Day 48: Hello Chiang Mai
We arrived mid afternoon after an amazing 3 hour shuttle back to Chiang Mai from Pai. Only one passenger fell victim to the twisty mountain roads and threw up in a plastic bag in the front seat. Upon arrival we haggled our way into a 20 baht per person (.50 cents) red truck to our hostel near the Night Bazaar, The Living Place 3 Hostel. Our truck dropped us on a parallel street by the Thapae Gate (one of the 4 formal entrances to the old city’s wall). After 20 minutes of walking in the grueling heat with our bags we finally managed to locate The Living Place 3 and were greeted by 3 sweet chihuahuas. However, news quickly struck that they had overbooked online and had room for only one of us. They were extremely apologetic and helped us move to their sister location, Living Place 1, a short block away. (There were no puppies here… not a fair trade but they insisted the 24/7 AC would make up for it. Whatever.)
Although this new hostel had less atmosphere in the lobby, the staff were extremely accommodating and friendly in helping introduce people from other dorm rooms while checking in. A matter of minutes later we had about 10 new friends either from the check in desk or our 12 person dorm room. We headed out with our check in friend, Jenya (no clue how to spell that but his name sounds like the singer, Enya, but with a J first). He had just arrived in Chiang Mai and was in search of an apartment to rent for a month while working remotely. Cool. We explored the area and located the night market, an amazing nearby trendy parking lot of food, cute cafes and shops beyond the old town wall, etc. It was a great initial trip around town!
We met back at the hostel around 6 to meet the rest of our 12 person dorm to approach the night by storm. We were all here for the annual floating lantern festival, yet all of us had similar experiences deciphering the real agenda for the evening via talking with locals or researching online. It seems that Thai locals often point tourists in the wrong direction for viewing the lantern festival to keep it more sacred and traditional. There is a “fake” tourist festival about a week later and there is an option to pay $100 for entrance to some type of special area the night we were there. However, all of us had read that it was also possible to view the lanterns and even partake for free. This was true! A short walk down Thapae Street to the river’s Nawarat bridge led us directly into the action. Yes, it was hot and ridiculously crowed… especially when managing a group of 12 through the crowd, but given time we found a great spot to call our own and watch the glow of the night over some amazing street food. The festival involved floating lanterns down the river as well as lighting lanterns that would majestically float away into the night’s sky. It was an insanely beautiful sight.
A couple hours later the lanterns were still in full force being released, but our group decided to make the trek back through the crowd to relocate to the hip parking lot of food vendors we had found earlier that day. Great decision. Music was blaring and hundreds of backpackers and young crowds sat on hay bails and chairs around the stage socializing and eating. It was a very nice atmosphere with delicious food! It is also here that our group expanded by about 5 more people. A new roomie of ours had met another traveler, Pablo, a few days back and they had arranged a meet up here. He happened to be with 4 new friends as well and our group was suddenly even more massive.
We soon left to walk the city and head to a fun bar. Earlier that day Abby, Jenya, and I had found a quiant street lined with little bars about a block away, so we led the huge group that way. It didn’t take long to realize we were in some type of “redlight” district and we eagerly passed up the calling women and approached the nicer area within the old city wall. Whoops! Totally misread that area in the light of day. Our Dutch girlfriends from Koh Tao (about a month ago) mentioned the bar Zoe in Yellow as a must do, so we led the group there as our evening destination.
Alright Zoe, you crazy. This place was loud with music and people dancing. With the King’s passing it is a rare find to stumble upon a place advertising dancing and loud music. It was a fun change of pace for an evening, but we all headed back to the hostel early so that we could get a move on it the next morning. We decided that we would all rent scooters and meet back at the hostel around 9am ready for a ride to the famous ”Grand Canyon” of Thailand.
Day 49: Bua Tong Sticky Waterfall
A change of plans in the morning amongst 12 people led to a slow start, but the day was incredible! It was decided that the canyon was too overrated and touristy and that we should just take a red truck to a popular waterfall known as the sticky waterfall. 180 baht a person roundtrip landed us a truck ride that would wait for us onsite for when we were ready to leave.
