So far, it has been really easy for me to get around with just English and *very* basic Chinese and Thai. Today, I boarded a bus to Nan, a small city Lonely Planet describes as little known but steeped in history. The population is listed at 24,300, but looking at the map, the city seems very small for that sort of population. I figured, since the ride is 6 hours or so, I might as well catch up on some of these topics I've been holding out on.
I've already called the Nan Guest House when I was sitting at the bus terminal and confirmed that they have a room available. I think the lady that answered was trying to say something about the bath being attached or shared, but I wasn't sure, so we agreed that I would come take a look first.
So a recap from my update yesterday:
Monk Chat was very interesting, yet again. I asked a lot of questions about Buddhism, the five precepts, the process of becoming a monk, etc. and it was all very interesting. A pre-med student from Chiang Mai University also joined in on the conversation so he could practice his English. Both had been studying English for awhile and did fairly well. I think they could be stellar with some great teachers, but even they admitted that Thailand is short good English teachers. Anyone can teach English here--no degree in English is required. Not even a basic teaching certificate! They helped me with some key words in Thai as well. We focused on some numbers and phrases that help establish the price.
I stayed at Monk Chat well past the designated finishing time, but nobody seemed to mind. After Monk Chat, I caught a swangthaew to the Night Bazaar and checked out the various wares. DVD's were expensive at 100 baht each. I wouldn't pay more than 40. Generally, I wasn't really in the market for anything, but it was cool to look around and see all of the fake name brand clothes/watches, and the various local crafts. Everything was quite overpriced.
I walked from the Night Bazaar to the Bar Beer Center near Tha Phae Gate. Monday nights are Muay Thai night (Thai Boxing), and since I was arriving so late, I didn't pay the 400 baht cover that everyone else apparently paid. I had a couple of beers, the local beer is Chiang, and at 6.75%, it packs a nice punch. My waitress told me that it's the number one beer in Thailand even better than Singha apparently. I chose it because it was cheapest and I hadn't heard of it before. Thai boxing is interesting as it's quite legitimate over here. They flight with gloves but have no other visible protective gear. They punch and kick hard, and will throw each other around violently. Over all, there is still a sense of respect between the fighters though, both before and (if the losing fighter can get up) after the match. It certainly seems like healthy competition at any rate. I think it caters to the tourists quite a bit, but there were a good number of locals at the event as well.
Today, I went to Doi Suthep, pretty much the thing you have to see when you come to Chiang Mai. This is one of the most sacred temples in northern Thailand. This wat is situated in the hills northwest of Chiang Mai. Legend says that during the reign of King Kuena (1355-1385), holy relics were discovered. It was determined that they would place the relics on the back of a white elephant, and the elephant would stop at the location where the wat should be built. The elephant walked all the way to this location, where it died from fatigue due to the long journey. I thought the wat was interesting, but since I do not subscribe to Buddhism, it was just another wat to some extent. Certainly, I appreciate its importance to Buddhism however, especially since I was told the legend of how it came into existence. I was pretty annoyed by this guy from Switzerland (originally from Malaysia). He kept comparing Thailand to various other places and complaining that Thailand didn't meet his expectations. It was ironic that he was talking about how knowledgeable he is (he knows 5 languages and two dialects) but he seemed to hold a number of false impressions of Americans, couldn't say a nice word about the Chinese, etc. He really seemed quite overeducated and intolerant.
I felt like I was running a bit late, so I grabbed some take-away lunch from Mike's burgers. The burger was ok, not like In-N-Out, but it had all the trimmings and was a nice break from Asian food. I should note that I feel like my concept of eating here is similar to in the states. Back home, I'll eat Italian, German, Asian, fast food, etc, but my primary staple back home is probably European based food. Over here, I'm eating mostly Asian food, with a periodic burger or whatever, to keep things interesting. It's also nice to have a taste of home.
So now I'm on the bus. They showed a Hollywood movie- I'm not sure what movie, as I missed the beginning of the credits, but it was a Don Roos movie (ND graduate) so I definitely thought that was interesting. I was able to follow the basic storyline but had no idea on the details as it was all in Thai. We're something like 100+ km from Nan right now, so I still have a few hours to kill.
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