Do you love me enough that I may be weak with you? Everyone loves strength, but do you love me for my weakness? That is the real test. – Alain de Botton
Friday, November 15, 2013 (DAYS 620)
There are numerous lies and truths of backpackers that are found to be both humorous and absolutes–typically these statements have every intention of being nothing short of the truth, but it seems that as soon as they are uttered verbally it is almost a guarantee that you will be participating in the opposite actions of these statements. I know there are hundreds but these are just a few that come to mind.
There are numerous lies and truths of backpackers that are found to be both humorous and absolutes–typically these statements have every intention of being nothing short of the truth, but it seems that as soon as they are uttered verbally it is almost a guarantee that you will be participating in the opposite actions of these statements. I know there are hundreds but these are just a few that come to mind.
| |  THE THREE RELATIVE TRUTHS OF HOSTELS:
SOME LIES OF BACKPACKERS
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MY RTW PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
Being woken up from a deep sleep, we arrive in Chang Mai just after 5:30am. Groggy and in a haze, we somehow manage to grab a taxi and make it to our hostel, MD House in the center of the city. We are pleasantly surprised to notice that this hostel has not one, but two swimming pools and includes a free proper breakfast with our stay. Since the lantern festival has caused the cities population to swell, we feel very fortunate to have been able to book a place in the city limit and with such great amenities. After checking in to our luxurious 3-bed private room with ensuite, cable television, and even a refrigerator, we are famished and head back past the small lobby and order some breakfast. Stuffing our faces like a fat kid in a donut shop, the speedy onset of exhaustion begins to creep in and we are down for the count for late-morning naps.
When I wake up, I notice I have a message from our Swiss friend Adrian who will be arriving early tomorrow morning and inquires if he can stay with us. It often amazes me how things continue to work out, not only for myself at times, but also for the other great friends I’ve made along the way. I tell him that because we hesitated in making a reservation for this festival that we were forced to book a 3-bedroom room and so we have plenty of space to welcome him.
Being woken up from a deep sleep, we arrive in Chang Mai just after 5:30am. Groggy and in a haze, we somehow manage to grab a taxi and make it to our hostel, MD House in the center of the city. We are pleasantly surprised to notice that this hostel has not one, but two swimming pools and includes a free proper breakfast with our stay. Since the lantern festival has caused the cities population to swell, we feel very fortunate to have been able to book a place in the city limit and with such great amenities. After checking in to our luxurious 3-bed private room with ensuite, cable television, and even a refrigerator, we are famished and head back past the small lobby and order some breakfast. Stuffing our faces like a fat kid in a donut shop, the speedy onset of exhaustion begins to creep in and we are down for the count for late-morning naps.
When I wake up, I notice I have a message from our Swiss friend Adrian who will be arriving early tomorrow morning and inquires if he can stay with us. It often amazes me how things continue to work out, not only for myself at times, but also for the other great friends I’ve made along the way. I tell him that because we hesitated in making a reservation for this festival that we were forced to book a 3-bedroom room and so we have plenty of space to welcome him.
Since it is still early afternoon, even after our nap, we’ve decided to spend it playing with Tigers! I’ve seen photos from other friends that have experienced this in Chang Mai and knew that it was on my list as well as an elephant trek while in Northern Thailand. Just after 2pm, we’ve negotiated with one of the numerous red pick-up truck taxi drivers to take us to Tiger Kingdom for 200THB ($6.33) round trip and being the only two passengers we sprawl out in the back of the truck with foam benches. 20-minutes later we arrive at the infamous Tiger Kingdom, and our excitement rises to level orange. After debating over the various packages, we’ve decided to do the whole sha-bang. We begin with the baby tiger cubs and work our way up to the full-grown adult males. I don’t even know how to describe this experience as it was so surreal, from when the cubs were running around and pouncing on you to the larger cats that even walking past you could topple you over from their sheer size. Safety was not something I was entirely worried about, because the staff does a great job of limiting the number of people in each of the various cages and sticks close to your side as well as watching your backside. They continue to tell you not to touch their heads, front paws, or to approach them from the front, but laying on them on their hip and petting them on their side or stomach is fine. Ashley and I are both still in disbelief of what is occurring and comment, “oh, what’d you do today? Yeah that sounds nice, we just played with fricken Tigers, no biggie.”
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