This waterfall as gorgeous… like insanely beautiful and cool. If you are in Thailand ever, this waterfall needs put on your list. Chiang Mai is a fun city in general, but if you were to do one thing there I’d say go climb the sticky waterfall!
The waterfall was absolutely stunning and quite an unreal experience how easily you could actually climb up the cascading falls or sit in the crystal clear pools of water. (I did have an unfortunate chance encounter with a leech as I was sitting for awhile in one of the pooling areas. Holy ouch.) We walked back toward the parking area to find a lunch spot. The lady running the shop was so sweet and hooked us up with amazing noodles and cheap beers before we packed up and hit the road again.
Back at the hostel everyone went straight to bed after a really early morning and a 2.5 hour roundtrip ride in the back of a red truck. I, however, decided to grab a quick snack of garlic bread at the cafe next door and boy did it pay off to be the fat kid that needed a snack. As I pulled out my borrowed book from Abby, The Alchemist, I was approached by a couple of middle-aged men leaving. They asked me about the book and proceeded to tell me about their life as expats in Chiang Mai. They were both from the States and one was even living in Texas before making his move. They left shortly after, but one returned a few minutes later to ask if I’d like to join them for yoga the next morning. Dreams really do come true. I have been craving a yoga experience my entire time in Thailand, but have failed to do adequate research on where to go given that I wanted a more local experience. How perfect that an expat would invite me to a place only a couple blocks away?! I said yes of course!
I returned to our hostel room to walk to the night market with everyone and buy tickets for the Lady Boy Cabaret later that night. We got our tickets and headed back to the food parking lot for dinner. The vibe was a bit more somber as this was the last night of the 30 day mourning period for the King of Thailand. An orchestra had been hired to play and an older more sophisticated crowd were seated observing. It was still a lovely place to hang out while eating and waiting for our nighttime entertainment.
We showed back up at the night market’s cabaret not knowing what to expect, but all excited with nervous anticipation. I was actually shocked at how entertaining and (mostly) not raunchy the show was! Some acts even felt educational on the lady boy culture portraying the life of a lady boy living as both a man and a woman.
Day 50: Expat Adventures
This day is brought to you courtesy of Gordon the expat. A man in his mid-age that has traveled and taught in many southeast asian countries and who is originally from Colorado.
I woke up early to pack and check out before leaving with Gordon for a nearby yoga class. My new hostel friend, Mie, was also up and decided to join. We waited outside and Gordon finally showed to walk us around the block to a place called Freedom Yoga. We were greeted by an Aussie yoga teacher, Adam, who led our class in the most beautiful of accents. I 100% recommend this place for about $10 you can snag a 1.5 hour class with Adam. He is not only excellent at explaining and walking you through each pose, but his accent seriously makes it that much better. And don’t forget to grab a snack or some fresh juice mixes at their cafe before heading out… they were delicious.
Mie and I met Abby back at the hostel check out. I said goodbye to Gordon, but with intentions of meeting up one last time later that night. He invited us to a “psychedelic” themed party at the Lost Lounge. He also told me about a great pizza place his friend owned that we should try out. Abby and I grabbed our bags and headed out into the sweltering heat to relocate hostels for the day. Abby and I stopped by the Travel Hub agency near Thapae Gate to sign up for a Hilltribe Village Trek the next day that Mie was also going on. This was one of the experiences I had most looked forward to in Chiang Mia, but had a hard time finding the right package since most were for 5-7 days and I just wanted to do a quick overnight trip.
A quick red truck ride away we arrived back at Hug Hostel where we stayed for one night on our way to Pai a week ago. We chose to finish out our stay in Chiang Mai at this hostel because of the elephant sanctuary package they offered in the lobby that we would be partaking in soon. After checking in we decided to grab lunch at the Street Pizza restaurant that was recommended by Gordon. The name was deceiving as it ended up being a really nice place with a tucked away entrance off the street and a charming balcony. The pizza did not disappoint.
We ended the night at Lost Lounge where we met back up with Gordon and Adam! It was a great reason to wear my tye dye dress and hang out with a fun crowd.
