Ah, what a great country Thailand is....

...I think to myself, as I sit in my cold hotel room in China remembering where I was two weeks ago. Somewhere warm, with fresh air, spicy food, and the odd passing sawngtaew.

I went white-water rafting in the hills just out of Chiang Mai the weekend before I flew back to China, with some friends from the factory I was visiting. We took a sawngtaew ('two-seat' taxi). It's a utility/pickup with two parallel benches (with padding, if you roll high) and a canopy fitted. It's great, because it only has open windows, so you get a good view around the town/countryside. You get pretty dusty, but that's just Chiang Mai for you. You get in from the back, and there are steps and handles to help you in. You can also just stand out the back and hold onto the rails for a better view, if you're keen.

Anyway, it looked something like this:


Most of the locals don't bother with tourist transport, preferring the comfort of the unadulterated pickup.

One day, when my hair is graying and free, I might just feel like wearing a pink shirt with 'Modern Punk' on the back too. But not yet.

This is one of my favourite snaps from around Chiang Mai, taken from the sawngtaew on our way out of town.


The dirt road up into the hills was rough and bumpy, we joked (to distract from the cries of our bruised rears) that it would be smoother coming down (we weren't far off the mark as it happened. Apart from a few hairy rapids, it was plain sailing).

On the way up I stood on the back with my (rather heavy) camera in one hand and a dubious-looking handrail in the other. As we went over bump after bump, my feet momentarily leaving the platform every so often.

We drove past an old dude with a walking stick, and a questioning look on his face. Questioning why normal people would endure all this only to jump into a river with just a little rubber between them and the elements (some of which were solid and hidden under the dark green water, as I discovered). And why one of them in particular chose to risk being tossed over the cliff at the next bump (camera and all), just to take pictures of him. I'm sure he rightly concluded that in fact, normal people wouldn't do that, and went on his way.


The keeper of this roadside refreshment stall probably had concurring sentiments towards us. Or perhaps she didn't care, or even see us...


The journey back to Chiang Mai lead us through gently winding backroads, past small villages, and banana groves. It was quite relaxing after a hard day's play.


By the end of the day I was battered and bruised, but worst of all I was horribly sunburnt. Having only a few minutes to prepare (I got a call at 7am that morning, SUNDAY MORNING!, and was picked up 20 minutes later) , I didn't think to bring any sunblock. In fact I don't think I even had any. I'd just been in China for a month and hadn't seen the sun for most of the time I was there (it was usually overcast, smoggy, or snowing). The organiser was Thai so didn't think to bring any either (he didn't need it).

Back to reality. It's past 1am, I'm in China, and I have to leave for work in less than 6 hours. Whatever was keeping me awake three hours ago, I sure doesn't do it again.