I just spent 3 days in Chiang Mai, which is in northern Thailand. it took about 12 hours on an overnight train to get there, but the last couple hours, when I was awake, were through amazing countryside. Northern Thailand is on the edge of the Himalayan mountain range, and the mountain Doi Inthanon, which I scaled on my third day here, is considered the first mountain in the Himalayans. I had my first couchsurfing experience here, staying with a cool Thai guy named Nink. For those of you who don't know, couchsurfing is a website that connects travelers, or surfers, with hosts, who are locals that are willing to give up their couch for free to travelers. Hosts are really friendly people who just like meeting travelers, practicing their English, or want to give back to the community for their surfing experiences. I will be mixing it up this summer between couchsurfing and hostels, so I can meet a wide range of locals and travelers.
This is Nink. He is a professor of Chemistry at Chiang Mai University, and he's a really nice, funny guy who likes gardening, animals, and karaoke. I stayed with him at his house for 3 nights, and had a great time and learned a ton about Thai life and culture.
This is Nink's dog Big. Big was super friendly, and would jump on me every time I got out of the car when we got back to Nink's house.
These are Nink's Koi fish in his pond in his yard.
My couch. Nink's house was really nice...
A waterfall near Chiang Mai University where Nink works.
A buddhist temple/school near CMU. Almost all of Thailand is Buddhist, and so even the public schools are Buddhist.
Went to Nink's garden, and picked a bunch of crazy stuff, including jackfruit, which are huge spiky things. We also picked mangoes, rambutan, starfruit, Asian apples. And we moved some Koi from his garden to the pond by his Chemistry building.
Met this little guy at an ice cream shop in town.
Went to the Sunday night market in town, it was pretty crazy. The whole town turns into this huge walking market just packed with people. These are sweet dumplings filled with pork and covered in coconut milk. Pretty good surprisingly.
This is at Doi Suthep, a big buddhist temple on a mountain overlooking the city.
Big gold spire at Doi Suthep.
More wat.
Emerald Buddha.
View overlooking Chiang Mai. This was the one day it wasn't so foggy, so I could actually see the city.
Another wat.
Spicy Thai dinner with Nink.
On the last day I went on a quest. I asked Nink what a good trek was from Chiang Mai, and he suggested I go to the top of Doi Inthanon, which is the highest point in Thailand. He said it was a 60 km minibus ride to the base of the mountain, then another 40 km minibus to the top. I thought this sounded cool, so I set off to do it. I got to the base easily in a minibus for 40 baht, a little over a dollar. Then when I tried to get another minibus to take me to the top, they said it would be 1000 baht, which sounded absurd. Apparently normally there are a lot of tourists so you can split this cost, but that day there were none, either because it was the low season, or it was rainy, or I was a little later than most tourists go, I don't know. Anyway, I decided that this was not going to work, so I did my only other option. I hitchhiked to the top.
This is from the back of a motorbike that I rode for about 10 km. The driver was a nice park ranger named Wan Phan. Or at least that's what it sounded like when he said it over his shoulder, muffled by the wind and rain and sound of the road whizzing by at 40 km/h.
After 2 cars and 2 motorbikes, and walking probably 5 km, I finally completed my quest to reach the highest point in Thailand. And I'm glad I hitchhiked, it was really fun and reinforced how friendly Thai people really are. Everyone I met along the way was really nice and friendly and cared about helping me. The family I rode back down the mountain with even bought me food.
The actual highest point.
There are two royal stuppas near the top of Doi Inthanon, one built for the queen...
...and the other built for the king.
The fog was so thick at some points that you couldn't see more than a hundred feet in front of you.
Yummy Thai snack.
Chiang Mai was great, and very relaxing as I spent most of my time just hanging out with Nink rather than touristy stuff. Now I'm off to Pai, a small hippie town a few hours northwest of Chiang Mai. Should be another relaxing couple days.
Sawatdee krap (goodbye, and hello, in Thai)
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