On arriving in Chaingmai, delayed by two hours, we got an open back taxi to our hotel in Chiangmai. A quaint hotel with a big pool and kind staff welcomed us and after leaving our stuff in our room and changing we headed down to the pool.
Literally as I arrived by the pool I suddenly felt very hungry and quite sick so I ordered some lunch. Feeling very much worse I tried to go inside where it was cool but my eyes went black on the way and I collapsed. A very scary experience, triggered (I think) by exhaustion from the train, dehydration and hunger, but I came around in the cool hotel lobby with some mint inhaler type smell being wafted under my nose and surrounded by little Thai people fanning me. It’s actually quite funny when I think back on it, also because I think I fell on top of a poor little Thai lady! After eating some food and drinking some water I felt much better and ready to sunbathe!
This evening Juliet and I headed into the city and were pleasantly surprised by how different it is to Bangkok! It’s a lot more open, more chilled and has a completely different vibe to it. The chilled atmosphere surrounds a central square with street food venders and street musicians. We bought some Pad Thai off a street stall for 40baht (about 70pence) which was honestly the best pad Thai I’ve ever eaten! Then we shared a Nutella rotee (Thai equivalent of a pancake) as it’s pancake day on England!

So all in all, first impressions of Chaingmai are very good! And we’re looking forward to coming back to this city in a few days.
Having an early(ish) night tonight as we have to be up at 7am tomorrow to head off on a 3 day and 2 night jungle trek! Let’s see what that part of Chaingmai has to offer! ☺️