From a 5 star to a no star

So here we are in Chiangmai.

Greta is in the next room and I can hear her coughing through the plywood and duct tape wall of our little guest house. We ended up here partly because she was too sick and tired to keep looking and because I used my one veto on the last guesthouse for being too expensive. I certainly can't complain about that here. It's 250 baht (around $8) for a plywood, duct tape and teak room in a guesthouse where we share a filthy cold water bathroom with 12 other people and 90% of the mosquitos in Chiangmai.

On the plus side, it's close-ish to the night bazaar. Once Nicole & I put Greta in bed for the night, we went back out and saw a bit of the town. Chiangmai has a very funky feel to it. I could happily poke around here awhile gawking at temples, looking at silk and getting massaged.

I got my first massage tonight & what happened may have been a misunderstanding due to the late hour. We were getting foot and leg massages and the masseuses kept giggling and asking if we were girlfriends. Eventually we worked out that they maybe thought something else was in order. When we made it clear that this was a foot and leg deal only they wanted a tip. And not the tips we gave them. It was an ugly scene with two masseuses trying to shake us down for big tip money. No happy ending for any of us. It was a helluva massage, though, my legs & feet feel great.

I find sex work here even more blatant than in Bangkok. "Karaoke" bars here have permanent stools in front where some very pretty young women and men perch and wait to be purchased. The katoeys seem to walk the old gate in strong force. I wonder how safe it is here for any of them.

Tomorrow we're off to our treehouse. I hope we're all healthy for it.