Chiang Mai & Stop Me Now

 

On the night of Christmas Eve, we hopped on the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. For the first time since I’ve been in Thailand, I got really sick. Besides being sick, the overnight train was really cool. Our group of four (Steph, Lauren, Heidi and myself) formed a pod in one of the sleeper cars, and when the sun went down, our seats were transformed into bunk beds. It reminded me of the Hogwarts Express, and if I wasn’t feeling like death, it would have been 10 times cooler! 

Day 1: When we woke up, it was Christmas! It was a pretty magical way to spend the holiday, pulling into the Chiang Mai station as the sun was coming up. Even though a nice Thai pharmacist hooked me up with prescription sinus meds, I was a zombie that first day. I was determined to see the city, so I sucked it up and stayed with the crew as we explored a few temples and got to know the Old City of Chiang Mai. 

Then it was time to check into our airbnb, which was about 20 minutes outside of town. It was run by this awesome NGO that sends kids from the hill tribes to school and gives the students all sorts of work and educational opportunities. I was so happy to finally be in a place I could rest. While the rest of the crew joined the family for a Christmas barbecue, I passed out in our indoor-outdoor room surrounded by greenery. I slept for 14 hours and woke up with a new appreciation for the North’s chilly mornings. 

Day 2: We ate a hearty Thai breakfast and made our way to the Chiang Mai bus station. We had a few hours before our van to Pai was leaving, so obviously we got massages to kill some time! When people talk about the road to Pai as famously having 900 turns… they’re not kidding. This bus ride was enough to make those of us with no history of motion sickness want to throw up. The three hour ride was dizzying but well worth it. 

As soon as we got to Pai, we were filled with energy. We were dropped off in the heart of the city and immediately fell in love with the hippie/ backpacker vibe of the town. We threw our backpacks down in our hostel (Easy Guesthouse + Art Gallery), and made our way to the main walking street market and caught some amazing views on the way. The laid back feel reminded me a lot of Austin, TX. 

Day 3: It was chilly when we woke up, and we also realized that we had slept in a garage (surprisingly well). We walked into town and found a place to rent motorbikes. I was terrified because I’ve never driven a motorbike before. It took a minute to get the hang of, but soon we were off! We zoomed up the roads, surrounded by mountains and greenery and little roadside shops. It was truly magical. I was finally over my initial sickness and all my senses were on high alert, so everything felt and smelled amazing. 

We stopped at a few lookouts, then eventually made our way to Pambok Waterfall. A quick hike led us right to the waterfall, and we waded through the cold water and hung out at the rocks under the streaming water to soak it all in. 

Our next stop was the famous bamboo bridge. It was incredible. Before coming to Thailand, this is what I pictured Thailand would look like. It was such an amazing experience walking along the long bamboo pathways and seeing the rice plantations. Perfectly picturesque. 

After seeing our two main events of the day, we decided to follow signs to “reggae mountain”. We rode all the way up windy dirt roads to get to what the sign had promised to be a reggae utopia, only to find that it didn’t exist! I did, however, accidentally drive my bike into a fence. 

We got back into town and returned our motorbikes. The motorbike guys tried to convince me that I owed 5,000 baht for the damages on my bike, but lucky for me, they were joking. (I didn’t have to pay anything!) Then we had some bomb Northern style curry and headed back to the hostel. 

Then we got picked up by a songteow to go to Pai Canyon. I had done little research on this Canyon, and I wasn’t too excited, but when we got there my mind was blown. It was amazing, the ground was orange and it reminded me of Arizona or Utah. Lauren and I hiked the loop barefoot, after being warned that parts were steep and tricky. There were definitely some high passes and ridges that made me a little woozy, but we loved it so much that we hiked it twice. Then we sat and watched what might have been my favorite sunset in Thailand. 

That’s not even the end of the day. Back in town, we walked through the night market and found Edible Jazz, a spot that literally everyone had been telling us to check out. I thought that it would be a loud, overhyped bar filled with tourists, but man, was I wrong. It was the best, and my new favorite nighttime place in the entire world. I know those are strong words, but it had all the elements of (what I would consider) a perfect hang out: hammocks, tea, live music, a campfire, and friendly cats. Oh and amazing friends to share the experience with. A perfect end to a perfect day. 

