I’m on the train to Chiang Mai. It’s a 12-hour trip but it’s been fairly pleasant — nice meal service, whole row of seats to myself, etc.
I’m a bit nervous about arrival. Last night I would’ve read a bit about my destination, booked a hotel room, etc, but the internet service was out at my hotel in Bangkok. The hotel staff predicted that the internet would be back on this morning, but it wasn’t, and I ended up catching my train with no plans at all.
I don’t think the thing about having no hotel room will be a big deal, but I really don’t know anything about the city I’m arriving in. The landscape out the train window got increasingly brown as we move north, and there were quite a few burned patches and some actual fires burning. I don’t see any flames out the um… OK, as I was typing that, I looked out the window again and I did see a small patch of flames. There’s a fair amount of smoke in the air. In any case, there seems to be some sort of ecological catastrophe going on and I can’t help but think that if I’d been able to do my homework last night I would have more of an idea about whether or not there are any remaining standing buildings in Chiang Mai.
*Update: I am now at a hotel in Chiang Mai, and it is not on fire!