The Last Of North Thailand

Hi everyone 🙂

How have you been? Hope great! I’m not doing too bad myself. Let me continue from the last time I posted something…

A slice of Pai
Pai has been amazing. The part of the town where we were staying had an aura of serenity and calm around itself, I absolutely adored it. At the same time, there was a bamboo bridge, just a few minutes away, which lead to the center – a market, some small shops and cozy bars. I think I can safely say so far it’s been my favorite place 🙂 Unfortunately, I only got to spend two nights there, which basically meant only one proper day. However, I think I used it well.

The day started by visiting the Lod cave. It was quite the experience – the cave was enormous, there was a part which we had to raft through. There were huge fish everywhere and when I fed them from the raft, they splashed the cold water on my legs. And there were so many bats, you could hear them everywhere.

The captivating view form the Lod cave
The captivating view form the Lod cave.

 

I couldn't help myself - this was just too funny. My personal favorite is number 6.
I couldn’t help myself – this was just too funny. My personal favorite is number 6.

 

Fishy, fishy, fishy :)
Fishy, fishy, fishy 🙂

After the Lod Cave we took a bath at a natural hot spring – and I guess I don’t have to say that that was soooo very, very good. Wish we had more time there 🙂 We also visited a waterfall, which should currently just be called a fall, because it’s dry season and there’s no water in sight. It was basically just a big rock.

Finally, the day was finished by going to the Pai canyon an watching the sunset. There were two guys, just sitting on the ground, playing a guitar and singing. That moment couldn’t have been any more magical.

Sunset at the Pai canyon.
Sunset at the Pai canyon.

Back to Chiang Mai
After Pai, I was planning to go to Chiang Rai. That turned out to be an impossible task (unless I was willing to pay about 10 times the reasonable amount) and so I had to go back to Chiang Mai. It wasn’t too bad though, because I got to stay with my group of Portuguese friends for a little longer. Also, I haven’t really mentioned the way from Chiang Mai to Pai yet. There are A LOT of curves. I saw a t-shirt that said it’s over 700 (I know, not the most credible source – but I sure as hell wasn’t going to count them myself). Luckily, I never really get car sick, but some of the people in the minibus were not handling it too well.

Being back in Chiang Mai, I’ve decided to visit a care center for old and sick elephants for a day. I got to spend the day with a beautiful female elephant called Menoi (that’s my best effort at spelling the name). She was amazing, very calm and peaceful. I fed her with bananas and cookies I made myself (I was told how to, I didn’t just make it up :P). And yes, there are cookies for elephants. After that, we took a bath together and I helped wash her. Finally, we walked through the forest. Although the Asian elephants are smaller than the African ones, they are still majestic and very impressive.

I have to admit, Menoi is still a wild animal in captivity and there were moments, where I felt somewhat bad about this. But I do believe that there are not many things that could have been improved – the place’s main goal was care for old and sick elephants, not tourism. It was very ethical, unlike a lot of other places… (Seriously, if you ever want to go do something like this, do some research about how the animals are treated – sadly, in most of these places it’s truly atrocious.)

Menoi & me in a lake.
Menoi & me in a lake.

I finished my day by cooling off at a swimming pool. There I said my goodbyes to my Portuguese friends and the next morning caught an early bus to Chiang Rai.

Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai, at the first sight, seemed kind of… boring. I walked around the town when I arrived (that’s what I like to do everywhere – get a little familiar with the surroundings, see how it feels there and see if there is anything that seems cool). Apart from a couple of temples (which are everywhere), I didn’t really find anything there. Maybe I was just walking down the wrong streets 🙂

Yesterday, I’ve visited the White Temple, because it is supposedly very beautiful. Well, I can testify – it truly is. It’s very modern and still unfinished. And the artist who built it is… a little crazy (I think you need that as an artist though). The murals in the temple contained characters such as spiderman, minions, angry birds, batman, ninja turtles… It took some effort to not burst into laughter there 🙂

Beautiful White Temple.
Beautiful White Temple.
Funny murals of the White Temple (sorry for the bad quality, I wasn't sure if I can photograph there so I only snapped it really quick).
Funny murals of the White Temple (sorry for the bad quality, I wasn’t sure if I can photograph there so I only snapped it really quick).
At one of the White Temple gates.
At one of the White Temple gates.

Afterwards, I had a very rocky journey to the Golden Triangle (the place where the border of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meets) – which actually was not very special. Maybe because it was misty, so there was not much of a view.

One thing I have to mention about Chiang Rai is the food market at the night bazaar. It’s fantastic! There are stalls with food, forming a square shape, in the middle of which there are plenty of tables to sit at – and that’s unusual, mostly everything is super crowded here. There’s also a podium, used by dancers and other performers. I had some amazing food there, I’m going to miss that.

The podium at the food corner at the night bazaar.
The podium at the food corner at the night bazaar.
Ice cream I got in a melon.
Ice cream I got in a melon.

I’ve only been in Chiang Rai for two nights again, but I’m already sitting at the airport. I’m flying to Yangon (through Bangkok) and I’ll be staying in Myanmar for about 2 weeks, and then I’m heading back to Thailand – this time to the southern islands. I’m expecting Myanmar to be very, very different from Thailand. I’ll let you know if that’s true 🙂

Thanks for reading again, hope you enjoyed it 🙂

N.

9 Comments

  • Jesse

    March 24, 2016

    Loving these updates, keep ’em coming.
    Also, you keep rocking on having fun =]

    • Nicole

      March 24, 2016

      Thanks a lot Jess, glad you like like it ^_^

  • Jade

    March 24, 2016

    I truly love reading about your adventures! How great! Can’t wait for your next post 🙂 Have fun! Kisses from Amsterdam xxxx Jade

    • Nicole

      March 24, 2016

      Jade, thanks so much. I’m happy you’re reading! Hugs back to Amsterdam, to both you and Jesse <3

  • The Bald Guy

    March 25, 2016

    I like the elephant part. Good picture. You look like a total hobo, I mean traveller. So good going on the carpe diem part.

    The white city looks beautiful and I’m starting to curse myself for reading this on the bus to work.

    Speaking of which, the loader on this website looks like an obese worm strapped into some kind of leather s&m get-up that’s trying to eat it’s tail. Just saying.

    Looking forward to your sarcastic comeback, have some more fun while you’re at it.

    Cheerio

    • Nicole

      March 25, 2016

      Lol at the hobo part 😀 I felt more like a prisoner in those silly clothes. Also, there was some kinda strange straw hat with it too, which made it into a prisoner-farmer combo.

      I’m not really sure if there is any possible response to your description of the loader, except that I’m quite amused at the level of detail in which you imagine obese S&M worms.
      The loader came with the theme though, and I’m too lazy to mess with it and/or look for a new one. So deal with it. It loves you, I’m sure. Obese worms probably have a thing for baldies.

      Hugs 🙂

      • Barry

        March 27, 2016

        If I might suggest http://loading.io… 😉
        Lol @ the bald guy’s verbose vernacular to describe something so simple – one might say, an artist.

  • Barry

    March 27, 2016

    Very enjoyable read indeed 🙂
    Such a variety of adventures, from baking cookies to watching a sunset. I can really see you’re getting comfortable with the different environment and the beauty the world has to offer.

    I know you’d like to have a pet, well if it has to be anything, I’ll settle for an elephant too!

    Kiss’n’hugs

    • Nicole

      March 28, 2016

      Oh you just joke about it, but wait until I sign us up as volunteers 😛

      Miss you <3

Comments are closed.