Getting into Thailand from Houay Xai was dead easy. We walked down to the ‘immigration checkpoint’, got stamped out and took the ‘ferry’ over to Chiang Khong. A seven hours bus ride brought us into Chiang Mai. That town feels a bit like home by now, after all that travelling it’s nice to come to a place where I now the hotels and eateries. I had a bit of time to catch up with Samart and Palm and then it was already time to go again.

Recently I met with Chiang Mai based couchsurfer Palm, who runs a shop selling handmade shoes in her own designs. She mentioned that she’d be visiting a new shoemaker to see if they could do business together and I had asked her to take me along. Thus on Monday I joined her mum and her for the drive to nearby Lamphun. The shoemaker’s place is just a small shop in the outskirts of the city and had a very rural feel to it.

Once again I’m down with some kind of fever - that’s the third time or so in Asia. It’s not too bad though and I’ll hopefully be fit in a couple of days. My next station will be Phnom Penh, Cambodia, but I won’t leave Thailand and it’s good medical system until I’m sure I’m ok. Here in Chiang Mai a lot of people have worse situations to deal with. The ping river flooded and set neighbouring parts of the city under water up to 1m deep.

In Thailand Muay Thai or Thai boxing has a role similar to that of soccer in South America. It is a way for children from underprivileged families to become famous and earn loads of money. The sport’s Mecca is the Lumpini stadium in Bangkok where the highest prize money is paid and tickets cost up to 2000 Baht. But with Muay Thai being the national sport there is events in every city.

Being surrounded by lush rainforest and picturesque valleys I was eager to do a bit of walking. On Saturday I joined forces with Tom and Cathy to explore a waterfall roughly an hour away from the bungalows. The first part of the way is a ‘road’ that is used by local farmers. Road means it’s wider than a footpath and firm enough to drive it with a motorcycle. After roughly half an hour we reached some rapids that we followed into the jungle.

The two nights at the bungalows were simply amazing, thanks to a great location, a gifted host, friendly locals and a pleasant group of other guests. We headed back to the city as Samart had some business to take care of (no wifi in the countryside) and I had offered to help him with his websites and other computer stuff. When the work was done we went for another local food experience (Chiang Mai food is very different to Thai food) and on the way got caught in the usual evening shower.

After returning from the waterfall it was time to prepare dinner. It was very interesting to give Samart a hand with that and see how a hand full of garlic, chillies and some fish turn into a tasty paste. Us couchsurfers were also introduced to ‘holy water’, blessed by the monks and with a spirit within. Actually it’s just the distillate of rice, chillies and herbs and is produced by the villagers.

On Sunday morning Samart picked me up near my guest house. Being a tour guide he rides one of these trucks with two benches in the back, just like the red taxis here in Chiang Mai. There was dire need for space as he was taking five other couchsurfers as well. Our first stop was about 45 minutes outside of Chiang Mai where we went to get supplies at a local market.

After getting back to the city I got in touch with a local couchsurfer, Samart. He works as a tour guide and is extremely active in the community. I met him shortly before my temple adventure when he treated me to a nice northern-Thai food dinner and we had a good time chatting. On Saturday he was taking a couple of people to a soccer game. Local club Chiang Mai FC was playing a team from the Bangkok area.

A few impressions from some very interesting but also very exhausting days. Back in the country tomorrow for a couple more days. When I’m back, I have a couple of stories to tell.

To make things short: A Buddhist Temple is not the right place for me. On Thursday I made the journey up to the temple, helping a group of Dutch tourists not to get ripped off by the taxi drivers on the way. At the temple I checked in and was told that the welcoming would be at 2:30, which left me with about three hours to kill. By the way, carrying 20kg of luggage up these steps is pure fun.

Modest white clothing, personal items, insect repellent, an umbrella, I think I’ve got what I need for the next ten days. I hope I won’t be surrounded by too many of the people that a local Thai described as ‘smelly hippie people’. There is always a fair share of them around in Chiang Mai as the city has a reputation for being the ‘alternative’ centre of Thailand. Most of them are nice people yet some make me look like a republican and have a grasp on reality that is more remote than the shores of a Pacific island.

After a 17.5 hours train ride (3.5 hours delay due to floods) I’m back in Chiang Mai now. I didn’t expect to be here again that soon but the city is a stop on the way to my next adventure. Quite an unusual adventure that’ll be, a ten days meditation retreat at Wat Phradhat Doi Suthep. I’ve been interested in learning meditation for a while but never really got the hang of it.

After our adventure in the north it is now time to go south. Destination is Koh Tao, tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand. Hiro will stay in Chiang Mai for a couple more days to settle her stuff but I left town yesterday evening. This time my transport of choice is the train instead of the bus. Oddly enough the trains take much longer than the buses but they also offer additional comfort.

Imagine you want to cross one of Chiang Mai’s busiest roads during the rush hour. Without any help that endeavour is bound to fail. Traffic is so dense that you would have to force your way through it, risking accidents and severe injuries. Fortunately every now and then there are pedestrian crossings with traffic lights. They look the same as in Australia, they sound the same but they work differently. As this is just a pedestrian crossing and not a crossroads one has to consider the basics of Thai traffic law.

Not much going on at the moment. Here’s some impressions from the streets of Chiang Mai.

On Wednesday I woke up feeling weird and almost having to throw up. Releasing my bowels was most unpleasant and with all signs of a fever coming up I decided to go back to Chiang Mai - not keen on getting ill in a mountain village where I don’t know a single soul. By now I’m feeling a bit better with the fever almost gone. I still don’t have a clue where I caught that gastroenteritis or whatever it is.

Towering on a mountain over Chiang Mai is Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, sacred site to the Thais and known among visitors for its views over the city. The temple can be reached by private transport or with the common red taxis (Songthaew). As always, travelling on the road in Thailand is an impressive proof for the deep religious beliefs of the people. Only somebody convinced of reincarnation can do what they do.

As a tourist in Chiang Mai one can learn a lot of things. Thai massage, Buddhist meditation, Muay Thai and cooking Thai dishes. After feasting on all the delicious stuff for the last couple of weeks I decided to get an idea of how to cook it myself. The cooking school I chose is a small family run business close to town and the owners picked me up this morning.

In Chiang Mai one of the markets where locals buy their stuff is Thalat Warorot. People sell everything there. Groceries, spices, herbs, clothes, garment, household needs and appliances, jewellery, hilltribe souvenirs - everything. The market is a 15 minute walk from the appartement where we are staying. A cheap alternative to get there is a red taxi. These taxis are basically utes with two benches in the back and a roof over them.

Thai massage, herbal ball massage, herbal sauna - this was a bit of a wellness weekend. Thai massage is very interesting and unlike other forms of massage I knew before. It involves a lot of stretching, pulling limbs and quite often I had a foot or knee in my back. It sure was effective, felt like butter in the sun afterwards. Other than that food is still my main point of interaction with the Thai culture.

If I had to describe Asia I’d say I can’t. It looks different, it smells different and it feels different. Coming to Australia was a change for me but the difference between Oz and Germany is minuscule compared to the difference between Thailand and Germany. And Thailand is the most western of the south-east Asian countries. The differences make Thailand very exciting but also exhausting due to the sheer amount of impressions.

On Saturday Hiro and I left Bangkok to go to Chiang Mai. It’s an 11 hours bus drive up into the mountains and a nice opportunity to see a little more of Thailand. Of Thailand and its roads as well, what I saw there is a bit exotic to say the least. The bus stopped a couple of times to allow for toilet visits and buying snacks and at 1:30 am we arrived in Chiang Mai.