Open Writing

Sunday morning, time for a boat trip. Chiang Mai has a sort of river moat going round the Old Town, which is where we were staying. We took a songathew to the pier and went for a two hour trip. The other four passengers were English, two nice couples. One couple, Brigitte and Hugh (She's French, of course - no escape) run a restaurant in East Grinstead.

The boat driver was a really sweet young man, very helpful. Like most of the Thais, he had a mobile jammed to his ear at every opportunity. We even saw motorcyclists yapping away as they whizzed along.

The river was very quiet and gentle compared to Bangkok, as there were no boat taxis. People were out fishing, washing and playing in the river. We stopped off half way through for drinks and fruit in a quiet garden cafe area, then when we'd finished, we visited the walking Sunday market. This is basically a mobile market which only takes place on a Sunday, but actually happens every day. Yes it's all very hard to work out.

It was a very hot day. Concentrating was quite hard when walking, but essential; most of the roads that we saw in Thailand were full of potholes, uneven slabs, large holes and baffling things sticking up, which can trip the unwary.

This town seemed more dignified and upmarket than Bangkok. Instead of the Happy Sincere Silver shop we had posh handicrafts malls, but I was happy to see that there were still loads of baffling notices, such as 'You pick up, we will, vip' and 'We will! Your luggage! Best in town!'

In the evening we ate at The Gallery, as it was recommended by the other couple on the boat. It's another riverside restaurant, similar to the Good View and just as lovely.

There were three young Thais at the next table, two men and a girl. We liked the little silver tureen that they had, with a flame underneath, filled with soup. It looked so sweet that Yves asked if he could take a photo, and bought them a drink to say thanks. This they found great fun. The girl turned round and said to Yves, 'Take care of me!' Eh? Eva said she thought that was a Thai way of saying, 'I love you'. Crikey!

The restaurant also had a very nice craft and jewellery shop, and Yves bought me a blue and white crystal necklace as an early anniversary present. It was really lovely, so I was nice to him for the rest of the evening. (Back to normal tomorrow, though).

Another thing that tickled us was that at every eating place the food and drink arrived in a completely haphazard manner; it was quite normal for one of us to virtually finish our dinner and drinks while the other two were still waiting to be served.

Then we visited yet another market. This one wasn't the tourist market, so most stuff had the price marked, and we paid what they asked. It wasn't really the sort of market where you bargain.

Worn out, we ambled home to listen to the Disco Fever. They were so funny. The bands would start playing a Western song in a fairly recognisable manner, then half way through they would give up and change the words and do their own thing.