Chugging Up to Chiang Mai

After a few days of chilling and prep and a few stories from travelers, Ben and I decided that the trekking we heard about in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand sounded fun. Elephants, mountain villages and bamboo rafting? Awesome! So, we took off for Chiang Mai in an overnight train. On the train we met a great Dutch couple (hey! I was just in Holland!) that made the 12-hour trek go by like a breeze. A few beers and few poker games, a sleep… and we were ready to go when we arrived in the wee hours of the a.m. We decided to stick together with the Dutch couple and we all snagged some nice rooms at a relaxing and calm little guesthouse in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second largest city, but it is waaaaay more calm and relaxed than Bangkok. I used to think I loved big cities, but found that Bangkok was just way too much for me. Chiang Mai, on the other hand, had big city hustle and bustle, but it wasn’t too big and overwhelming and you could find plenty of calmer side streets. In other words, I really like Chiang Mai. I don’t like Bangkok so much.

The first few days Ben and I just chilled, got more work done with WiFi access at Peppermint Cafe, and explored Chiang Mai a little bit… markets with amazing street vendor food, more golden Buddhas and temples, motorbike rides to the outlying mountain to see the impressive temple at the top, chatting with monks… and, of course, we booked our trip! But, lo and behold, I got sick the night before we were supposed to take off. We had gone out to dinner with Ben’s dad’s friend actually… this time eating at an actual fully Westernized restaurant instead of street vendor food or little local joints. The dinner was fun… I believe Ben really enjoyed getting to hear more about his family… his dad and his uncles. But after, as Ben was browsing the nearby market for watches, I started feeling a bit funny. I stuck out the market though, because I knew Ben wanted to get a good deal on some knock-offs for his friends back home. When we got back to our little corner and began preparing for bed… my stomach really started feeling funky. I decided to just try and sleep…. Sometime in the early morning I woke up and… it wasn’t pretty… I was sick… I’m talking lying on the floor head inside the bathroom door sick. Aching. Chills. No fun. Ben woke up… discovered my less than charming state… slapped on some ear plugs, and pretended to sleep through it all. Even less charming.

By the time the sun came up I was feeling a bit better and I began to believe I had gotten through most of it. We both decided it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to go on the trek though… so I was the one who dragged my sick self out the door and walked to the travel agency to ask if we could leave for the trek the next day. When I got back we both wanted to sleep more since neither of us got much sleep… huh, go figure. But, it turns out I didn’t sleep much more. I got sick all over again. Still no fun. I finally asked Ben to take me to the hospital. (He had the rented motorbike still). Ben obliged… barely. Apparently, he has a phobia for sickness and hospitals. Shrug.

So yeah, an on the spot doctor’s visit, a diagnosis of food poisoning, two prescriptions for antibiotics and a prescription for Dramamine (for the nausea) cost less than $50. Total. That’s the equivalent to my co-pay for an E.R. visit in the U.S. Crazy.

We hung around Chiang Mai for most of the rest of day while I recuperated. By evening, I was filled with antibiotics and feeling just about right as rain. But, by then there was no question that the luster of traveling with Ben was getting a bit dull. Looking back though, that’s kind of expected when you greet someone you really don’t know all that well in a foreign country and you greet him already being exhausted with a bit of a cough and a head cold. Then, in just a couple of days you both get royally scammed. Then, in just a couple more, one of you gets food poisoning. My travels in Europe were worry-free and to put it simply… enchanting. Ben’s southeast Asian adventures up until my arrival were raw and exciting without many hang-ups. We meet in Bangkok… and suddenly we’re both battling a series of typical, but nonetheless draining and disenchanting, travel hang-ups in less then a week. But hey, trekking was on for the next day!