Backpacking on a pension: Out of our comfort zone - Breakfast in Chiang Mai... and lunch...and dinner!

So, we left the train station and went through the scrum of taxi and Tuk Tuk drivers like Maro Itoje through the Welsh backs, sorry Lynn. But what next? We had never been here before and hadn't even identified where the station was on the Lonely Planet map of the city... step up Mr Lop, a friendly and excellently fluent English speaking pilot of the Tuk Tuk.

He waved away with nonchalance other too eager drivers as I instructed him to take Lynn and me somewhere for breakfast. The 150 baht negotiated ( £2.97), we set off into the morning rush of traffic towards the town centre - the heat at this time was already stifling.

We were dropped at the Art Cafe situated just short of the old city walls, with a promise of a return to take us sightseeing. After the night journey on the train we declined, he did however leave his mobile number on the map of the city and left us to devour our full breakfasts.

We crossed the busy road to Boots the chemist, yes, Boots! They have branches all over Thailand, we needed to top up on the suntan lotion and mozzie spray. That achieved we hailed a Tuk Tuk, told him the name of the hotel and sat back as he proceeded to get us lost in a very short time.

Eventually, and after he switched on his google Map app on his phone, we made it to the Sakulchai Place; not too far by my reckoning from the town centre. At only £47 for three nights, it was a bargain.

The room was clean, had aircon, the all important wifi and a comfortable bed: plus, downstairs, a pool. We quickly made our way back down for a swim and a lay in the sun.

We shared a bowl of chicken coconut soup with galengang for lunch in the hotel cafe. Not expecting much we were bowled over by the sheer tastiness of this freshly prepared dish - and at (£1.58), another bargain.

After a late afternoon nap we decided to walk into town to discover some of the bars listed in the Lonely Planet guide book. We thought we'd try the Writers Club and Wine Bar, me being a sort of writer and Lynn liking wine.

The temperature was still in the 30's as we got to the busy junction of Huai Kaeo Rd and Mani Noppharat Rd ( no wonder the Tuk Tuk boys get lost with those sort of road names). We knew that in Vietnam we would have to get used to crossing busy intersections so we just went for it. Amazingly we crossed unscathed apart from the taste of two stroke fuel on the backs of our throats from a hundred screaming Tuk Tuks and motor bikes.

It took us a while and a few double backs plus asking the help of a British ex-pat to get to our destination but we made it.

The bar itself is slightly unassuming, it is owned by a former foreign correspondent but staffed entirely by Thais. Some old newspaper clippings adorned the walls but it was nothing special. We thought we'd have one drink and go and eat a hundred yards back down the road. Add to that, Lynn was not impressed by the wine, a theme that would prevail throughout our trip - she went onto the cocktails!

Suitably lubricated we now felt peckish enough to stay where we were and order off their menu. We shared crispy pork with kale and oyster sauce, sweet and sour shrimp and shrimp fried rice because they'd sold out of crab. It was an absolute treat and once again so tasty and fresh. The other underlying theme to our trip is to not judge a book by its cover, I'd warmed to the place after that meal.

After a few more drinks we hailed a Tuk Tuk who actually knew where we had to go, and after wresting with the aircon controls, and failing, we drifted off to contented first night sleep.

First day survived then, without the safety net of family members who know the place like the back of their hands. Tomorrow Lynn would take centre stage as we'd booked her in for a Thai cookery course the next day - stay tuned for that one!

First meal in Chiang Mai - full English at the Art Cafe