Elisa: Chang Mai (pics of grand palace and reclining buddha)

A lot of wonderful moments have happened since I last wrote, so I will summarize only the most lovely as we must be getting along to the night bazaar for dinner. We left Hong Kong without any problem, arriving in Bangkok after midnight, and taking a cab to the hostel that Melissa's friends Adele and Helle were staying in and had booked for us. We were exhausted, but even just walking down the little Thai hippie street, at 1 am, we were so thrilled to see carts selling chicken satay, banana pancakes and friend banana, and exotic fruits. People were still up and about, drinking at outside cafes and music or laughter was emanating from every corner. It was a wonderful entrance.
The next morning, we got up early and the four of us went to the Grand Palace by tuktuk (little mini taxis). There, we walked around the unbelievably intricate (borderline gaudy) watt and saw the famous emerald Buddha. Every surface was complex and so unbelievably colorful, and Melissa and I spent much of the time comparing it to churches/cathedrals we had seen while in Europe together. After that, we walked around a small market place (I bought unbelievably tasty fried coconut pudding and a pork satay stick) on the way to the reclining Buddha of Wat Pho, which is a 46 meters long and 15 meters hight, all gold, and encased in a beautiful, decorated wooden temple. We then took the ferry to Wat Arun, the third most important religious site in Bangkok, and climbed to the top of its colorful stairs to get a great view of the city. We then took a short ferry ride down the river, ate lunch at a lovely little restaurant (I had spicy pork and shrimp salad with shallots- very good but very spicy). We then got a Thai massage for an hour (only 7 dollars) complete with a very refreshing foot wash. I'd never had a Thai massage before, and loved the roughness and stretching which left me feeling supple and relaxed (though some parts were downright painful...). We then walked around Khoa San Road, which is a fun young street to go shopping, get snacks, or just people watch. We had a delicious dinner at a vegetarian place (great pappaya salad and fried seaweed with peanut sauce, along with wonderful green eggplant, which I had never had, but was very delicious, tender and sweet). We went back to our hostel to pick up our bags, get our train tickets, and took a cab to the train station, where we boarded a very, very rickety overnight (15 hours!) train to Chang Mai, in Northern Thailand. It was a beautiful, scenic ride, but I got only about 2 hours of sleep because the train was so bumpy. The trip was VERY long. We arrived in Chang Mai around 1pm today!
We checked into our hostel, had some lunch, and then booked a guided trek for tomorrow day, tomorrow night, and the day after tomorrow morning (36 hours-ish). For only 17 dollars, we have a guide to drive us to visit 2 tribes, go rafting, ride elephants, visit villages, walk through the rain forest, and sleep in a bungalow in a mountain village. All food is included, as well as travel insurance up to 100,000 dollars. We are very excited! Melissa and I then went to try to book a hostel for the night after we return from our trek (Adele and Helle will leave us to go to Laos) but we got caught in an intense bout of hot, tropical rain, which left us soaked and unsuccessful in finding lodging so we will keep looking. We did stumble upon an incredible wooden Watt with a serene golden Buddha inside. The Watts here are less gaudy, and the temples tend to be made of wood, and have a generally more sleek and graceful appearance. With the rain all around, and the golden Buddha calling us to shelter inside, it was a quintessential lovely moment indeed. We are off for the next adventure of seeking food at the night bazaar and we will write more when we return victoriously from our trek! Thinking of you all.