Travel day to Chiang Mai

Renzo and I parted ways. He went south to the islands and beaches. I went north to Chiang Mai.

I took a 1st-class bus (includes air conditioning, reclining seats, and a TV screen).  I had the best seat–there was only one in the aisle. Although, I was next to the bathroom, so it smelled some times. I enjoyed the leg room though. The 10 hours zoomed by.

I got into the Chiang Mai bus station at 1am. I was hounded by a tuk-tuk driver the moment I stepped off the bus.

“Do you need a ride? Do you need a room? I have a good room for you,” he said.

I didn’t have any reservations. But I neglected the man. I read that the hostels offer free pick-up from the bus station. All I needed to do was call one that had an available room. But I didn’t have a phone, nor did I have change for a pay phone.

I walked over to the 7-11 across the street. I spent about 20 minutes in there. First I tried to buy a calling card, but they didn’t have any. So I got change, but it took forever. I wanted to make sure I got the right denominations. It was hard to communicate that.

I tried the pay phone, but no luck. It was turned off. They all were. Just my luck.

Another tuk-tuk driver approached me, and I accepted. He tried to sell me a room while in transit. I politely declined. I wanted to select one for myself. I found a good one after about 20 minutes of milling around.

I’m exhausted now. Good night.