Around Chiang Mai

When I landed in Chiang Mai after my few weeks on the road (carrying most of my worldly possessions), I took a deep breath, unpacked my bags, and finally relaxed.  After all of the months I had spent wishing, hoping, and planning for this move, I had finally arrived in my new home.  It felt great.

Though this post won't do my exciting first month here justice, I wanted to share the highlights with everyone reading.  If you are connected with me on Facebook or Instagram, then these will look familiar, but I hope my notes give life to the stories behind the pictures.  

Jub and me at Doi Suthep

When I first arrived, I connected with a few ex-pats through CouchSurfing, which is a great site that connects travelers from all over the world.  I met Jub who had been in Chiang Mai for a few weeks, and offered to show me around.  One afternoon we rode his motorbike to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, which is located on a mountain and offers a great view of Chiang Mai.  

Chiang Mai Flower Festival Display

After we went to the temple, we headed into the Old City to try and catch a glimpse of the popular Flower Festival.  We enjoyed the displays, and afterwards explored the food market set up nearby.  After sampling a few new Thai dishes, we watched a dance competition with incredibly talented Thai students.  They were competing to become back up dancers for a Thai pop star...or at least that is what we deducted from our attempted communication with locals.  After wards we visited a popular riverside restaurant that operates out of an old double decker bus for drinks and music.

In the driver's seat of a tuk tuk

Though they are not the form of transportation used by locals, no Thailand adventure would be complete without a ride on one of the infamous tuk tuks.  These auto rickshaws are the motorized version of the traditional pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw (shout out to Wikipedia for this definition).  I actually rode one in Cambodia before I rode one in Thailand.  This tuk tuk happened to be empty when we walked by, so Lolly and I took advantage of the photo opportunity!

This is me next to the first tiger I touched - I was in awe!

One of the more controversial trips I have made while in Chiang Mai was to the Tiger Kingdom.  Similar to the emotions evoked from zoos, many people feel that caging animals is wrong regardless of the way they are treated.  Regardless, one of Lolly's life long dreams was to pet a tiger and I was interested as well, so when I was Nek Nominated (an entirely different story!), we decided to take a trip to Tiger Kingdom. The tigers were healthy and extremely playful, and didn't seem to have been given any sedatives, which is a common abuse with organizations that allow for people to interact with tigers.  

As we entered the area with the incredible animals, I was immediately filled with awe.  Most of the tigers were running around and playfully fighting with one another, which reminded me of watching puppies play together - except that they could easily kill me.  Not quite the same thing.  My favorite moment was playing with the baby tigers - they were so cute!!  

Overall, we both enjoyed the afternoon and the trip.

View of the huts on the lake

One Sunday, Stevie, Lolly and I headed to the nearby Huay Tung Tao Lake to spend a lazy afternoon. We had lunch and relaxed in one of the small huts on the lakeside with an incredible view of the lake and mountains in the background.  We enjoyed the great weather and laying in the sun, but were glad to have the lake to cool off every now and then, as well. 

Stevie holding one of the colored chicks in Pai

The weekend of Valentine's Day also fell on a Buddhist holiday, which meant we had a three day weekend from our classes at Chiang Mai University.  We decided to head to Pai, a small mountain town, but popular destination for tourists and Thai locals, alike.  Luckily it is a quick three-hour bus ride from Chiang Mai, and although we had no reservations on this busy weekend we found an affordable riverside bungalow within an hour of our arrival.  

Headed back into Pai after the Hot Springs

The weekend getaway included a trip to the local hot springs (where we boiled eggs in the water), hiking to and swimming in a waterfall, amazing (and cheap!) Thai massages, briefly adopting a precious puppy near our guesthouse, sampling traditional Thai dishes, and enjoying Western breakfasts catering to the tourists like us.  

At the Hot Springs outside of Pai

It was a great getaway since we had been working diligently in our TEFL class, and refreshed us to finish the remaining half of our course.

Visit to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

 Another one of my favorite Chiang Mai outings was to the Night Bazaar.  We spent a few hours perusing the stalls that housed everything from clothes to spices.  It was difficult not to buy little treats and presents for friends back home, but knowing that I'd have to carry it with me for the months to come made the choice slightly easier.  Lolly and I decided to try a Fish Pedicure, which is where Doctor fish nibble the dead skin cells off of your feet, leaving your feet smooth, as would a pedicure. At first the feeling had me squirming and giggling, but after a few minutes it began to feel very soothing.  Embarrassingly, when I put my feet in the water the fish went crazy and all but left Lolly alone, they were probably quite full after my visit!