2n2r5

Having a fun time before the night began.

At the Gongkaew Guest Home I woke up from my nap after the flight from Bangkok. I stumbled out to the common area to find a couple people using the computers. I got acquainted with everyone and just like that we were all friends. I met Sabine and Christoph first followed by Aaren. We all were looking for something to do that night so we went to the Royal Market night bazaar first. This market had the normal touristy stuff complete with all the different kinds of beer t-shirts, knock-off bags, electronics and souvenirs. Christoph and I were mainly just trying to keep up with Sabine and Aaren. Those two had met on a train coming up to Chiang Mai and by the time they had arrived, they were best friends. We finally caught up to Sabine and Aaren while they were browsing through some hats. Sabine found the perfect one that I am sure she will be kicking herself for not getting. It was a hat made out of Heineken cans. Christoph ended up buy a pretty sweet hat that Aaren and Sabine had recommended for him.

This is the hat that I think Sabine should have bought.

We didn’t spend long at the market before we went out to get some beers. There is a moat that goes around the middle of Chiang Mai. Most of the bars and restaurants are on the eastern side of the moat. We started off at the Ba Ba Bo Bo Bar and sat at an outside table. Before long we had little kids and baby elephants coming by to say hi. I actually think the point of it was to make us buy something from them.

This elephant was just trying to get closer to make it a better picture.

Instead we just got pictures of the elephant and joked around with the kids.  The elephant got a bit close when Aaren was trying to get a photo. This made for a great shot for me. The little kids were so cute. They were insistent on trying to sell us something but didn’t mind just hanging around. We finished our beers and went looking for a place to go dancing.

We found Spicy which had people from every walk of life. There were your 60 year old ex-pats looking to hook up with a young Asian girl, your local 20 somethings that were trying to release the days energy, lady boys all trying to look more like ladies than boys, and your backpackers trying to have the most fun you can fit into one night. There were plenty of very attractive Thai girls there. Some of them ended up dancing with us through out the night. This one girl that was a hair dresser gave me her number to give to Aaren so that she could style his hair for him. We were fending off the lady boys all night, well, most of us were.

"You want ME to dance with YOU?" If you say it right, it won't sound offensive.

Needless to say we were welcomed with open arms by the locals at this bar. There were old women making moves and breaking hips on the dance floor. The house music was played loud enough that the language barrier didn’t matter, you couldn’t hear/understand anyone anyways. The bathrooms had a couple of thugs that would beat you up while you washed your hands and even expected a tip afterward. It was kind of odd getting a standing Thai message while you were trying to take a leak but somehow I managed not to spill any on me. After a couple hours and a few too many drinks later we left to go back to the guest house. It was a successful night out in Chiang Mai. I had met some great new friends and I had a couple more on the way. Chris and Cheryl were due to come in the morning.