Bus To Chiang Mai

Arrived this morning in Chiang Mai after an all night bus ride. The trip North took about 9 hours and 30 minutes by first class bus. The drive was quite comfortable, I was able to recline in the seat and sleep for several hours. The ticket cost $21 CAD and included a bottle of water, a box of juice, a box of soya milk and a meal of rice/sausage and curry chicken. They also include a clean blanket to fight off the chills from the A/C.

Monks on buses always sit at the front out of respect for Lord Buddha and his monk hood. It was interesting to see how the food situation is handled for monks. Monks are not allowed to eat after mid day so could not take rice from the bus cabin attendant (dressed in high heels complete with uniform and airplane like hat). The attendant instead of giving rice gave the monks soya milk. Another problem is that women cannot hand things directly to a monk so the attendant girl handed the milk to a Thai man sitting nearby who then handed it to each individual monk. Monks can only receive food as gifts from the people it is a way people who are not in the religious order can make merit.