions. F'ing gross! I've come to realize that in certain situations you eat for nourishment and not for taste. So I choked the filth down with a smile.

Our bus to Chiang Rai wasn't bad at all. We had assigned seats and the A/C seemed to work fine. However the seats were leather which means it could have been 37 degrees on the bus and I'd still have swamp-A*s. the trip took about 3 hours so we arrived right at 3:00. Got pointed in the right direction and made our way to a guest house by foot. I found one with good reviews last night so that's the one we went too. Luckily we got the last room!!! Staying at the Orchids guest house, paying 450 Baht with free wifi, A/C, hot water and a window!!!!! Our last place didn't have a window which meant it was pitch black in there 24/7.

Chiang Rai seems nice so far ... Much smaller than Chiang Mai and not nearly as many tourists or things to do. We may rent a scooter and tour the countryside but we're still weighing our options. Have to be out of Thailand by 3/1 but we may head out sooner if we get bored. Time will tell.

P.S. Took a pic of Mrs Blue on the bus. Also that's the clock tower in the middle of Chiang Rai. Lastly, had dinner in the night market tonight ... Spent about $2.50 and got all that food (cashew fried rice). We were Stuffed!!!!