Arrival in Chiang Mai

We traveled in second class compartments on the train. It was basically a bunk bed with curtains. It was comfortable enough, but as always it’s hard to sleep on the train and we woke up several times, or at least Nadim and I did.

We settled into the guest house which is one of the nicer ones, but were a little disappointed to find out that there was a charge for wireless Internet access. It just means that we won’t leave it on and wait for friends and family to contact us. We’ll have to be a little more careful with our use of it. This laptop has been our life line. I can’t imagine doing a trip like this without it. We research the places we’re going next, book hotels and flights, email and webcam with friends and relatives, and of course post blog entries.

We walked about town a bit. We’re not feeling like it’s so different. When we first arrived in Thailand we marvelled at tuk tuks, remarked on all the wires that hang from telephone poles, and laughed at how many people they fit on motorbikes. Same things happen here but they seem normal now.

We also made a trip to the hospital to have Yasmin’s scrape cleaned and dressed again. It’s healing fine, but unfortunately she can’t enjoy the swimming pool for a little while! Yasmin was telling Roya all the things she had to do in the pool. She would say things like, “Jump in backwards, swim under water as far as you can, and then do the breast stroke to the other end.” Roya obediently followed instructions, at least until she got cold.

CM