Chiang Mai, Thailand

Ah-ha! Didn't think you'd hear from me so soon again, now did ya? Hopefully I can post short little blurbs about all the cities a little faster now that I've gotten the ball rolling, you're welcome Ali Paul, this is mostly for you.

May 4th (HBD Dad & Olivia Manning):

Once we got to Chiang Mai at 7am we hopped on a red cab to the city center. We were really bad at planning things at the beginning of this trip, so once we got to the city we did the most American thing and went to a Starbucks for breaky and to use WiFi to find our next hostel. We picked Le Lighthouse & hostel it definitely was not party-backpackers vibes. But to be fair, we were exhausted from the overnight train, Harrison had been losing a battle to travelers diarrhea, and we were still letting go of the idea of getting his bag back. After we showered we decided to explore the town by foot and just walked around aimlessly stopping in temples, window shopping, and endlessly searching for some cold Chang’s. 

May 5th:

Le lighthouse helped us book a cooking class through Asia Scenic and Harrison and I LOVED IT.  They take you out to the local market and show you all the main ingredients for Thai cooking, then they take you out to a small farm where they show you the Thai herbs and plants used. Then you cook, then eat, then cook, then eat, then cook ,and then eat again. It was fun and they give you a recipe book after so that you can make the dishes at home!

Khao Soi... OMG SO GOOD

Papaya Salad & Egg Rolls

May 6th:

We stayed at that Le Light for 2 nights and didn’t meet anyone so we decided to try to go to Stamps backpackers because the reviews said it was good for meeting people and Brandon Wick (a friend from OSU) also said they stayed there while they were in Chiang Mai. They ended up not having any available bunks, so they directed us to the Double Lucky Hostel around the corner. There were hardly any people there but the lady who runs the place was so nice. She does everything, making smoothies out in front of the hostel, help organize excursions, buys bus and train tickets, makes your complementary breakfast to order, cleaning the room with the other girl who cleans. The work ethic here is amazing. 

After we dropped off our stuff we went across the street and rented a scooter bike ($3.15USD each) and Harrison drove us up the mountain to the Bhubing Royal Palace. Which is the part time residence of the Royals from January-March. It was filled with interesting houses for each of the prince and princesses and lots and lots of gardens and gorgeous flowers. It reminded me of the types of places that my grandma liked to go to.

We had lunch  ($5.67USD total for two people) at one of the restaurants outside the palace and then we rode back down to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep which was a huge temple covered in gold and detailed paint and it’s totally the type of place my mom would love. It also had a nice overlooking view of Chiang Mai.

After the temple we stopped at the Mae Sa waterfall ($6.93 entrance fee for 2 people & motorbike fee) it was pretty underwhelming compared to the PNW but it was cool to see the locals cooling off in the water. We dipped our toes in and headed back down the mountain.

As we got ready to head to the Sunday night market on Chang Klan Road two German doctors came into our hostel room and we started chatting them up. They are on this trip before they start their residency and they came with us to look at the market and get some food before passing out after a long day of traveling.

May 7th:

The next day we rented a motorbike again and drove higher up on Doi Suthep mountain.  On the way to a tiny Hmong village, we saw a coffee shop on the side of the road with a killer view. We stopped and had a beer and a Thai lemon tea with some nori flavored potato chips. 

After soaking up the view we continued down this bumpy road to the village. We stopped to have lunch and the first two songs that played after we sat down were JUSTIN BIEBER songs. I was sold on the place before we even looked at the menu.

Then we went to a viewpoint and then rode all the way down back to our hostel. A different German traveller was in our room when we got back and said that he went to a night market that had the famous lady in the cowboy hat. Apparently she’s famous for really tender pork legs that Anthony Bourdain raved about. I think I might get some crap for this, but TBH we thought it was good but not out of this world amazing. I feel like my parents make thit kho that tastes just like it. To each their own!

We also hit up the Oasis rooftop bar and I had a DELICIOUS passion fruit vodka cocktail. On our way back to the hostel we stopped in a bar that had a bunch of expats playing pool at for a couple hours. We played connect four, I had margaritas, and just chatted.

May 8th:

On our last day in Chiang Mai we went to see ELEPHANTS! We went to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary and we got to help feed them bananas and stalks of corn, we had a mud bath with them, then we went to the stream to wash them off, and had lunch! It was a perfect half day event and we had sooo much fun.

We were slightly disappointed because we didn’t have any baby elephants at our camp, they’re expecting in 6 months. But there was a 5-6 year old that was cute enough! This program was really awesome because at the end of it all they thanked us for coming and they promoted other elephant sanctuary’s that let the gentle giants roam free and don’t let you ride them. They really just care about elephants and they don’t care about telling you to promote them they just want safe and happy elephants everywhere. The only thing that sucked was the truck ride in horrible heat for an hour. But we got to meet some really cool people from San Francisco, Chicago, Florida, and LA on our ride. Shouts out Will & Jess!

In a nut shell, I think Harrison and I were still getting used to the whole backpacking routine, he was feeling sick the whole time we were there, we hadn't been in the best hostels to be social, and we were slow about booking activities so we stayed in Chiang Mai wayyy longer than needed. While the city was awesome, in hindsight I wish we spent less time there so we could have saved the days for cooler cities. Bye-bye Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai!

Next stop: Pai, Thailand