We didn’t plan on staying five straight weeks in Chiang Mai, but here we are, fast approaching the expiration of yet another 30-day visitor’s pass in The Kingdom.
We have worked and studied here; we have lived in the Blue House; we have made friends (mostly couples, from the U.S., Ireland, and elsewhere). We have barely traveled beyond the old city moat (except for Tay’s massage school and a few temple and shopping excursions); in fact, we have barely strayed much farther from Guest House row. Our neighborhood is one of Chiang Mai’s many farang-focused chunks of real estate and though it is quite comfortable, it is not necessarily representative of the ancient East.
But this is fine. Plenty of bush time awaits, especially in the new destinations we’ve chosen. This is one of the other things we’ve done in Chiang Mai: completely re-planned, re-routed, and extended the remainder of our trip.
More on this later, but I’ll give you a hint: Laos, Sri Lanka, Africa.
