We really liked Chiang Mai, more than we’d expected to. Fortunate, then, that we spent more time there than we’d expected to, as when we arrived on a Friday afternoon, after travelling since Thursday morning from Koh Tao, and finally spoke to Steven of “Mom’s Organic Farm”, he said he had a few things on, so could we arrive on Monday instead of over the weekend. By this point, we’d had a quick wander around, spotted some great veggie buffet restaurants (an all you can eat veggie buffet for a set amount is striking gold for two veggie backpackers, in Asia, trying to eat well and limit spending! And there was more than one – double strike!), Paula, with a couple to swap, had observed the wealth of second hand bookshops, and we’d both taken in the laid-back, liberal and very un-city-like atmosphere. All of which had immediately made us rue the fact we hadn’t allowed for time to hang out here, so when the weekend suddenly presented itself, the high fives arose! (It may also have occurred to me, as I eyed the schedule on the blackboard outside the nearby English pub, that the weekend meant Premiership football fixtures, namely Liverpool away at Sunderland on Sunday night, but who knows, maybe Arsenal’s game against West Brom on Saturday too…).

Apparently, Chiang Mai was once the backpacker hub for trekking in the north of Thailand. And it would be correct to put that in the past tense, as although we saw a few signs for trekking tours, many had a dated appearance about them, and no-one ever pushed any at us. In fact, there was much more of an expat feel to the city, than a backpacker one. I suspect more backpackers these days head straight on for trekking and partying in Pai and Chiang Rai, respectively further to the north-west and north-east.

While I think of it, perhaps that reduction in backpacker numbers is why the tuk tuk driver who picked us up at the bus station was so keen to find us a guesthouse, and presumably pick up his commission. We didn’t ask him to, so didn’t feel guilty when we didn’t like the first place he took us to. And before we reached his first intended alternative, we worked out from the facilities that it was going to be much too expensive. But he wasn’t for giving up, despite our suggestion he just dropped us off on the main street, as per our original request! Fortunately, at the third time of trying, he took us to a decent place, a clean, budget priced hotel on a quiet street, with wifi. But I still can’t work out how it could have been worth it for him. The ten minute tuk tuk ride cost us 80 baht, and the half hour slog to find accommodation ended up with us at a place where we were paying 350 baht a night for the room. What could his commission have possibly been for it not to have been better for him, baht per minute, to just pick up another ride? I don’t know, and I guess probably I never will.

Anyway, like I said, Chiang Mai had a liberal feel to it, with plenty of bookshops, veggie-friendly cafes, and shops selling wares with “fair trade”, “sustainable” and “organic” labels. I guess it fitted the scene appropriately, then, when it happened that the two things we stumbled across which lured us in for an extended look were an art exhibition, courtesy of the graduates in fine art at Chiang Mai University, on the outskirts of town, and a small, GSCE looking exhibition on sustainable living in a nice, old building in the centre. Neither reached out to draw in tourists, but both were good for a pleasant, leisurely, hour long perusal.

There are no further tales to tell of adventure in Chiang Mai. We had dreadful coffee at the Lonely Planet’s suggested café for the best coffee in the city, we ate well, sampling both available veggie buffets, as well as splashing out on a Sunday dinner of chestnut roast, with Yorkshire puds, roast potatoes and the rest at the English pub (long gone are the days we insist on authentic local cuisine from local places; when opportunities arise for something different, particularly if it’s a taste of back home, we grab them with both hands!). And I did manage to squeeze in that bit of football (well, both bits, to be precise!), at the same establishment. But the second night was free, on account of the Thai love of sports betting. The bar lady (Thai wife of Welsh manager), not with any knowledge of the abilities of either team, I don’t think, insisted that we bet a beer on the first goal. Liverpool scored, I cashed in. She wanted to repeat the bet, but I didn’t want another beer, so we agreed on fifty baht instead. Liverpool won two nil, my bar tab was pennies!