It was a third time in Chiang Mai and it started to feel a lot like home and Chiang Mai treated us like it we were home. I woke up early with plans to take a cooking class but was inconvenienced by a parking ticket on my motorbike.

The ticket was accompanied by a chain which ruined my plan of ignoring it. Apparently the perfectly nice spot we parked our bikes during the day was not a spot to store a bike overnight. Luckily a trip to the traffic station and a reasonable fine freed our bikes.

After unlocking our bikes an aimless ride brought us to a waterfall. While exploring we stumbled upon an American studying in Thailand. He told us if we kept riding we would reach Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, one of the holiest temples in Thailand. Legend claims a white elephant carrying a relic to Buddha trumpeted three times and dropped dead at the temple site. The ride to the temple brought us winding up a mountain. We took a few scenic stops to look down on the city of Chiang Mai.

After riding to the top and climbing 306 steps we had made it.

The view from the temple was spectacular.

Everywhere in Thailand we had seen advertisements for local Muy Thai fights. We bought tickets on the street and were ushered down a alley. The alley opened up to a boxing ring sorrounded by bars. It felt like some sort of underground boxing ring but it was legitimate for Thailand, I think.

Two middle school aged kids entered the ring for the first fight. It was a little unsettling to see how young they were but I was in no position to stop them. One of the fighters had a prefight ritual/taunt which included a bunch of choreographed moves ending with a look over his shoulder and head nod at his opponent. The taunts weren’t enough to intimidate his opponents. A kick to the chest sent him down and ended the fight.

As the night went on the fighters got bigger and the punches and kicks got harder. It was clear there was a lot of respect between the fighters. After each knockout they were genuinely considered and checked to see if their opponent was alright.

Sometime during our stay in Chiang Mai we had decided we were going to Malaysia. Tickets were purchased for Kuala Lumpar the capital city. We didn’t know much about Malaysia or previously have plans to visit it but the best way to learn is through experience.

Learning from our previous mishap we left our Treehouse Penthouse with enough time to avoid another night ride. We returned to Chiang Mai and stayed in the hotel from our last visit to the city. A lazy night was interrupted by a crash. Eric had managed to break the faucet and a strong stream of water was shooting into the bathroom. The one on duty member of the hotel staff entered the room but wasn’t phased by the growing water level. Eric, Tyler and I held a towel against the hole to prevent the room from becoming an aquarium. Eventually another member of the hotel staff arrived in her car to shut the water supply off. We finished the night in a different room.

The next day Eric took off to Bangkok to start his trip home. Tyler and I began our two day ride to the Laos border. We spent our first day in Chiang Rai, a city where we were one of the few travelers. After resting from our 5 hour ride we roamed the streets of the Sunday market. In the center of the market a band played slow traditional sounding songs while a large group of locals danced in a circle. Some attempted to coax us into joining the dance but we didn’t want to show then up.

There was also this cool clock tower in Chaing Rai.

The next day we made it to the Friendship Bridge IV which connects Chiang Khong, Thailand with Ban Houayxay, Laos. A confusing interaction with the border portal resulted in us being denied entrance. It seemed the shop we had purchased the bikes at hadn’t transfered the title into our names.

We checked into a hotel in order to think about what do to next. Some Internet research seemed to show that although the bikes were not in our name the owner had given us permission to use them. The next day we walked into every official looking building to ask if crossing the border was viable. The first person we talked to gave us some official looking stamps and sent us to the dock to cross by ferry. The workers at the ferry said it was impossible to cross with our bikes. An immagration office in town said that we were fine we just needed to cross at the bridge.

Two of the three places we went to said we should be able to cross so we decided to give the bridge abother try. Our hope was the stamps would be the magic ticket.

The border agents were not as impressed in our stamps as we were. The denied us and weren’t pleased to see us again without the proper paperwork. Our plan of biking through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia had hit a significant roadblock. We decided to drive back to Chaing Mai and reevaluate our plan.

It seemed everyone we talked to told us to go to Pai, a town 200 km north of Chaing Mai. We had no problem finding time in our nonexistent itenerary for a trip to this mystical traveler’s paradise. Tyler and I planned on making our first big motorbike ride while Eric would travel by bus.

We snaked our way through the mountains on 110cc engines with regular stops to enjoy the view.

These scenic breaks eventually caught up to us and it became a race against sunlight. The impending darkness distracted us from our gas gauges which were dangerously approaching empty. As interesting as a blog post about being stranded for a night in the Thai mountains would have been I much prefer blogging about the possibility of being stranded in the Thai mountains. Thankfully a shack on the side of the road was selling gasoline in used rum bottles. This was enough to finish our trip and we made it to Darling’s Guesthouse after a short period of riding in the dark.

We christened our new home the Treehouse Penthouse. Much of our time in Pai was spent lounging on our balcony gazing off into the heart of Pai.

Aside from the time we spent in the Treehouse Penthouse we took trips to the Pai Canyon,

and a local waterfall.

On our return from the waterfall we veared off into the countryside and ran into a heard off oxen.

We had a short standoff and learned they were waiting for us to pass and not preparing to charge.

Someone must have failed to mention it was no longer 1970 in Pai because the hippy spirit was very much alive.

After 3 days of living the Pai life we returned to Chiang Mai to begin our motorbike trip East.

We had enough of paradise and were ready to explore a new region. A two hour flight brought us to Chiang Mai, a city in the northern mountains of Thailand. Smaller then Bangkok but large enough to keep us entertained for the next couple of days.

