Wayyy up North

After Sukhothai, I caught the bus up to Chiang Mai to spend 10 days exploring the North! I arrived and headed to stay with a DOC acquaintance and found her accommodation to be very comfortable and very relaxing! It’s so nice and exciting to have DOC contacts all over the globe, because you never know what cool things could happen or what kind of people you’ll meet!

Anyways, back to Chiang Mai and the surrounding areas…

So I arrived on the 9^th, and having some time to kill before all the festivities started so I met up with Marie and Emilie again for some adventures!

We took a whole day and went to Chiang Rai- about 3 hours North of Chiang Mai. Once there we visited the famous White Temple. There really are no words to describe this amazing structure. It’s entirely white and so detailed that you don’t know where to look or what to focus on! It’s set up so that you start in “hell”, a super creepy expanse of body parts and demons leading up to a bridge. Once you cross the bridge, you get to heaven, where angels and less demonic figures live. Then inside the temple is a sci-fi overload of… weird pictures. The artist of the White Temple intended it to be like the Mecca of Thailand- a place where Buddhists would make pilgrimages to in order to worship and pray. It was very interesting but so beautiful and mesmerizing!

(The White Temple)

We also visited some hill tribes in the northern mountains and hung out at the Golden Triangle for a while. The Golden triangle is the points where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma) intersect. So I never set foot on these countries, but I got to see them all!

(Hanging out at the Golden Triangle)

Our big adventure was to Doi Inthanon National Park. Well we took the scenic route to get there, which translates to us arriving at the park 5 HOURS LATER! Along the way we stopped to hang out at a river, saw some elephants, and saw some beautiful views from the mountains!

Once you get high enough, the smog from the fires and the pollution dissipates and you can actually see the bonnie blue sky! We made it up to the Highest Point in Thailand and took some selfies to document the event! We also went and explored the gardens and pagodas and it was stunning! It was also about 65 degrees F on top of the mountain… the coldest temp I have experienced in 7 months! I had goose bumps! Well heading back down the mountain, we took an alternate route and arrived back in the city only a mere two hours later!

(One of The Royal Pagodas in Doi Inthanon National Park)

We also went to the Grand Canyon and worked on our cliff jumping skills! It was really cool to hang out in a canyon, jumping and swimming, and just enjoying the cool water on such a hot hot day!

(The Grand Canyon)

I went to this city mainly to hang out and experience Songkran. This is the Buddhist New Year and is quite the event! It “unofficially” started on the 12^th and concluded on the 15^th. Essentially the whole city turns into a water park during the day. People are driving around and throwing buckets of water on you, shooting water from squirt guns, and it is utter mayhem! Driving around the old town, you couldn’t go ten feet without getting drenched by Thai holiday-goers and falang wanting to take part in the fun.

The 13^th of April was the first official day of Songkran and it also happened to be my birthday! J So what did I do? I went and hung out with some elephants at the Elephant Nature Park. This was such a neat experience! I learned all about how the park rescues and cares for the elephants and how the park is working towards educating other elephant parks and sanctuaries about proper elephant care. It was such an insightful day and I loved getting to experience elephants in their natural habitats. We fed, bathed, walked with, and watched as the elephants roamed around and played. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday!

(Cha Cha and I wishing you a happy Songkran!)

The rest of my time in Chiang Mai was spent hanging around the city, visiting more temples, checking out the many shops and stores and just enjoying my final days in Thailand.

I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my Thailand journey. I am so glad that I stayed to experience more of Thailand and it’s culture. I met some great people, tried so many new kinds of food, and generally enjoyed the laid back lifestyle that Thais enjoy. It was great to see more of this beautiful country and I am glad that I had friends all along the way to spend that time with. My Thailand journey is now over and after 7 long months full of trials and tribulations, I am glad to be home. I learned a lot about myself and about the world and I am so thankful to everyone along the way who helped me and cared for me.

(Wat Chedi Luang in the Old City)