Day 27 & 28

Wednesday 

I woke up this morning definitely feeling better, not perfect, but better.

I had a banana and some crackers for breakfast keeping it nice and bland. 

Some of things I needed to do over the last few days have obviously been put on hold so I figured that today I could make a start on at least 1 of them. 

I have to organise a Visa extension, not a difficult process and I was originally going to do it in Phuket, but figure I have the time now so why not get it done.

I’ve found out where the immigration office is, found out what I need, the lovely Sing has printed a few items for me, I now need to get some passport photos. I’ve found a little place locally that does them, so that’s what I’m going to do this morning.

The place I need is around a 20 min walk from the hotel, but seeing as this is my first time out & about & therefore away from a toilet 😳 I figure I’ll grab a Songthaew (red taxi). 

There is a guy with a Songthaew who sits at the end of the road, he’s always asking if I need him so today was his lucky day! I showed him a screen shot of the map route (in Thai and English) and the shop front, with the name in Thai. I explained that it was a photo not a GPS map, I asked if he knew where it was he said yes, so off we went. 

Turns out he actually had no idea where we were going, he stopped and asked 2 people, I pointed out where I thought it was on the 2 times we drove past it!! He ignored me. 😠 He drove around the whole area, then started heading back to where we started from, but then went in a completely different direction, I said this is not the right way, he said he was trying something (yes he was trying, trying my fucking patience! 😤) The next thing is he’s dropping me back where we started! 

I was pissed off. I gave him 20baht he laughed, I said well, you didn’t take me where I’d asked, gave him another 20baht a withering look, got out, slammed the door! I walked back to my hotel then burst into tears! 

I’m putting this little episode down to low blood sugar after nearly 3 days of very little food, tiredness and low bullshit tolerance. 

After my mini meltdown, I got my shit together, literally and figuratively and decided I was getting these Damm photos one way or another (I know some of you are now singing Blondi! 😂)

The walk did take around 20 mins and the shop was exactly where I’d said! 

The shop doesn’t have a photo booth, it’s a very old shop, staffed by a nice older gentleman who took me up 3 flights of rickety stairs to the studio, which consisted of a large dark room with a chair at the end surrounded by lights and a camera stand, very old school and a little serial killerish! 

Suffice to say, all was well and the gentleman managed to take the single most hideous picture of me ever! 😳

My mission finally completed, I walked back to the hotel for more bananas and crackers, Yeah! 😕 I have an evening trip booked for later, so don’t want to risk being ill again. 

My trip today is to 2 Temples:

Wat Umong Suan Phutthatham

This temple is over 700 years old and has some interesting tunnels. It is also a centre for Meditation 🧘‍♀️ 

The site is lovely and quiet in the early evening, just the sounds of birds and the Cicadas, which are very loud! 

We saw a couple of cute little bats in one of the tunnels. 

It was extremely humid and as it was early evening a lot of mossies! I was all sprayed up and covered so was ok, but my ‘skin so soft’ spray was a welcome relief to some of the other guys! 

I really enjoyed the peaceful feeling at this temple. From here we headed up through the jungle to our next temple:

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep

This temple is set in the jungle high above Chiang Mai, at an elevation of 1,037 meters.

The road up is very steep and winding and it was amazing and impressive to see so many people running or cycling up! 😳 

There is also a walking route through the jungle called ‘The Monks Trail’ which David, a guy from the hotel took, it takes nearly 3hrs and he said it was pretty hard going, the path was not always clear and was very slippery! Suffice to say this is not getting added to my itinerary! 😂

The Temple was first established in 1383 and has been expanded and added to over the years. It is an extremely sacred place to many Thai people. 

From the car park there are 309/366 steps to reach the temple the steps and the Temple are guarded by a huge Naga (half human half cobra)

Luckily for me there is also a very handy cable car to the Temple! (Phew! 🥵) 

It’s actually nice and cool up this high, with a lovely cool breeze. 

The temple is stunning and again really quiet with hardly any visitors, just us and some monks. 

Lots of Gold and flowers and just a very beautiful place. 

Then we walked out onto the viewing platform and Wow! The views of Chiang Mai are breathtaking. We were so lucky that it was not wet and cloudy so our view was incredible! 

It was wonderful to be able to soak in the views in almost silence. 

There is something magical about viewing a city from above at night. 

The only downside was that we had missed the last cable car back down! This meant walking down the 366 steps! I took it slowly and held onto the Naga’s scales all the way down, It was all good, a slight head swimmy moment half way down but apart from that OK. 

I loved this short tour and how peaceful it felt. Just what I needed. 😍

I got them to drop me off at Kats Kitchen where I had a very welcome portion of Mango Sticky Rice!! Yummy. 

When I got back I had a lovely chat to the beautiful & wonderful Jenna, then it was bed time. 

Thursday

I have decided that today is the day for me to go and sort out my visa extension. I’d read in a blog that it’s a good idea to head over in the afternoon, as this may cut down the wait. So with this is mind I grab a Songthaew, armed with all the relevant paper work, photocopies, photos and my passport, and off I go.

The immigration office isn’t far away and I arrived just as they reopened at 1pm. I get given my first queue ticket and pointed towards an area outside, this is where I fill in my TM7 form, get all my paperwork checked before being allowed into the building. 

The form isn’t that difficult, but more tricky than it looks! I wait my turn to speak to one of the lovely helpers. He explains a few issues I have with the form checks my paperwork and then let’s me know that I need another form, T30, which I don’t have, but can get from the office just behind him, which is where I also have to have more photocopies made of more forms. After I’ve done this, I go back and get everything rechecked, I need 1 more photocopy, back I go, back I come, recheck and finally it appears I have everything I need! 

Now I’m allowed to enter the building! I get given another queue ticket, O169, they are currently on O090, it’s 2pm. By 3pm we are on O130, by 3.30, it’s O133!  There are lots of people here, there are monks, young people, elderly people, tourists, families with small children but everyone is being very patient and chilled. I find a place to buy some water, a spot outside by a fan and a view of the board and just settle down, read my book have a nice chat to John, an American guy over here teaching English, it’s his first time outside of the USA and he is loving it. 

The queue goes down little by little but by 4pm we are still only on O144 then at 4.15 the numbers just start going up rapidly, it’s actually quite exciting! 

My number finally comes up at 4.30, I go in handover my paperwork, pay my money, then sit back down to wait some more! At 4.50pm my name is called I’m handed my passport, my paperwork and my extended visa!! Yeah 😍

It was actually not an unpleasant experience, everyone was very helpful, and now I don’t have to worry about it anymore!

I head back to town, jump in the pool to cool off then go,straight out for dinner, as I’m starving! 

I go back to Hummus for a delicious Falafel and some Dolma (similar to dolmades) served with really good savoury yogurt stuff! 

I ordered way more than I could eat so bought the leftovers back for snacks tomorrow.

When I got back to the hotel I got chatting to a lovely English couple Nathan & Emma, we sat for a while just talking, they are leaving tomorrow, early to head to Krabi. 

Then I was off to bed.

It’s been an interesting week. 

Have a great weekend everyone, stay cool, stay safe.