Chiang Mai – Part I

Day 8:

Mirco and I became travel buddies when we decided to take the charter bus (similar concept to Greyhound in Canada) North to Chiang Mai.

The 5.5-hour drive was bearable thanks to audio books, good company and toilet stops along the way.

A note to Canadians: when abroad, try to use the term “toilet” instead of our common “washroom”.  With the latter, you’ll be meant with many confused looks.

Here’s a little background on Chiang Mai: it was once the capital of the Lanna Kingdom, one of three kingdoms that make up present-day Thailand.  The “Old City” is the original settlement and is an almost perfect square enclosed by a moat and the ruins of an ancient wall.  Now, a busy road sandwiches the moat and is always occupied by hordes of motorbikes (i.e., scooters). The hostel that I was living in, Nature’s Way, is situated within the walls of the Old City, which is very convenient for city exploration.

Upon arrival, we discovered that the Saturday Night Market is the place to be in Chiang Mai for street food, souvenirs ( I didn’t buy any – I’ve got no extra space in my pack).

Afterwards, young Thai and foreigners alike head to Zoe’s in Yellow for drinks, dancing and good time.  Be prepared – the party ends early in Chiang Mai, with about 20 police officers to help the bar shut down precisely at 12:00 am.

No worries.  I went back to the hostel and met a great group of solo travellers: Nathan and Tamara from the UK and Cy from Malaysia.

Day 9

Around the corner from Nature’s Way is Coffee Bar, where you can et the “strongest and freshest mountain coffee in Chiang Mai”. It sounded promising.  There, I was told by a local businesswoman to take a trip out to the Mae Sa valley, North of Chiang Mai.  Sounds like a plan!

Wasting no time, I rented a motorcycle (a Honda MSX 125, 4-speed) and took off up Highway 17 to Mae Rim, then West on Highway 1096, and into the Mae Sa valley.

Traveller tip: Get the app called “maps.me”.  Simply download the map of your country of interest and you have access to interactive map that can be used OFFLINE.  Amazing.

First stop:  Mae Sa waterfall – it’s a lesser-known park that is frequented by local Thais on day-trips.

Second stop: Maesa Elephant Camp. This is a camp for retired elephants – once they are no longer used for hauling logs and giving rides to tourists, the elephants take refuge here.  They are bathed, fed and taken for walks, but no longer give rides to humans.  Here, I met Mimmae, a 45-year old beauty that really loves bananas!  I was also guided through the elephant cemetery, where some elephants, who lived until they were in their 90s, are buried.

The ride down the 1096 offers spectacular views of terraced farms in golden valleys.  On a bike, I was able to take my time and stop often along the winding road.

Back in Chiang Mai, Mirco and I met at our regular meeting point, “the traffic light” at the corner of Rajvithi and Prapokklao.

From there, we got delicious street food at the bustling Sunday Night Market.  Here, something amazing happened: in the jam-packed street, I can face-to-face with Rob Sanderson, a fellow organic chemistry TA at Dalhousie!  For the records: we had no idea they we were both in Thailand.  After the market, Mirco and I got Thai massages at Lila’s, which was a professional salon them employs ex-prisoners from the Chiang Mai Women’s Correctional Institute.

At night, we met back up with Rob at Zoe’s to light up the dance floor.

Day 10

Day-trip to the Chiang Mai Grand Canyon – A great place to swim and cliff-jump on a hot day.

Day 11

Rented a Honda Wave (125 cc, semi-automatic) motorbike to take me up the mountain to Wat Doi Suthep, a temple that overlooks Chiang Mai from above.  The story: the location of the temple was selected by an elephant that traversed the mountain, carrying relics on it’s back.

Traveller tip:  Get to the Wat EARLY. This is a tourist hot-spot and you don’t want to be battling the crowds that take away from the serenity.

After a lunch of Pad Thai, I said farewell to Mirco, who was destined for Singapore, before his return to Germany.

There’s no better way to see the temples within Chiang Mai that on a rickety old cruiser bicycle, which can be rented for 50 baht for 24 hours.  At Wat Chedi Luang, one of the largest temples in Old City, I met Toon, a young (i.e., 24 years old, like me!) monk.  His English was much better than my Thai, but I did my best to keep up as we struggled to hold a conversation, laughing the whole time.  Toon took me into the museum and led me through the history of Buddhism in Chiang Mai, which is tightly linked to the political history.

Thai word-of-the-day: Chang = elephant

After my Thai history lesson, I biked over to Toon’s first temple of study: Wat Phra Sing.

Day 12

I made a great purchase this morning: peanut butter!  This was exciting because PB isn’t very popular in Thailand and it isn’t trivial to find.  It was expensive but worth-it when paired with tiny, fresh Thai bananas for breakfast.  🙂

Bike ride to Huay Kaew falls: Uphill and sweat-inducing, but satisfying.  The falls are secluded and beautiful.    Make the trip up the smooth rocks (carefully!) and you find a rock ledge that is shaped as a perfect lounge chair (it rivals a Muskoka chair).  Here, I just sat alone, listening to the gurgling water in front of me until I was joined by Alanna, a solo traveller from Kentucky.

In the evening, I renewed my bike rental and went across the city to Wat Suan Dok for Monk Chat.  This is a free opportunity for foreigners to speak with monks.  Here, I met a young monk (I unfortnately forgot his name) who explained to me his path to becoming a monk and the 171 rules that he lives his life by.  This was a great experience and I was able to share my faith and my education with him.

Day 13

I still have the bicycle, so I went North of the city walls to see Chang Kuang, or the “White Elephants”.  These are two stucco monuments that commemorate two soldiers that saved King Rama in a past battle.  The original monuments were built by the King at gates to the city walls and no longer remain.

Today is the day that I first met Anna, an adventurous world-traveler from South Korea, at Nature’s Way.

At Zoe’s tonight, I met Oil, a local Thai woman.  We quickly became friends and she showed me where Thais get late-night snacks.  Although it wasn’t poutine, the fried pork and morning glory were still pretty good.

… Now that’s a summary of my first stay in Chiang Mai.  Stay with me as I venture into the Thai jungle!