From Bangkok to Chiang Mai

On May 14th, Carlynne, Dan, Lowell and I had some farewell fun with Marc & Kylie, packed up our bags, and boarded the 14-hour night train to Chiang Mai.

First for the farewell fun...

We stopped by one of the many spas to say good-bye to the massage ladies. Because we didn't want to overwhelm any given massage parlour during our stay, we opted to split up: the boys went to one; the girls went to another.

The ladies got quite attached to the boys and were thrilled when we stopped by to say good-bye.

(Marc and his masseuse. She unsuccessfully attempted to convince him that she was a "ladyboy". One really never does KNOW though...those people are extremely prevalent around here.)

After saying good-bye to our potentially transgendered masseuses, we headed to a park next to a river. For the first time in days it wasn't unbearably hot, so Kylie had the energy to show off her dance moves. I, for one, was very impressed.

The previous pose was used to set up the following shot. Clearly athleticism and flexibility are vital ingredients for decent photography.

Before long, some police officers shooed us from the direct riverside because the king was passing by on a boat.

Now if there was ever a time I wished for super magnifying, X-ray binocs... THAT WAS IT!!

We then returned to our guesthouse, picked up M&K's luggage, and walked with them to the first eager taxi driver to screech to a halt. We were sad to see them go because they are super fun people... BYE MARC & KYLIE!

(They're laughing so hard because the goofy Thai men behind us were imitating our gooshy good-byes and kiss-blowing).

After farewelling them for good, we got massages again (surprise surprise), packed up our bags, and headed to the train station.

We all slept for the majority of the 14 hours, so our eager attendant (who really truly was indeed a flambuoyant and somewhat inappropriate/unprofessional ladyboy) didn't get to attend to us as much as she seemed to want to.

These chairs converted into beds so we could sleep. Not a bad way to travel!

Dan & Carlynne ordered a breakfast fried in coconut oil at 5am...

Once we arrived in Chiang Mai, Carlynne and I were happy to let the boys figure out where exactly we were, and where we were heading.

We ended up finding a delightful guesthouse (the Britannia) that included air conditioning, toilets, showers, free wifi and cable tv... for 15 bucks a night. The place is clean and classy (minus the pornographic tiles in the bathrooms) and more than comfortable. Plus, the owners have the cutest and most excitable little one and a half year old named Danee (pronounced da-NEE) who I just want to stuff in my pocket (but I won't because I think that would be considered kidnapping... even in a developing country).