Amazing Thailand #8: Travelling by Train From Bangkok to Chiang Mai

There is a popular overnight train that departs Bangkok every evening around 18:30 to Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand. The seats are made into bunk beds and the train arrives early morning (when it is not late) in Chiang Mai. At the Chiang Mai train station there are some "agents" offering accommodation in town. We stayed in a nice guest house with swimming pool for B400 (about $13/night for a double room, no breakfast). Chiang Mai train station is about 3km east of the city centre, across the Ping River. Chiang Mai (เชียงใหม่) is the hub of Northern Thailand. With a population of over 170000 in the city proper (but more than 1 million in the metropolitan area), it is Thailand's fifth-largest city. Located on a plain at an elevation of 316 m, surrounded by mountains and lush countryside, Chiang Mai is much greener and quieter than the Bangkok, and has a cosmopolitan air and a significant expat population, factors which have led many from Bangkok to settle permanently in this "Rose of the North". Obvisiously there are other means to travel from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, like airplane, but I truly recommend the overnight train. It could be noise sometimes during the night (the train lane is very irregular, making the train shake a lot!) and it is not fast, but to me this is part of the fun. And the bed was more comfortable than I expected! In Chiang Mai there are so many activities that you can do, like visiting the Elephant Nature Park and the X-Centre, but I will start ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgRmmF9Vrc4&hl=en

10 Facts About Finland and Travelling Finland

Finland is not a country which may necessarily first come to mind when you are planning to take a holiday or vacation abroad. Finland though is a thoroughly fun and interesting country to visit and below we look at some reasons why and some facts about Finland.

1. Finland invented the Sauna and it is said that over 60 per cent of people have a sauna in their home. Finns take great pleasure in their invention of the sauna and sauna is something taken seriously as a pastime.

2. Finland also seems to produce a very high percentage of racing drivers. Many top rally drivers are often Finns and Formula 1 has also produced a number of well-known Finnish drivers. In recent years, Salo, Raikkonen and Kovalainen are just a few names.

3. In summer time for a few weeks, it barely gets dark. In the peak of summer you can literally read a newspaper at 3am as the skies trun only faintly dark.

4. Lapland is in the far Northern part of Finland and Lapland is well-known for Father Christmas. In this part of Finland it also stays very dark for several months in the winter time. It stays dark almost twenty four hours a day and sun worhsippers would find it a hard and tough lace to live.

5. Finland was the first country in the world to allow all women to vote. New Zealand was first to allow women to vote but they did not allow Maori women to vote and thus Finland was the first to allow all women to vote.

6. The Finnish language really is quite unique and like no other language in the world. Learning Finnish for non Finns is not easy and has its own rules and style.

7. Finland is perfectly located for visiting several other countries if you are looking to do a tour. As well as a city such as Helsinki, you can easily from there travel to places such as Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia) and St-Petersburg (Russia). Helsinki really can act as a great central location for visiting this part of the world.

8. Vodka is very popular in Finland and popular with both men and women. From my own experience, the women seemed to be able to almost drink as much of it as the men.

9. If you plan to visit Finland in the winter time, do pack and dress fro very cold weather. It can easily be sub-zero in the main winter months and you should dress accordingly.

10. The summer can also be very nice and in a good summer you should certainly be able to get some sun-bathing in and be able to enjoy the parks and the countryside.

Paul writes about Finnish sauna and Sicily villas and property.