Thailand and Laos Pt 2: Chiang Mai
Nick writes in Orange.
Luke writes in Blue.
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There’s this song called ‘Spain’ by Chick Corea. Go listen to it if you haven’t heard it. It’s a jam. Some regard this as one of the greatest jazz songs of all time. The P A N B O Y S regard it as one of the greatest songs of all time. The song takes a minute or so to pick up so, just play it in the background as you read.
I start by telling you this because one night in Chaing Mai, Nick and I went to a bar called “The North Gate Jazz Co-Op” and as fate would have it, we heard this legendary song there.
As soon as I recognized the song, I sprang up from my seat, and hit my head on the ceiling. The ceiling was only about 5 ft tall. We were on the 2nd story, seated in an enclosed balcony that overlooked the small stage. (Check the crappy snap video below.) The bottom floor was crammed with people seated in folding chairs in rows that faced the stage. Strange, but that’s Thailand.
My enthusiasm was contageous, and it caused the others to get up to dance. We danced semi-huntched over to avoid hitting our heads. We still hit our heads every once in a while and every time it happened, it was hilarious. Dancing and laughing; what a wonderful combo.
That moment was absolute magic. Too coincidental to be coincidence. So it was magic. Lets call it “Chaing Mai-gic”.
Chiang Mai-gic was also the reason we found our hostel, “Hug Hostel Rooftop Chiang Mai”.
We didn’t have a hostel in Chiang Mai booked until a day before we got there. This is something I’ve grown used to doing while traveling. I’ve found that asking travelers at the hostel for other hostel recommendations, works really well. They’re usually able to provide a first-hand review of the hostel atmosphere which is really important in my opinion. A guy in Koh Phi Phi recommended the “Hug Hostel Rooftop” in Chiang Mai. We booked it that afternoon on HostelWorld.com.
(S h o u t o u t t o h o s t e l w o r l d p l z s p o n s o r u s .)
The Hug Hostel was, hands down, my favorite hostel in Thailand, for many reasons. On the first full night at the hostel, Nick and I went up to the rooftop bar. Perfect timing for happy hour. 3 Chang Beers for 120 baht. Roughly $1.33 each. Not bad.
We took advantage of this deal.
Through the night, we made friends with many international folks. People kept showing up, and before we knew it, there were about a dozen of us sitting around sharing our travel stories and recommendations for Thailand. We also met “Tori”, from Canada, who had similar travel plans and decided to join us on our travels thru Laos.
As a group, we all decided to explore Chiang Mai’s night markets. (THANK YOU TORI FOR THE VID!)
The video features the night market from the next night, so spoiler: one of us eats a scorpion. Anyway, in these night markets, there are all sorts of food vendors. Some sold dumplings, others sausages, and it wouldn’t be Thailand without the multitudes of carts selling freshly made fruit smoothies. That night at the night market I almost passed up the best food deal on the entire trip. One buttered, grilled, corn-on-the-cobb for 10 baht (33 cents). It was sublime.
(NO PICS OF THE CORN I APOLOGIZE SINCERELY)
I can’t reiterate how good the corn was. For those that know me, I’m a real big corn guy, and damn, this was some dope ass corn. We almost missed it too, luckily my inability to pass up corn prevailed.
The next morning, Luke and I woke up at 5:30 AM to hang with elephants. Super ethical. Very friendly. The elephant trip was booked through the hostel. It was about $50 for a half day tour, which sounds expensive, but was actually a good deal considering how ethical their operation was and how highly reviewed it was. When we got there, we were introduced to the elephants, got to feed them, and went hiking with them.
I was surprised how good they were at climbing steep slopes.
After the hike, we were able to give them a mud bath, and then swam in a stream with them. 100% a super cool and recommended experience. Oh and lunch was also provided.
After elephants, we lounged in the afternoon and got laundry done through the hostel laundry service, which was affordable and convenient. Later, we went back to our favorite spot: the rooftop bar. That night though, the bar was 95% filled. I tried to squeeze in next to Nick, but I wasn’t feelin’ the claustrophobia vibes so I found another open seat next to two girls who also happened to be from the US. One of them was studying to be a chemical engineer, just like Nick and I.
That night, we crammed 13 of us into a tuk tuk. When we arrived at a different night market then the one from the previous night, it was like herding cats. Unable to keep everyone together, but it was fun. If all else, I could just appreciate the fact that I could sip a beer as we sauntered thru the muggy night.
That market wasn’t as large as previous nights, but I did eat a scorpion, which was something I wanted to do the whole time on this trip. It was cooked, but the front half was real dry and the back half was real squishy and bland. My recommendation would be to eat the whole thing in one bite. Otherwise you’re chewing the front part for a while, and it gets hard to swallow.
The next day, Nick and I hiked up to Wat Doi Suthep and Wat Pha Lat with our two new friends from the US, Anna and Alisha, and met our other new friend Alex from the UK up there as well. The hike up was strenuous, but beautiful. Wat Pha Lat is located about ⅔ up from the trailhead, nestled in the jungle below Wat Doi Suthep.
Wikipedia tells me that Wat Pha Lat was constructed as a memorial after one of the Emperor’s elephants died while constructing Wat Doi Suthep.
Wat Pha Lat was my favorite temple that we saw the entire trip. The ornateness combined with the natural overgrowth of plants and hanging vines created a really neat atmosphere.
The rest of the hike was a workout. Steep up-hill, but it was good to help work-off the beer from Koh Phi Phi. Really cool, and Wat Pha Lat was as cool as the pictures look.
I was not a huge fan of Wat Doi Suthep because there were a ton of people. I was probably because it was New Years Eve.
I liked the temple. It was very ornate and had a cool overlook of the city which is something I always try and find on my travels.
After Wat Doi Suthep, we had lunch together. Here’s a cute pic of us. It makes me smile. The food was also really good. I ate some sort of spicy vegetable dish.
The two Wats mentioned above are only 2 of 24 buddhist Wats in Chiang Mai. On the first full day, Nick and I walked the route shown below and saw more Wats than I could fit into google maps. (It was at least 11 Wats including the 2 above.) I dont want to mislead you to think we walked to all of these wats on the same day, but it works best to mention it now.
More slideshows of Chiang Mai Wats. Photos a mix of from Nick and Luke
After Wat Doi Suthep, we took a tuk tuk back down to the hostel, it was time to celebrate the New Year.
We kicked off the celebration with a few games of “Kings” at the rooftop bar, then went to get food at the Cowboy Hat Lady’s food stand featured on “Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown”. I ate pork cooked/stewed in a “master sauce” (aka the sauce is like 20 years old, probably older) and then served over white rice and with a soft-boiled quail egg. All for about $4. Another great meal for an affordable price.
Somehow I missed this meal. I took too much advantage of the hostel happy hour we mentioned above, and got too distracted by all of the food tents that we were surrounded by. I don’t remember what I wound up eating, but in my level of intoxication, it was still delicious.
After the food carts, we went out on the town and hit multiple bars on the way to the East Gate, where the lanterns would be released at midnight. I wish I could tell you I knew why they released lanterns at midnight, but I don’t know, we just had fun and it was a great night.
Not the best picture I’ve taken, but I’m going to blame the streetlight, not the alcohol.
The next day, we were off to Luang Prabang, Laos. Before the flight we searched for food for about 2 hours.
It was New Years Day, we were hungover, and all I wanted was hangover food….too bad almost no stores were open…had to settle with a subpar bacon, egg, and cheese bagel (not NJ levels).
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