Same Same, but different

Our entry to Thailand, the land of smiles, was achieved by a painless border process that took less than 20 minutes all told - we were dropped off at the bus station in Huay Say, from where a one minute túk túk ride took us to the eastern bank of the Mekong. We were stamped out of Laos, though it seemed that we were free to walk back into the country for a coffee before crossing the river into the Land of Smiles if we so wished. Across the water we were stamped in with no hassles and no fantasy stamp fees - and the border guard was kind enough to grant us three months in the country as opposed to the regulation 30 days!

Immediately we passed the border control we could tell we arrived in a different country - the lethargy of touts seemed to be blocked by the mighty waters of the Mekong, and our backpacks drew a crowd of men and women (and a few that left us wondering whether to refer to them as he or she) eager to arrange transport on to Chiang Mai for us.

As if to emphasize the difference and superiority of their state, Thais have made the sensible (?) decision to drive on the "right" side of the road, that is to say they drive like we do in Malta, on the LEFT side ;) I wonder how they deal with this situation when traffic crosses one of the bridges between Thailand and Laos! And while we're on the subject of traffic - what a change! No meandering mountain paths masquerading as roads in Thailand, but wide, well surfaced strips of tarmac rolling through rice fields with a backdrop of verdant mountains. Our first journey by road in Thailand was notable for its lack of near death experiences and blaring horns. It felt rather boring after the adrenaline pumping joyrides of the previous six weeks.

In Chiang Mai we got the shock of a lifetime, as walking the streets seeking accommodation we came across MacDonalds, Starbucks, Boots, 7Eleven and even Tesco, all within spitting distance of each other. Clearly we'd left the bare bones South East Asia behind us, and had wondered into a westernized version of the Orient. Even the coffee shops refused to serve us fresh coffee - Nescafe was their caffeine hit of choice. Seeking fresh coffee eventually turned out to be a recurring theme during our stay in Thailand… But I degrees, so I'll get back to laying down the facts about Chiang Mai.

Known as the northern capital of Thailand, Chiang Mai is pretty similar to Luang Prabang, yet worlds away from its sleepy Laotian counterpart. Yes, there are more Wats than there are 7Elevens, and it is the place to arrange your Hillside Minorities trek in Thailand, but the heart of it is different. Whereas Luang Prabang has the sleepy charm that defines a stay in Laos, Chiang Mai is a great primer for the commercial, fast forward hustle bustle that is Thailand. Chiang Mai is also the adrenaline capital of Thailand, its very own Queenstown if you will. And just like in its Kiwi cousin, activities in Chiang Mai are overpriced and seem a bit contrite. Having tried our hand at trekking in Laos just a day before arriving in Chiang Mai we weren't eager to join in the experience in Thailand. The Flight of the Gibbon, a series of zip-lines stretching through the treetops, seemed like a nice way to spend a day, but it came with a hefty price tag similar to what one would pay in NZ or Australia, so we gave that a miss. This left us with a couple of days to explore the many Wats that a sprinkled throughout the city, and plenty of money to spend in the night markets.

I won't go into the details of the many Buddhist temples we visited, I've done that many times already in this blog, and though the surface details may be different, the bare bones of a Wat are identical, whether you be in Cambodia, Laos or Thailand. The one temple that will get a mention has to be Wat Mahawan, or the Donald Duck Wat as I have now rechristened it. It gets this catchy and imaginative new monicker simply because among the many animal statues that adorn the front garden stands Donald Duck armed with chopsticks, slurping noodles from a bowl. Quite a shock to the senses when you're wandering the gardens trying to find your zen to be suddenly faced with Walt Disney's noisiest feathered creation!

Through our travels in SEA Wats have been a regular fixture in our itinerary, and though I was beginning to suffer from Wat Fatigue in Chiang Mai these Buddhist sanctuaries provided a welcome respite from the chaos on the streets with their shaded gardens and water features.

Watch out for Wat touts!

While visiting Wats in Chiang Mai we came across a new scam, or at least one which I haven't read about online or in guidebooks. As you enter the pagoda a Thai casually follows you in, says a prayer at the main altar and proceeds to sit to one side while you wander round taking photos. As you exit the Wat you are approached by the friendly Thai who welcomes you to Chiang Mai and asks what you plan on doing in the city, and your intentions when you leave. Upon hearing that you are headed to any place after a mandatory stop in Bangkok, you will be told that the place is very very busy at this time of year - as your (bad) luck would have it, you happen to be in Thailand when there are two consecutive long weekends, which means popular destinations will be chock-a-block. The accommodation at your destination will be sold out soon, so you should follow him to the TAT (Tourism Association Thailand) office which is just round the corner. When we said we would make arrangements in Bangkok we were assured that it would be cheaper to do so in Chiang Mai, and besides, by the time we got to Bangkok the accommodation in Koh Samet (our chosen destination) would be fully booked. Having nothing better to do, Justyna and I walked by the office which our friendly Thai had mentioned.

TAT have one office in every major city or tourist destination in Thailand. The office you are pointed to is merely a TAT licensed office. The wily travel agencies in Thailand advertise their TAT license by writing in two-foot high letters TAT across their front window. Under the giant TAT script, in much smaller text, you'll find "license number XXXXXXXX". Well, thanks to Lonely Planet I knew that the office we were pointed to wasn't the official TAT office, and it was packed to the rafters with people waiting for advice, so we walked away. As we were on our way our "friend" asked why we weren't in the office making arrangements, and we used the excuse of the long queues to make our getaway.

The same thing happened to us in two consecutive Wats, and on the third occasion I changed tack and said we would be meeting friends in Bangkok who have been living in Thailand for a long time, and they would be making our arrangements for us. This seemed to dishearten the tout and he let us be.

Well, I'm writing this blog in Koh Samet, and guess what? There's hardly a soul here! We found a room to suit our budget, and the only reason we had to spend 15 minutes looking around was that the first places we came across were charging twice what we were willing to pay. I've made enquiries with the staff here, and this is the shoulder season, plus there are no long weekends in July!

Clearly the friendly Thais who approached us in the Wats were scouts for the travel agencies keen on making some commission by misleading tourists. It doesn't make sense that booking accommodation from the other side of the country will be cheaper than booking it from a town much closer to the destination; and two consecutive long weekends is kind of hard to believe!

If you're approached with such friendly advice in Thailand make sure you double check with an unbiased source about the holiday periods - ask the staff at a café or at your guest house, and if you want to make a booking with TAT make sure you go to the address listed in your guide book, not any office with the words TAT emblazoned across its front window. Secondly, remember that the further you are from the item you're paying for, the more commission is going to be factored into the sum you pay. If it really is a busy period, brave the telephone and make a booking yourself, thereby bypassing the commission laden man in the middle.

Chiang Mai proved to be a nice introduction to Thailand - not as hectic as Bangkok, it allowed us to step our senses up a few notches from the sedate state we had attained in Laos. I cannot vouch for its suitability as a base for adrenaline pumping activities, but as a cultural stop on a tour of northern Thailand it hits the spot, with some interesting architecture and history, with the added benefit of never being too far from some of those home comforts that I'm beginning to crave for after 6 months on the road!