Long necks

The winding  road clinging to the mountain sides  opens the journey to Mae Hong Son and has 1,000 curves. I have this on the highest authority, well from Bea's friends' cook.  There is nothing I can say to dispute this as at the start of the journey in the small mini van all the locals took a sleeping pill. 
So to the long necks, no it's not a Thai branch of fat face but a hill tribe just outside town still practicing the controversial and now tourist fuelled undertaking of women wearing heavy metal coils around their necks. Through years of tourism their stalls are now adorned with long neck carved mobile phone holders and fridge magnets. Is this progress? Even the sleepy picturesque town has a Kentucky fried chicken! 
After visiting a Hmong village, a Chinese settlement just next to the Burmese border and a Lisu village I felt like I'd had a whistle stop Bruce Perry style  'tribe' experience.  These people have no Thai citizenship and as in most cases villages are populated by the old looking after the very young, whilst the middle generation flock to the large cities in search of employment opportunities. Life is simple,  but life is hard and marginalised, with permission needed to work and no access to education and health care. These people are a million miles away from the upwardly mobile city slickers riding the sky train to work in Bangkok.

And relax ....

After a haircut, a rather tense Thai massage, where the poor woman took ages and all her strength to release the tension in my shoulders and a few more evening beers,  all the stress of London feels a million miles away. Hilariously met up for a beer last night with a colleague from work, who we only discovered last week just before we left that we would be in Chaing Mai at the same time!
I have now embarked on the Sarah solo adventure part of my trip, as my Bangkok friends flew back yesterday and I have just spent five hours in a mini van today heading north west to the small town of Mae Hong Son, near the Burmese border.  It's 35 degrees now in the summer sun, so I keep seeking shady  temples to escape the heat. Just heading down to the lake to watch sunset. 

Chiang Mai Revisited

 
Thank goodness for being able to lie down on my bunk on the train, considering that the previous two nights have been spent on overnight flights. After consuming a strange western breakfast and pondering on why they always have to beautify a sausage into a flower shape, we are ready to disembark. 
Ou had booked the most amazing hotel, set around a leafy tropical garden with birds offering hellos and whistles as you walk past.  For three days we are the only guests, as Thai new year has just finished and many travellers have left. We lap up the luxury and breakfast daily in our own veranda, raised up in the middle of the garden and not having to share the facilities with anyone. 
We Head off to the usual haunts, the ever expanding night market and escape the heat in the vast array of coffee shops that have sprouted up across the city.  Now new boutique shops cater for the high end Bangkok visitors and more malls are springing up. 
Still many things stay the same; visiting amazing noodle shops by the road side, following the devout up the steep 300 steps to Doi Suthep temple and drinking beer at one of the lovely riverside restaurant and listening to live music ... Chiang Mai has it all. 

How I know I'm in Thailand.....

It's suddenly 25 degrees
I've seen a monk
And I'm no longer stuck in Doha airport.
So my adventure begins.After successfully meet Ou at the airport and spending the day in Bangkok my holiday has officially started. Interesting cuisine highlight of the day was eating a deep fried duck bill at a local Market. When we met up with Match in the evening to get the overnight train to Chaing Mai the hottest venue was the 'disco' restaurant car, where of course we spent most of the evening. Catching up and drinking over priced beer with our voices drowned out by the Thai disco versions of classic madonna hits made for a memorable first night.
In Thailand I soon remembered - it's  all about the food ....