Bus journey to Chiang Mai....

I was told to wait for my bus at the start of the Khoa san road at 6pm.




I got there half an hour early to be sure and amused myself by taking a few photos.
There are some really funny looking dogs here...



However, as it got to 6.30pm and no other tourists turned up, i thought of all the warnings i'd read... 'if the price sounds too good to be true, it usually is'... and i'd only paid GBP 5.50 for my ticket.

However, i forgot that everything runs on Thai time, and when a guy came up to me at 6.45pm and said 'Chiang Mai?...you have ticket...' I was relieved...

I joined a troop of other sweaty, unwashed travellers and long hairs, mainly from the UK and France and boarded the bus. In typically thai style, the bus had stopped in the middle of what looked like the slip road to a dual carriage way, so we had to board it avoiding on-coming traffic while cars horned at us & swore at the driver...

The bus itself was comfortable, we each had a blanket, the seats reclined to almost 30 degrees and the entertainment was typically thai..... in that they put on 2 movies and blasted them full volume till around 11pm....so any hope of sleep before this went out the window....

...this was inside the bus...



Unfortunately, the two people directly behind me were two young french hippies who drank beer and the guy talked loudly till about 2pm, so i couldn't get good sleep. By about 1am i felt like turning round and saying '***@!! SHUT UPPP!!!', but by 2am he had curled up under his blanket on the central aisle of the bus on the floor and gone to sleep, so i felt a bit sorry for him.... though the temptation of stepping on his head 'by accident' never quite left my mind...

By 7am we had arrived in Chiang Mai (and we had all saved one night's accomodation by sleeping on the bus - ...whohooo!). The buses stop outside the town and you have to pay another GBP 1.10 for a taxi to your guest house. I'd met a french guy in Bangkok who'd recommended one (The Brittania Guest House) in the old town where all the restos and bars were...

It cost me GBP 9.50 per night but i had AC, hot water, cable tv and a bright room, (ok ignore the pink bedsheets..) :



with a lovely Juliette balcony....