First impressions of Chiang Mai

Having spent the last 4 weeks in the chaos of Manila and the quiet paradise of the Filipino islands, I feel like I have arrived in a modern country. The centre of Chiang Mai – the old town – is clean and orderly. The infrastructure is seemingly more advanced. In Manila the pavements are broken and you have to duck your head to avoid walking into sagging electricity lines. There is less poverty on display and I think a telling barometer of its greater wealth is represented by the greater number of cars on the streets (although the scooter is still king). This is my impression of the city centre. Another notable difference is the vast numbers of falang walking the streets (falang is the Thai word for foreigner).  I am sure the further you go out from the centre and certainly in the hills the scene is very different. I check into a guest house charging £5 a night but even so I get a big room, cable TV and hot water.