Dedicated to Jessica Fletcher

It was so nice to trundle out of Bangkok on the 19.35 to Chiang mai. I got a second class, air con lower bunk ticket. When i got on the train i was in an open carriage on a seat. I developed an onset of torettes syndrome and mumbled obscenities directed at the lady who sold me the ticket, myself, Bangkok and any random passengers who passed by me. 17 hours sitting upright on a train through the night and I was already tired. And I was just waiting until the person came to occupy the seat in opposite me. No one came and the train moved off. Then I overheard some passenger saying that the beds were really comfortable and that it was good for your back. so I decided to investigate and managed to pull my chair apart and with the opposite chair make a really comfy bed. About 20 minutes later our carriage attendant a very dexterous man unlocked the overhead compartments to reveal bunks with mattresses and sheets and pillows, he made us stand up one by one while he in almost Harry Potteresque style transformed the uncomfortable seated compartment into a really comfortable sleeping one. I tried to send out positive waves of apology to all those I had cursed. Sorry.
Chiang Mai is such a relief after Bangkok, it's still busy but gone is the pure madness of Bangkok. I don't feel unhinged here and I feel that I can relax. One of the main reasons why people come here is to go trekking. I am not going trekking again. I nearly killed myself in Sapa and there's no point in me kidding myself that it would be any different this time. So I am just chilling out visiting temples and relaxing.
I keep feeling like I have to keep moving to justify what I am doing here and that I shouldn't relax and take time out but I also think that it was me who saved up the money to come here and had the balls to do it, so I should be able to relax if I really want to. Why am I even justifying any of this?
I got my camera fixed. No thanks to the people in my hostel who although helpful sent me off in a wild goose chase. I went to about five places which all told me either they couldn't fix it or if they could it would take about 3 weeks. I went for lunch, and over my spicy Thai curry i reconciled myself to the fact that I was going to have to fork out to buy another camera. To get one like the broken one was going to cost me about 300eur. I went into an internet place to research digital camera shops in Chiang Mai. I got distracted reading about Britney Spears' kiddy problems and the dangers of drinking water out of plastic bottles. Mitt Romney's chances against McCain and some story about some cop in the States who murdered his wife. Then I ended up looking at a recipe for cheesecake, read some movie reviews and then that little voice in my head yelled at me to FOCUS. I found a chat room page thing discussing where to buy cameras in Chiang Mai, a couple of people mentioned Chiang Klang road, so I looked on my map and headed off. I found it eventually I went for a coffee and contemplated going for a beer but the little voice in my head told me to FOCUS, no beer or massage until you have gotten the camera.
Thai people don't walk, so when you asked them for directions they usually get confused and send you in the direction a car would go in rather than walking. I found this shopping plaza full of camera shops and electronics stores. The first one I went into I was talking to the guy, looking at cameras, I settled on one that was about 340eur and I was bargaining with him and I was telling him that my camera was stolen in Vietnam and now this one was broken and I needed him to... he stopped me and asked did I have the broken camera on me, I said yeah and I showed it to him. He asked why I wouldn't just get it repaired.
D'oh.
He wrote down the address of a camera repair shop. I got a tuk tuk. They fixed it in 3 hours and charged me about 34eur. Nice.
I treated myself to a massage and a big beer to celebrate and a yummy sushi dinner last night.
I am staying in a hostel called the Spiceythai, it's nice, clean and the people are really friendly. I find myself getting bored listening to other people's travel plans all the time, it's so repetitive and why do i care? Most of the people here are on a short journey and I feel like a real hard core traveller when I tell people that I have been on the road since the beginning of September and I get a big gasp when I tell them that i don't have round the world ticket because I travelled over land to get here. It's probably selfish of me to be like this but it's all you hear from people. Where are you from? What is your name? Where have you travelled? Where are you going to next? And people really play my travels are cooler than yours in the same way as pubescent boys play ... And I invariably win because my travels are usually a bigger dick than theirs.
I have met some nice people and a couple of folks I may head into Laos with. I can't really decide what to do next, where to go and what to see. Thailand isn't really doing it for me. It's lovely and the people are nice but it's like a big theme park and there are way too many tourists. I think that over tourism has spoiled it and the nation of smiles has become pretty cynical which is a real shame. I think I am going to head to Laos maybe next week. It should be a bit of a rest from the constant noise in Thailand. And then maybe back into Thailand, I really just don't know?