Day 51: Death by Hiking
A red truck picked us up early for the hike and we found our friend Mie inside. We started our journey toward the hilltribe village with a few pit stops along the way. Our first stop was at a butterfly farm, which was filled with gorgeous flowers and butterflies. Next we stopped at a local market for toilet paper, water, snacks, and to just look at the crazy foods (so much raw meat for sale just out in the open… not on ice).
We finally started to head into the mountains and arrived at an elephant camp where we were given fried rice for lunch and had the chance to hang out with an elephant for a bit. So insane getting close to this giant of an animal. She was so gentle though… and hungry! We fed her tons of bananas and sugar cane then took her to the riverbed for a water fight!
Finally we grabbed our bags and hit the trail. Ohh a light hike to a hidden waterfall to begin the trip. But then…some serious vertical hiking happened for about 2 hours straight with what seemed to be no breaks. Thank goodness a few other girls on the trek were on my level and fell behind the group with me. It was so miserable! There was only about 5 minutes of horizontal pathways where you could actually enjoy the scenery instead of watching your footwork and gasping for oxygen. The views at the top made it pretty worth it though. A gorgeous place to watch the sunset and rise.
It was a fun eveing getting to know the others on the hike as we sat around a campfire talking all night, but I was really disappointed at the lack of interaction with the local hilltribe. The whole reason I was interested in the trip was for the cultural aspect of it. To be welcomed into a village for a night and to hang out with them and learn about their way of life on the mountain top. We had a small interaction with one woman who brought us dinner before disappearing back into the village. We were shown a room with an attached deck that was our home for the night and we pretty much didn’t leave it. Isolated to hang out with ourselves not knowing what was around us or where we could explore. So it basically felt like another night at a hostel meeting people of a similar age group and talking about our experiences at similar travel destinations.
Day 52: The Descent
After a scenic sunrise from our deck and a huge breakfast of scrambled eggs, coffee, and never-ending toast we began our descent. It wasn’t long before we arrived at a giant waterfall thats power created natural AC for us all as we sat at the bottom watching it in awe. We continued on and were back at the elephant base camp before we knew it.
The last part of our tour included an hour of “white water” rafting and then bamboo rafting. This was a nice way to get off our feet and enjoy some splashes of cool cool water! Bamboo rafting was quite neat as well. Something I’ve only seen on TV. It was a bit eerie sitting on the raft that sunk 6 inches into the water allowing anything on the surface of the river to just creep up onto the raft with us. Right before getting off we saw a snake swim out of some brush to the side of the river and naturally our guide veers that way to dock our raft right where the little guy had come from. We were then asked to jump into the river and walk to the nearby shoreline for lunch. Fear Factor Thailand, right there. Lunch was a delicious homemade pad thai before we were off on our red truck ride back to town.
Upon arrival Abby and I both ran to the showers and brushed our teeth. 2 days of sweat with no shower was rough. We chilled in the hostel for a bit before walking next door to an adorable Garden Cafe. Not only was it charming but it was delicious as well. They actually had a dish called “spicy noodles” and it was so perfectly spiced! We packed up our bags at the hostel and went to bed early for our big day tomorrow!
Day 53: Elephant Sanctuary
Our 6am pickup for Into The Wild Elephant Sanctuary came early! We moved our bags downstairs and checked out as we would be headed to Bangkok on the night bus this evening. We met a group of about 4 others downstairs from our hostel who were also joining on the elephant tour. Our guide equipped us all with matching woven ponchos and let us choose a bandana. He snapped a picture of us and we loaded up for our journey to the sanctuary. We picked up another couple on our way from another hostel then stopped for some coffee. An hour or so up through a mountain we arrived at the camp. We put in a little downhill hiking and walked up on 3 elephants! All female, one 4 year old baby. Awe!
We were given the chance to bond with them, feed them tons of bananas, walk with them, give them a mud bath and wash them off in the river! It was a really cool experience and just crazy how gentle they were with us. If you visit Chiang Mai I would totally recommend a half day tour with Into the Wild or The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. Our morning ended with a lunch of fried rice before heading back into town.
