Wherre did we leave off....ahhh yes. The overnight train to Chiang Mai. Minus the fact that they left the lights on all night aand I had a snoring Russian man above me, it was a pretty easy ride. I even met a woman from Silver Spring, MD! The world is small. It did get hard, however, when I got to Chiang Mai and immediately hopped from the train onto a bus to the tiny, beautiful mountain-town of Pai.
I had been warned of the dangerously windy road that turns the 100k trip into a 3-hour journey, but I was sure I could handle it. I mean, it normally takes a LOT to get me motion sick (as we saw in Indonesia) HAHAHA. Yeah, i'm going to blame it on getting older and the fact that I was sitting in the very back of the bus, but I made it ALMOST to Pai before that terrible feeling hit me. The sweet little Thai woman next to me had a bag on her and I started geturing like crazy to ask for it. She immediately knew what was up and went into mother-mode to give me the bag and some water and asked if i needed medicine. Such a wonderful woman. I am legitimately sorry she had to deal with sitting next to me and the smell of sick in a bag for the next 30 minutes. Horrifying. But, I did make it to Pai and could not be more glad that I did.
Upon making it into Pai I set up at my hostel and spent the first few days wandering around with some friends I'd met on the bus up. Then, after they left to head back to Chiang Mai, I finally took some time to get to know the people hanging at the hostel. Including two awesome Dutch girls who ended up being good friends during my time there.
The two lovely Dutch girls and I took a day and drove around Pai to see a waterfall you were able to slide down and this Chiense village place. Both were underwhelming...but nice views...and heyo motorbikes!
Sucky waterfall...okay it's not THAT terrible. But it also wasn't super exciting. The views at the China town place were beautiful, but that's about what it had going for it. It was strange.
Also, (since i'm sure my mother is wondering by now) riding a scooter actually wasn't nearly as ridiculously deadly as i thought it might be, though ther WAS an incident with a wall and a flower garden. But I did a pretty magnificent recovery and saved it from being a hilariously awkward pause in our journey.
The girls and I did a cooking class at Red Orchid the next day and it was BRILLIANT. But, unfortunately the woman in charge was a bit rushed dut to a doctor's appointment in Chiang Mai, leaving us to do ALL this cooking in only 3 hours. But, 15 dishes later.....can't say we were sad about it. Although our stomachs were NOT about to try and finish all that.
Every night in Pai there is a market with delicious food, cute little shops and an over the top amount of scooters trying to make their way through town. But, it's always worth the venture, and really, why would you go anywhere else for dinner?
A few of the gents at the hostel were super talented and had a few gigs at a local bar. Let the musical fun ensue....
A few guys and I headed up to this giant Buddha at the top of the hill on my last day in Pai. The pictures don't do it justice, but honestly, in the mist it was stunning. From afar it blended in perfectly with the clouds to the point that (given that we didn't take directions) we found it a little difficult to find it at first.
At the beginning of my time in Thailand I was planning to be in Pai about 3 days. Instead, I was there for a week. And it would have been more if I hadn't promised to see the Lantern Festival. This place and these people just completely envelop you in the best way possible. That is to say, I bought a bus ticket that I ended up not using because I got convinced to stay longer an hour before I left. (Not that it took all that much). It's cool. I eventually got to Chiang Mai.=]
Overall, Pai was briliant. But the main reason for that are the insanely wonderful people at our hostel, Common Grounds. Such a relaxed place, it legitimately felt like a family with people getting up grbbing breakfast, playing cards and generally having a routine to the days. If it weren't for these crazy people I can't honestly say i'd have stayed as long as I did.
Chiang Mai
Loy Krathong: Lantern Festival
Alright, so I have to tell you a story about te first time I lit a lantern for Loy Krathong. We were standing on a bridge amongst hundreds of other people attempting to sneed off their lanterns. No one was sure where to stand in order to have enough space to let it off. And then, out of nowhere a spot opened up! We jumped at the chance and ran across to the other side of the bridge and immediately began the process of lighting and sending off our lantern. A crowd gathered as we waited for the center to burn enough to sustain the lantern to the air. When it finally was ready we let it go with enthusiasm and smiles went all around. Just one problem. We didn't pay attention to where the wind was heading. And amidst gasps and laughter from the crowd (and ourselves) we watched our poor lantern struggle to make its way around the wrought iron bars of the bridge to the others side. With each piece of freedom it gained it would get caught anew until I was sure it wouldn't mke it all the way. Luckily, at the last moment the little (actually rather large) lantern made it to the glowing sky above and laughter and cheers erupted from our littel crowd. The moral of the story is pay attention. there might be a REASON no one is letting off lanterns on that side of the bridge.
Tiger Kingdom is exactly what it sounds like. A place where there are loads of tigers to go see. And so Me, this Austrian guy and another American girl all headed into our chosen cages (small and big) and enjoyed! Side note. The videos below....these are of the SMALL tigers. Yeah. Our thoughts exactly.
we didn't pay to play with the babies...but LOOK AT THEM! AHHHH!=]
That evening the crew all went for a wander to a night market to grab some food and hangout before heading our separate ways. And look! I found more lanterns!=] Plus i rode in a Tuk-Tuk (basically a motorbike with a backseat attached) on my way to the airport cause.....why not?
Chiang Mai was an awesome place and I feel like I haven't even scratced the surface of it yet. Can't wait to go back again! But as I write this I'm sitting in the airport waiting to check in for my flight. In about 22 hours i'll be in Middle Earth. Can't WAIT to see what adventures Gandalf....I mean God has in store.
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