chiang mai

so, as you all know, i've decided to come home after chiang mai, so basically just after the thailand part of my trip is over. i think this is going to be an okay decision, because as i was processing it with a fellow traveler, he was saying that this way i would be ending my trip on a good note, rather than an unenjoyable one. and then i will go within the 5 next years to cambodia and india, and really be able to appreciate them. but on to chiang mai, i arrived safely and gaelle is an awesome person, it works well because i met some other couchsurfers through her and went with one of them, zoe from france, today to doi suthep - a mountain with a temple tucked into it, up a huge flight of stairs (which, with my camera equipment was no fun), we were driven there by friends of her parents, a thai woman and her french husband, who were just the sweetest people ever and were so kind and generous. and then we went out tonight to some more loy krathong fesivities and then out to a bar to unwind after a long day. anyway, despite being around people all day, and having a very good time, i still had an anxiety attack this morning and in the afternoon while i was still with zoe and her friends...so i don't know what to do to make them subside, i just hope they do at least when i get home. otherwise though, good day, fun times, lots of food, a funny motorbike ride with Alice, a british girl that gaelle hosted before me - who hated her motorbike and had never riden with anyone behind her, let alone someone like me with a huge heavy backpack, and a few more adventures made today exciting and fun. but seeing as i am on gaelle's computer - with it's crazy french keyboard - and it's 1 in the morning, i think i will leave it at that, and you can ask me more about this day when i get home!

so, i thought i would add to this post: so Zoe and Moogda (the thai woman) and Daniel (her husand) and i went up to doi suthep which was really pretty, but very very crowded with tourists, both thai and foreigner. it was great because both moogda, who is thai and obviously knows a lot about thai culture, and daniel, whose work with the UN has taken him all over the world, were great tour guides of sorts. pointing out little things the other people werent seeing, like the boxes that held the tripitaka written on little bamboo sheets, and things like that. i got a few nice pictures up there, nothing spectacular because it was mid day and everything was freshly covered in gold leaf for loy krathong so everything was very very bright. after that we went and ate up by the royal summer palace compound; and moogda and daniel treated zoe and i to quite the spread of delicious thai food. then we got sticky rice and taro which was cooked in a banana leaf and is like, the perfect slightly sweet snack, and then we got fried bananas too - because, well, how can you not!! then we looked around the palace gardens and a hmong village (which unfortunately was so modernized compared to their traditional way of life that it was kind of disappointing, and it was mostly just shop after shop set up for tourists. after this we drove to daniel and moogda's house just north of chiang mai and, since they had just come back from france, we had french cheese on toast, and moogda's homemade starfruit jam on toast (which was really really good), and drank some french wine (i tried a bit, but boy is that stuff strong). after they had stuffed us full and let us use their internet (see i told you - so incredibly sweet) daniel drove us back to chiang mai where we met up for the parade. the parade, ufortunately was long, slow, and borrrrring. both zoe an i were exhausted from our day of eating, hiking up and down the mountain (doi means mountain) and all, so we just trudged along. the rest of the night went as i already wrote earlier, it was funny though; alice and i went back to gaelle's place while gaelle and doon went to midnight alms offering and got some food, so alice slept on the floor (she had missed getting her motorbike to back to the shop before it closed and they had her passport so she couldnt take her bus to bangkok, but because of loy krathong, all the guesthouses are full) i slept i the bed with gaelle, once she got back, and it was so late that doon slept on the floor too, so all 4 of us were squished into gaelle's studio apartment. anyway, i think that must be it by now, i cant think of anything else to add about that day, so i'll call it good now