When we arrived our knowledge on Chiang Mai didn’t extend far from the above paragraph. We might have lacked knowledge and preparation but our Lonely Planet guidebook was now relevant. The book included information on Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Northern Thailand. The past week we made it by WiFi hopping.

We put our guidebook to the test by taking a taxi to a hotel described as “A jungle-like garden and budget rooms in old-fashion houses”. An accurate description of the place. Feeling confident in our new guidebook we followed directions to a bar called John’s place.

We ordered a tower of beer on the roof top patio and reflected on how much we had seen in a week. After a televised Muay Thai fight and our best attempts at talking to a pair of French girls we were off. The next stop on our Lonely Planet guidebook tour of Chiang Mai was Zoes. The bar had a dance floor  where Julia was able to get in some of her patented moves.

I found myself separated from the group and called for a Tuk Tuk to take me back to the hotel. Tuk Tuks are small three wheeled taxis notorious for ripping foreigners off. This Tuk Tuk driver was no different. He decided I wasn’t ready to go back to the hotel and brought me to a night club. I thanked the driver for driving out of his way but insisted I wanted to return to my hotel. I made it back to the hotel successfully evading the Tuk Tuk scam. Tomorrow we have plans to check out a National Park close by.

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We didn’t venture far from our resort all day but there wasn’t a need to with this in our backyard.

We spent the day climbing rocks, eating food and practicing our Muay Thai

We were forced to leave our resort for dinner. An enthusastic waitress pleaded with me to try her mojito. She unintentionally ruined mojitos for me. It will be hard to find another mojito on the same level as that one. It wasn’t a drink I ordered before and now I’ll just be dissapointed if it’s made by someone else.

It was nice to spend a relaxing day in paradise. Tomorrow we fly to Chaing Mai a city in Northern Thailand.

We retreated from the commotion of Koh Phangan with an hour ferry to the island of Koh Samui. A taxi from the dock brought us to Lamai beach where our driver pointed us in the direction of a cheap hotel. At first we were hesitant to pay double our typical price but it was a worthy investment. Two nights lounging on the beach and sleeping with air conditioning was a necessary change of pace.

The stretch of beach outside our resort severally lacked the attention it deserved but that didn’t bother us.

Tyler and I rented motorbikes from a local restaurant. Or maybe we ate lunch at a local motorbike rental agency? Either way we had motorbikes and took off to see the Big Buddha; a large golden shrine to Buddha which can be seen from across the island.

After giving elightenment a try we headed back towards our resorts and followed signs to “Waterfall 2”. A quick dip at the base of the waterfalled cooled us off.

We continued to splurge on an Italian restaurant. The meal was given a Thai twist thanks to a short power outage but we continued to eat by smartphone light. The first day in Koh Samui finished with us looking out at the moonlight water with the entire beach to ourselves. After four days of the foot on the gas it was nice to have the next few days to relax.

Click the blue link below to view pictures from
Koh Phagan 6/1-6/4

The success of the Jungle Party was paid for with a late start to the day. Pad Thai and mango smoothies at a local restaurant rejuvenated us. After the meal we hopped on our motorbikes and rode off with no destination in mind. Several uneducated turns later we found ourselves at a beach with white sand and a breathtaking view.

Luck played no part in this. It’s difficult not to stumble into places like this in Thailand.

We drove away from the beach knowing there would be more chance encounters with similar places.

Once we returned to the hotel we began the Prefull Moon Party ritual with a nap. After awakening we donned the traditional neon body pain and drank from the ceremonial bucket. When the moon peaked upon the night sky we were ready.

It’s difficult for me to find the words to describe the full moon party. But the 10 second video below can be used to extrapolate the rest of the night.

 
We watched most of the madness from the sideline. The past 3 days of travel has really taken its toll. From Koh Phangan we leave for the island of Koh Samui. A more relaxed island lacking fire limboing travelers.

Our trip from Bangkok to Koh Phangan included a flight, bus ride and ferry. During the trip we encountered travelers from all over making the same pilgrimage. We shared a meal in the airport with a recent California graduate working in Thailand with a nonprofit. It just so happened he was sitting next to Tyler and I on the plane. After exchanging stories from fraternity life at school John was a part of the group.

While on the bus to the ferry I caught a glimpse of the Donsak shoreline and instinctively let out an “Oh wow!”

The views during the ferry were equally as impressive.

The island welcomed us with “taxi” “taxi” taxi” being called. We found a suitable taxi and jumped in. But quickly left after a map indicated our resort was only 1km away. The taxi driver pleaded with us to stay but we decided to walk.

A 30 minute walk with a few stops to ask for directions brought us to our home for the next three nights.

The hotel offered motorbikes to rent. With motorbikes being such a large part of Thai culture it seemed like the authentic way to experience the island. We took our bikes to a Mexican restaurant which brought us back to neutral on our Thai culture scale. Our English waitress at the Mexican restaurant on an island in Thailand gave us insider information about a jungle party.

Exhausted from our travels we all decided to get some sleep before the party. We came close to sleeping through it but Julia made sure we were all awake.

The jungle party lived up to its name. We treaded through the jungle with a flashlight and fellow jungle partiers. The sound of electronic music guided us as we made our way deeper into the jungle. We reached a clearing flooded with light and a pulsing beat. We had made it to the jungle party.

We paid the entrance fee and entered the party. The night was spent dancing, meeting new people and watching fire dancers.

We finished the night eating burgers and watching the sunrise.