Hogwarts Express

We got in super early this morning. The overnight train was super fun; we were served food at our seats, beds made for us, and had a beautiful view of the sunrise. It was our first overnight train of many to come and was a success. It's cozy being in a train having your own tiny space to hangout. 

We got to our hostel before it opened, but they let us check in right away. This saved us from lugging around four bags of crap in the heat. The owner is an expat (finally learning how to use this term) from Germany; he's actually from Stuggart which is where Alex's mom grew up #smallworld. 

We were told Chiang Mai is an artsy town with a lot of temples, so day one we spent temple hopping. Out of respect you're supposed to cover your knees and elbows when going into. The temples. We also saw a lady getting softly spoken to about not pointing her toes at the Buddha.

Two random Thai guys came up to us and we're overly friendly so we thought they were trying to ploy us into something, but they were genuinely just trying to chat. It's hard to tell the difference though when everyone is trying to get you to buy something. 

To end the day we got ourselves measured for some custom clothes, and went to a cooking class. The host was hilarious and gave us a ton of advice for what to do in Pai. The food was delicious and educational. It was cool to see how spring rolls and red curry is actually made (it doesn't just grow in bottles?). 

At any rate, we're here until Tuesday morning but markets and hikes are in our future. 

“There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner