Climate, the planet and us

Bangkok was very 'hazy' this morning and the visibility want good as I was driven to the airport en route to Chiang Mai. The taxi driver had left his mask at home and would have to go but buy another.

As we arrived at Chiang Mai (1hour flight with lunch and coffee provided, clearly not AirAsia) a people carrier drew up at the steps and 3 passengers were ushered inside and driven away. VIPs I guess. The rest of us had a bus transfer.

Chiang Mai is north, in the mountains and slightly cooler. Much bigger and, on first acquaintance, not as pretty as Luang Prabang. The Old City is square and surrounded by a moat and the remnants of city walls. Leaving 5* luxury in Bangkok for 3*:here is a bit of a come down but on the upside I a) have a bit of open space that is a useful drying area (you have to be practical when travelling) and b) it is SO much cheaper here than the capital. There is a downside to this. After balancing the books, which took ages as I forgot that the smallest denomination is 1 baht (about 2.5p) there are no 'bits of bahts', I had an initial stroll to get my bearings with a couple of beers to accompany some College admin, CNY planning and a read of tourist leaflets. Later I had dinner, 3 courses and a much bigger beer than I'd anticipated. All in all it was about half of what I paid in Bangkok. Also the displayed prices appear to include the taxes which is better than having the 17% or so added. However, eating, and drinking, at this level will be counter productive to the good the walking is doing me. Restraint must be the order of the day.

There was activity in a local square. It was students with an exhibition of photos and talks and films on pollution and air quality. I sat on a straw bale and watched a National Geographic film about single use plastic bags and the move to reusable cloth ones. Masks were on display and the air quality meter registered the ppm of 2.5 particulants. I think it was 33. Clearly a big issue here.

Not sure what the next 4 days will bring. Definitely more wats but I think I may skip cooking classes, seems like only yesterday I did this in Hoi An.