Thailand : Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pai

After 8 years I was back in Bangkok, staying on the same part of the Phra-Arthit road as before, by coincidence or otherwise. This is just around the corner from the famous Khao San Road, backpacker central. Just like 8 years ago, when I arrived I hated it. The heat, the neon signs, the sheer number of tourists, mostly overweight fifty something men with bad tattoos and beer bellies.

After getting my fix of Pad Thai from the street stalls, I did a bit of research for alternative things to do in Bangkok and found the perfect antidote, Van Kessel bicycle tours.

The next day I fell back in love with Thailand, just like last time. After India, Thailand seems clean and orderly. Even the traffic seems calm and there are no honking horns… 🤔

At 6am I got up and caught a taxi to th Riverside area. Started by a Dutch guy who now has a shrine where he is buried at a Buddhist temple, the morning cycle trip took a small group of us down tiny back alleys, so narrow we could barely squeeze our bikes through. What a lovely way to catch a glimpse of the real Bangkok. We rode past gorgeous white villas, past washing hanging on makeshift lines in the alleys, past women sitting on the floor sorting huge piles of red chillies and men preparing their food stalls. And through a school, just as the children were beginning their morning singsong.

We visited the biggest seated Buddha in Bangkok at 16m (it looks fancy but it’s actually concrete painted gold), at a joint Thai and Chinese temple and I finally learned the difference between Thai and Chinese Buddhism.

I also learned that the fat Laughing Buddha is the Chinese God of Happiness, something I’ve pondered since Sri Lanka. Most fun was having a go at ringing the huge bell although also enroute was the first Christian Church and a lovely rest stop in a park whilst some locals were focused on their thai chi. I also go to try a new local snack – sweet potato balls and mangosteen fruit.

I finished off the perfect day in Bangkok with veggie pad Thai at my favourite street stall and an afternoon doing some much needed admin with a good cup of coffee – Bangkok I love you again ❤️

Still, two days in Bangkok is enough, so I hopped on an overnight train, heading north to Chiang Mai. Even though I had to take the old train (obviously I failed to book early enough to get a spot on the shiny new express) my 2nd class sleeper berth was luxury compared to the Indian trains. Although it did cost 20 times the price. I was welcomed on board by a lovely attendent and offered a choice for dinner – although I’d packed enough snacks for a week, who can resist late night spring rolls served in bed?! Security staff were going up and down checking that we were in our seats and the attendant made up our beds at 8pm – in stark contrast to India where every time I got on a night train there was somebody already tucked up in my bed 🙄

Chiang Mai is a lovely, real city. The old town is enclosed by the city walls – I stayed for almost a week in total, just outside the walls, in a cute little guesthouse opposite a garden cafe and a few minutes walk from an amazing street food market that is open every evening. I found a vegetarian stall that was so good I returned every day and got to know the friendly people running it.

I continued my new yoga habit with some morning classes including one run by a very cool lady who also teaches vegan cooking – right up my street 😎 As well as learning to make green curry, papaya salad, fried rice, a vegan version of local dish Khao Soi and mango sticky rice, and eating each course, I made friends with Julia from Germany. Before indulging in Thai massages, Julia showed me a tattoo shop with beautiful Sak Yant designs (traditional bamboo stick tattoos done by hand) where an ex monk performs ceremonies to bless your new art work…. More on that later!

Chiang Mai has hundreds of temples, literally on each corner – below are just a few photos from visiting the biggest ones.

https://videos.files.wordpress.com/M4xHUFAu/img_4776.mov

After a few days I took a minibus even further north towards the Myanmar border to the tiny town of Pai, a hippy hangout since the 1970s. The road to Pai has over 700 bends – one girl I met told me everyone on her bus was sick. Luckily I like hairpin bends so I enjoyed the ride. Pai is a one horse town where guesthouses outnumber actual houses and it’s definitely tourist central. Good for some western food and really easy to make friends as everyone goes to Walking Street in the evenings, it was nice enough for a few days. I found myself hanging out with a group of 18-21 year olds who were fascinated at how old I actually am 😂 I didn’t trust myself to hire a scooter, or the other drivers on the road (no driving license required here!) so I took a day trip instead to see the sights. The scenery is beautiful… Highlight was the ‘land split’, where the earth opened up one day and the people who live there have turned it into an organic fruit farm and attraction where they provide exotic fruit juices and banana chips for a donation. For the real beauty you’d have to visit in the rainy season as it’s all pretty dry right now.

Video of the Pai Veggie Pad Thai master!

There are only so many backpackers I can handle so after three days of yoga, food and 18 year olds I headed back on the windy road to Chiang Mai as I had decided to pick up a group trip into Myanmar, conveniently leaving from this very town. There was just time for one more yoga class with a 69 year old teacher known as ‘mama’, clad in leopard print skinny jeans and dreadlocks down to her waist. That’s inspiration!

There was also time to participate in ‘Monk Chat’, a lovely way for novice monks to learn English and visitors to learn about Buddhism. Some extremely cute 15 year old novices asked me questions from their crib sheets (‘do you like spicy food?’) and with the help of their teacher told me how they are at monk school where the rules are less strict and they are free to leave after graduating. 90% do leave, although some do return later on. I really enjoyed the chat before they had to go for lunch, and shyly asked me for a photo (keeping their distance as they are not allowed to touch a female nor directly pass her any objects, which made filling in their questionnaire a bit difficult!).

Last of all of course I returned to the Magic Sak Yant tattoo shop and decided on my design 🙈 When in Thailand, it just has to be done even if it is a bit of a cliché! However, the actual monks in the temples, where this method originated, cannot tattoo a woman. Luckily an ex-monk has no problem – it only took ten minutes and wasn’t even painful, if you don’t mind being poked with a sharp stick over and over 😂

And that concludes my second visit to Thailand. It is still the land of smiles and I’m sure I’ll be back again if only to eat the food 😎 Next stop, Myanmar….