Day 4: We woke up in our garage at 4:30AM. A van picked us up from our hostel and took us to a Chinese village, nested in the mountains of Pai. It was pitch black and freezing when we got there, and our guide brought us a pot of authentic Chinese green tea! We sipped our tea and watched the sunrise come up over the mountains and sparkly little town. It was one of the most beautiful and memorable mornings of my life. 

After that, we wandered around the street our hostel was on and found a cool Wednesday market. Then we posted up in a REALLY cool coffee shop (Khaotha Cafe), where I had arguably the best tea of my life. It was roasted green tea with milk. 

Pai is just so cool, and we all wish we could have stayed longer. I know this blog post is full of extremes, but I promise I’m not exaggerating. If you ever find yourself in Northern Thailand, you’ve gotta check this place out. I’m definitely planning to go back in the spring! 

At 1PM, we caught a van back to Chiang Mai. After traveling the windy roads, we checked into Mojito Guesthouse, where we would be staying for the next five days. 

Day 5: We decided to go to Doi Suthep, which is a mountain, with a legendary temple sitting on top. It was definitely beautiful, but the crowds made it a little uncomfortable. The views were still very nice, though! 

After that we wandered around, ate some good food, and took advantage of the hostel’s chill hangout area, and took some time to decompress. 

Day 6: The day of elephants. We got picked up at our hostel and were driven to Elephant Nature Park. Once there, we had to change into our “elephant outfits”. (We’re still not totally sure why), and then we were ready to spend an ethical day with a family of giant elephants!

We got to clean the elephants’ food (cucumbers), and use a machete to chop up their sugarcane snack! Then we got to feed them. It was awesome and scary. One of the baby ones slammed me in the chest with her trunk! 

We took them on a walk through a patch of forest, and watched them play around in the mud. Then we headed back to the headquarters for a really yummy vegan lunch.

After that, we all trekked to the river, and swam with/ bathed the elephants. You could tell how happy they were by the way they played and wrestled with each other, truly like siblings. It was so magical to be up close and personal with these wild animals. 

When we got back to the city, we rented bikes and went straight to the Ping Fai festival. So many twinkle lights! And great food! It reminded me of the Texas state fair. We even roasted marshmallows, and it tasted like home. My orientation roommate Pa got into town and met us there. It was great catching up! 

Day 7: We woke up and hung out at the hostel for a little. At this point, there were 8 of us all reunited from orientation, so we had a lot of catching up to do over breakfast! It felt like waking up at sleep away summer camp. 

We spent our last day of 2016 on our bikes, riding the perimeter of Chiang Mai’s Old City. We stopped for lunch and tried our very first Kao Soi, a northern specialty, which is now my favorite Thai food.  

That night, to ring in the new year, we went downtown and lit up some lanterns. It was insanely surreal to see the thousands of lanterns in the sky. It looked like the cover of our Lonely Planet guidebooks, and it was a good reminder of why we are here. 

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Then we went out in the party section of town, and found ourselves at a reggae bar (owned by our hostel dude!). In total Thai fashion, the band forgot about the countdown, and before we knew it, it was 2017. 

Day 8: We wanted to start off 2017 on the right foot. So, naturally, we went and got Thai massages by ex-prisoners (it’s a thing, I promise). Best massage of my life. (Another extreme but I’m not kidding… They even gave us each a hot cup of tea afterward)! 

Then we got smoothies at this really cute juice bar, wandered through a tea and spice market, and got some Kao Soi. 

To end the day (and the trip, sadly), we went to the famous Sunday Night Market. It’s been on my Southeast Asia bucket list since forever, and it didn’t disappoint! The market was huge. We got some really good food, and some cool souvenirs to take home to family and friends… and I found the perfect gift for my mom! 

Day 9: Lauren, Steph and I camped out at a coffee shop near the train station to plan some of our post-teaching travels. We nailed down a few dates to visit Thailand’s bordering countries, and Lauren and I bought our plane tickets to Nepal, where we’ll work on a tea farm and trek to Everest base camp in May. So many exciting things lay ahead of us. We eventually went our separate ways and before I knew it I was back in Don Tum. It was definitely a trip I’ll remember forever! 

Until next time!