Basically homeless for the rest of the afternoon we were able to shower up and chill in the hostel common area room. We revisited the Garden Cafe next door for dinner and then left for the bus station! We found our bus and boarded with our $20 VIP tickets. The bus had so much leg room, snacks and water, fully reclining seats, blankets, and WIFI. It left at 7:30 pm and had a pitstop about 1am at a market for a restroom break and to grab a meal for those that were hungry. We arrived in Bangkok at 5am and got a cab to our hostel, Nira’s Bankoc. We purposefully chose this hostel for their close proximity to town but mostly their 24 hour reception that allowed us to drop our bags and rest on their lobby’s coffee shop couches.
Day 54: Farewell Thailand!
We have spent about a month and a half in Thailand! It has been wonderful, but we can’t wait to get to our last Asian destination… Bali. We booked an early flight out of Bangkok tomorrow morning for Ubud. So for now, we have one last full day in Bangkok. If you read my post on our few days here a couple weeks ago you know it wasn’t the most productive. So here I go again! I refuse to let the Grand Palace win… I am determined to find the entrance today haha.
I put on my temple clothes and left to make the 30 minute walk to the Grand Palace to arrive at opening time. Still so confusing. I’ve googled over and over again where and how to enter this place after having so much trouble last time, yet still it seemed very unclear as I approached the “apparent” entrance. Thankfully I met a new friend, Jennifer, who was also awaiting the entrance to be opened. We figured it out together and made a great team at exploring and taking pictures for each other within. I finally conquered the entrance.
However, Bangkok still laughed in my face a bit claiming that it still won… after purchasing our 500 baht tickets and going through multiple security check points I am told my tights are not appropriate for entry and that I’ll have to completely exit the palace walls to find a rental sarong or I can purchase one right there for 250 baht. I didn’t want to lose Jennifer or make her wait… or freaking re-exit this monstrosity of a place, so I forked over the 250, totaling the Palace experience at 750 baht. The most expensive thing to do around here for sure! But that’s not all folks, after touring the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (within the Palace walls, but not the actual Grand Palace) we were walking toward the Grand Palace only to find that it was closed for entry. We were just escorted back outside and that was that. So I paid 750 baht and still didn’t technically see the Grand Palace section. That was out of my control though, so you can shove it Bangkok.
I said goodbye to Jennifer and walked back to the hostel to find Abby. Our only other item on the agenda for Bangkok today was to find the Unicorn Cafe. Some friends up in Pai had informed us of this magical place and we knew we had to see it for ourselves. A 20 minute cab ride away we arrived at this My-Little-Pony-infested pastel pink hole in the wall. The inside was small yet packed even though it had opened only 30 minutes before. It was every color of the rainbow and crawling with unicorns and every girl with an instagram account. Unicorn onesies, sweet concoctions, and selfies galore. Quite a place to witness, but not one to stay in long. After a sugar overload we walked to a pub to counteract the experience.
It was finally check in time and we arrived back at Nira’s to take our bags up to the room. We showered and didn’t leave bed for the rest of the day. Exhausted form our last couple days, odd sleep arrangements and times, and our 3:30am wake up for our flight tomorrow. It was a Netflix and Chill night for sure. Oh, plus this heavenly delight in the cafe downstairs. OMG. If you are ever in Bangkok you must got to Nira’s Bankoc solely for this dessert creation called Monkey Cave.
Day 55: Bali Bound
Earliest flight ever landed us in Bali about 11am where Abby boarded another plane for a neighboring island, Lombok, and I took an hour cab ride to my hostel in the town of Ubud. I can’t wait to tell you about my time in Bali, because all it was enchanting (minus the traffic).
Thailand Afterthoughts:
I am both excited and sad to say that even in 1.5 months I did not “finish” Thailand and will definitely have to return in the future. This country has become overrun with tourists which has made it both more and less appealing. It is a wonderful place for first time solo travelers or young travelers as it is very easy to travel, a lot of english is spoken, and there are travel agencies on every corner to help you book your travel to the next city or country. Sadly, this also means that many beautiful places are crawling with people and their cameras. It’s hard to find a piece of untouched Thailand to enjoy the peacefulness that I’m sure this country once brought to its locals and tourists.
My top 2 places I visited in Thailand were 110% Koh Tao and Pai! What are your favorite travel destinations? I’d love some inspiration! Next stop, Bali.
Wander On,
SK
Did you say LEECH?!?!