Onward and Upward ( or NxNW)

Farewell Cambodia! Sunset from atop Garden Village Hostel (Unedited)
Greetings friends,
Left Siem Reap, Cambodia last Sunday and made my way back to Bangkok. The trip was a long and arduous all day affair involving 3 legs; first a shared taxi to the crazy border town of Poipet, reassembled my bike which was in pieces bungy-corded and barely held into the Toyota Camry's trunk with mine and the other 3 passenger's luggage (soon 2 be 4 of us in the back seat!).
Then the wait in the agonizingly slow, packed and stifling hot customs line for a new 2 week Thai visa, then a 6 km furious ride to the next town, Arranya- Prathet to catch the last train to Bangkok. Then a long drawn out (and in the end vain) argument about paying the extra bike fee, an exorbitant 90 Baht- my train ticket was only 45 Baht! I had met a cyclist who said she just refused to pay and they dropped the subject. Well i tried that but to no avail. It was only an extra $3 dollars anyhow. Sat in the rear of a car full of Thai hipsters and orange robed Buddhist Monks.
Got 2 tattoo's on BKK's notorious Khao San Road late last monday night, my first time under the needle. Very painful, no matter what they say! They are both Salish design's i found on the ole' internet. An Orca whale on the right shoulder, and on the left a Thunderbird. The tattooing process itself feels like being cut continuously with a burning hot razor blade for 2 hours. I am told the traditional Asian method of manual Bamboo needle inking is far more painful. Forget that then!
The results are spectacular, at least i think so! Mr. Yai did a great job. Which is good as yes, "they are real!" which is what i constantly tell the Thai people who stare at them, smiling (when are Thai's not smiling?). They all seem to really like the designs.
At the moment i am in a little cafe my the south moat in Chiang Mai, a city in Thailand's mountainous north. Arrived on Monday after a looooong 17 1/2 hour train ride (which i barely made and only by riding across BKK at night with a flat front tire, dodging Taxi and ignoring all the passerby shouting what i guessed to be "Hey idiot! You've got a flat tire!". Made the train in seconds flat.
I was my first time experiencing a "Sleeper Train", and after stowing my pile of bike panniers and, big pack, and guitar I plopped into my little bed to find it surprisingly comfortable. I drew shut the privacy curtain and fell into a deep sleep from 1am to around 7, awaking only when the sun's rays reached my eye's and forced them open, The view out the half open window to my left was of one of endless steep, vivid green hills rolling by like ocean swells, all draped thickly with mounds of broad leaved evergreen tree's, vines with purple flowers, clumps of soaring bamboo, and random spires of brave lonely Palm trees. I had been told the north was cold, but it seemed even hotter than the south. The whole time I was too enthralled to take photo's, opting to capture the verdant scenery in my minds eye only, declining the unnatural distraction of trying to get "the right shot".
Chiang Mai is fairly big city, filled with University's and their legions of college students whizzing around on ancient Vespa's (chinese made), Honda 70's, ( a vintage design that's still made today, you can buy one (a fake) for only $300. There are long broad avenues lined with big leafy trees, and at the center the jewel of the Old City. The Old City is square in shape, maybe 1KM (or 2?) in width, and surrounded on all sides by an incredibly picaresque ancient crumbling wall, itself protected a tree lined moat 10 meters across. The OC is an enclave of stunning gilded teak temples, old teak dignitary homes, guesthouses tucked down narrow Soi's (side streets) and great little cafes and coffee shops. And the coffee here is excellent! This is due to the perfect climate, where coffee plantations abound in the surrounding hills.
The famous Festival of Lights is in full swing this weekend in Thailand, and the epicenter is here in Chiang Mai where it is known locally as Yi Peng. This annual casting away of past sins is celebrated by lighting candles and either floating them down the river on little wooden rafts or setting them aloft in what look like those huge, oversized lampshades from the 1960's. From all across the city these ships laden with remittances, wishes, and thanksgivings float and soar away. The giant paper lanterns are the most dramatic. Last night i caught one rising up from the far side of the old city wall, filled with a flame maybe a foot high. It was a majestic, profound sight made all the more remarkable in it's solo flight. I was expecting to witness the lantern's setting off in vast herds, as in all the photo's i'd seen over the years. Somehow this solitary beacon, lit and sent aloft by a small inferno, and combined with its sudden appearance above the lip of an medieval wall, grabbed hold of my heart strings and i felt lifted up along with it, high into a vast and unknown sky.
Presently I am waiting for my China Visa which i hope to pick up in 3 hours, for the breathtaking some of $190 US...geeez. I hate even writing that! But i had to Rush it as i'm off to Laos on Monday as my Thai visa expires on Tuesday-yikes! (though they always grant a few days of overstay i'm told). After visiting Laos my hope is to head north into China, and on to the central China city of Chengdu.
Reading a great, hilarious classic travelogue written in the 1950's by the Brit Eric Newby entitled "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush". Nice to laugh my way through a book after the amazing but rather serious minded "Snow Leopard".
Then met up with a South African traveler- the lovely, glowing Melliza, an acquaintance I met in Peru and only on the train ride from Machu Pichu to Cuzco. We'd kept in touch upon discovering our mutual SE Asia travel plans, and finally our paths happened to cross once again. It is great to see a familiar face and we pick up our conversation right where we left off, discussing dreams and goals related to living in harmony with the earth, living off the grid and growing all our food and medicine's, and endeavoring to win more people over to the good side the Force. Also practicing my new guitar. Took a Yoga class last night.
The weather is glorious here, blue sky's and HOT, current temp reads 28 centigrade! (that's 82 on the Fair-end-height Scale, for all my fellow backwards Americans).
Farewell for now.
Nick