Before grabbing the overnight bus 800km north to Chiang Mai, I managed to mow down on more pad thai and some more sights in Bangkok. Couple of markets selling everything under the sun from shoes, knives, jewelery and deep friend banana to t-shirts, brass knuckles and miniature Buddhas.Looking to try a different mode of transportation, I paid a man $1.50 to give me a ride on the back of his scooter to Wat Pho temple near the Grand Palace, home of the worlds largest reclining Buddha.
So theres an elderly Buddhist Monk and a young adventurous Canadian sitting on a bus together and the monk says " ", nothing........
After spending a night sleeping beside a Monk (Bet you've never said that before?) and driving through some of the residual flooding in northern Bangkok, I was in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, just in time for the sun to come back up.
Where to next Mr. Lonely Planet book? An hour long walk through Chiang Mai to Julies Guesthouse inside the city square surrounded by a moat and some crumbling castle walls. I keep getting lucky on these spontanteous decisions. The guesthouse was cheap and fantastic. $2.50 per night with great food and cold beer, as well as an excellent tour agency.
Want to rent a scooter for a day? Just tell the happy go lucky staff at reception and they will have one delivered directly to you for $3 per day. Out of the city and up Doi Suthep mountain I go....The perfectly smooth, insanely curvy and remarkably fun road winding 1676 metres up the mountain are a motorcycle enthusiasts dream come true. The GoPro footage can prove that..
Pit stop at 2 waterfalls and a fraction of a gas tank later, I was near the top where the very popular Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Buddhist temple is located.
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| At Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep |
Continued a bit farther up to the peak, for another breath-taking view nearly in the clouds, then it was back down the windy mountain to see how fast I could get the 125cc Honda Click scooter purring! (hit 90km/h before the holy-shit-this-is-too-fast-to-be-going-on-a-scooter-and-there-is-a-corner-comming-up governor kicked in and I grabbed some brakes)
Chiang Mai has a really cool Night Bazarre that goes from 7-Midnight every night downtown, in which you can again, buy anything under the
Calvin Klein boxers : $2.50
5 pairs of Oakley sunglasses: $3/pc
Hangover 2 DVD to watch before going back to Bangkok: $1
Tanktops: $3/pc
Burberry belt: $13
Red Sox fitted cap: $10
Deep fried crickets: $0.80
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| Sammys Organic Cooking School |
Not sure how I forgot to include this this entire day, but another reason I chose to go north instead of the beaches to the south was the unique cultural classes and experiences available around Chiang Mai. I signed up for an organic Thai cooking course, to maybe learn a skill to bring back home aside from just pictures and the odd story.
A Belgian couple and myself got picked up and we took a truck 45mins out of town to Sammy's Organic Cooking farm for some Thai cooking lessons. Sammy's recipes were truly organic, picking ingredients right from the plants behind our table and the garden around us.
Menu for the day:
Green Curry with Chicken - Extremely good, such a unique taste, but a lot of effort to make
Hot and Sour Prawn Soup - Meh....
Pad Thai - Quite honeslty the best I've ever had, and I made it?
Deep Fried Vegtable Spring Rolls - They look as good as they taste
Mango with Sticky Rice - I've never considered rice as a desert, but mixed with sweet coconut milk and sugar, and the mango.. Oh so good
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