Today we headed into town yet again to head to Chang Mai. Had great roast duck noodles (minus roast duck for me) and sticky rice with mango. They serve the rice and mango in a styrofoam box and the sauce comes in a little plastic bag tied with an elastic band. In fact lots of things come in plastic bags tied with elastic when you take away.. drinks with undefined chunky bits in the bottle and a straw in the top, soups and curries and also the fish cakes I bought at the train station.
The next 24 hrs were unpleasant, not horrible but just unpleasant- being on a bus all night sitting at a train station for 5 hours then sitting on a bus all day. All worth it to get to the lovely Chang Mai.
Em says unpleasant I say hell on earth. In fact other than being locked up that would be close. Boats and Buses are now on my list of machinery that shouldn't have been invested in for the masses. They really have should been confined to the super rich and travelling rock bands. We travelled on VIP buses. Now the only difference between VIP and 1st Class buses are that the A/C works all the time versus randomly and you get your hostess who gets to wear a uniform that General Gadafi(?) would have been proud to design (or wear).
On intersting part of the journey was the stop for dinner and lunch. The bus pulled into this station were we all got off (we only knew this thanks to a kind english speaking thai fellow traveler- the bus hostess in a short skirt, little hat and high heels didnt speak any english) and were herded into a cafeteria where everyone sits at communal tables and share the 6 dishes on offer. 15 mins to eat use a toilet more user friendly only as it does sway under your feet like the ones on the bus and get back on the bus.
Oh the toilets. Now a double reason buses get on the list of being misused by the general public is the concept that it is possible to use a toilet hygenically while moving at high speed on uneven ground. My one and only trip to the toilet on this 24hr bus trip that involved the bus toileting system was late at night. It was dark and the roads were country style were a 6 foot pot hole is a smooth bit of bitumen in this country. Now for those of you who may have forgotten toilet paper is not in common use in this country, replacing it is a bucket of water or a handheld spray gun. On the VIP bus you don't have a spray gun just bottles of 'toilet water' which must be a primary school skills class here because I don't know how you are supposed to be able to functionally create a clean, baby bottom fresh feeling from a 1.5L water bottle. Let's just say I walked out of that toilet wetter than I went in and less clean than I'd hoped. (Note to self: Pre-bus trip enemas are a legitimate medical procedure.)
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