Thailand: Our Final Chapter, The North

CHAING MAI

North Thailand, known for being more cultural and way less of a party than the islands ... how did we end up getting worse up here! I really loved the North though, there was so much to do and see and I think I possibly even preferred it to the islands!

Our time on the East Islands did really started taking its toll on me, though. It wasn’t even the hangover, but rather the tiredness that kicked in big time on our travel day up North. We were up at 6AM (I mean I say we were up but I was more of a walking zombie).

We got a transfer to the pier, a boat to Surat Thani, and another transfer to the airport; I slept the whole way. I actually can’t even remember getting on any of the mini buses or boat. When we got to the airport at midday, I thought it was about 8AM (turns out my brain was literally turning to mush). We grabbed some grub then boarded the flight which all went smoothly. Oh, and guess what, I slept.

When we arrived in Chiang Mai we got a taxi to the hostel (Bodega Thapee which is the more chill of the two Bodegas and in a very good location). First up we opted for dins at such a lush Thai place which did insane curry. Theres so many great food options in Chiang Mai you’ll be spoilt for choice!

We then went to the night market which was so nice, definitely the best one we’d been to so far! We got quite bevvy and as it was Valentine’s Day we got roses which made it the best Valentines to date; my best friends, in Thailand, with cocktails... is that not the life or what! Somehow we all ended up at a club called Spicey and six drinks later we were being kicked out as we were the last ones there and it was closing. So apparently I had revived myself and at least I’d seen Chiang Mai by night!

Those of us who had been out managed to make it to breakfast and then wander round the temples in the centre (even if we were all verging on hungover, we weren’t going to miss seeing the city during the day). We then decided we all very much deserved a massage, especially as it was only £1.75 for an hour! We went for Thai massages which are notoriously rough so I was proud we managed to hack being bent left right and centre. It did sort us all out though!

Once we were back Grace, Gerard and I got back onto cocktails at the hostel then went to the night market again (I recommend the gyozas and garlic rice)!

The next day all of the others were off to an elephant sanctuary but having seen them in the wild in Sri Lanka and Africa, I was content with that (I’d always prefer seeing them in their natural habitat but I don’t blame them for going, it’s meant to be incredible if you get an ethical company). I, meanwhile, was up at the crack of dawn and off to Chiang Rai. It was a brilliant tour as I really got to see the whole of Chiang Rai without having to stay overnight (I’d definitely recommend a one day tour from Chiang Mai if you want to do Chiang Rai).

First stop was seeing the hot springs. Having slept en route, I made a beeline for a coffee and our guide happened to be sitting at the same coffee hut. He offered me some Tamarin to wake me up and it literally blew my head off. I actually don’t know how to describe it but it was like a spicy, sugary, sweet and sour date (you can get them in 7/11). It definitely woke me up with the raging spice setting my entire mouth on fire (thank god I only had half a bite)! I then chatted with a lovely Mexican bloke who now lived in Ibiza for the whole time we travelled to the next stop. We really hit it off so it was nice having a mate for the day.

When we arrived at the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) my Mexican mate and I went round together. The temple itself was so stunning, I’d honestly never seen anything like it. There was even a golden toilet which was hands down the bougiest toilet I’ve ever had the pleasure to use.

Apparently the guy who made the temple funded it all himself (and we’re talking millions here) and he gets no revenue at all from the structure! There was a bridge with hands reaching up from below which represented hell so you weren’t allowed to stop on the bridge, you had to just walk straight into the temple. There was also a rock with faces carved into it and mini waterfalls gliding down. There really was so much to feast your eyes on!

We had a lovely buffet lunch and I chatted to a French couple who were getting married in Koh Samui in a couple days time, now is that not just the dream! Our next stop was only 20 minutes down the road and it was the Blue Temple (Rong Sued Ten Temple). I didn’t think anything could top the white one but it was spectacular. With dragons and tigers covered in gems sparkling in the sun, it was just magnificent. The buddha’s inside were so beautiful too (who knew I’d be such a fan of temples, I always thought I found them a bit dull but these were next level)!

We then went to the black house. I’m still not entirely sure about what this was but it was something along the lines of a famous artist and his expedition. He’d died and his ashes were inside the house, as were a lot of animal skins (mostly crocodiles which he apparently brought to Thailand and then displayed once they’d died). It was a little uncomfortable being an animal lover and all but I tried to just take it in all the same (I guess it’s not to dissimilar to the stuffed animals in the Rothschild Museum which is back in Tring where I’m from). It was also very amusing going to the toilet here as they had a very graphic carving of the male and female private parts outside. From the golden toilet to this was quite the change!

Our final stop was the Akha Hilltribe Village where we got to see longneck women (females who wear multiple gold rings around their necks). The longest was a woman with 28 rings; is that not just crazy! She also had a four year old daughter with about 5 on. I got to try on a couple which were cut at the back and it was so heavy! I couldn’t believe all those women and children could cope (the little girl was so cute though)!

Apparently, they used to wear them to protect themselves from tigers but now they’re worn for beauty. We asked about men but the men never wore them as supposedly they are the strong ones and would fight off the tigers (sorry lads, but I would back the tiger in a fight)!

The journey back to Chiang Mai was four hours (so worth it though)! I was a little apprehensive about going off by myself all day but I really loved it and definitely made the right decision. The others had such a ball with the elephants too so it was so fab we’d all had a good day.

We headed to Vegan Heaven for food and then got tinnies and went to Zoeys Bar which was so fun. Once again we all went back to Spicey club and it turned out to be one hell of a night! I mean, we’re only out here once so why not make the most of it, right!

After dragging ourselves out of bed we went to Ristr8to which the Nottingham lads from Koh Sok National Park had recommended to us. If you like coffee definitely try it out as it has some famous blends and seriously tasty drinks (the perfect revival remedy after a heavy night). We then got picked up for a cooking class and oh my god it was incredible. Our teacher was so sweet and explained that if you like spice it means you’re attractive (great news for me)!

We went to a market and saw all the ingredients for our meals then started off with spring rolls before moving onto soup. We all got to choose what we specifically wanted to make (with vegan and veggie options available) and it was so fun making such delicious food from scratch.

After eating our spring rolls and soup we went on to do curries and pad Thai. I opted for Masman (veggie of course) and Grace and I were told to crack eggs on each other’s heads. This (as I’m sure you can imagine) was a complete mess but so entertaining. When we fried it all up we used huge flames which was insane. Fire literally blew up to the ceiling as we rocked the pans back and forth. Finally, it was time for our last two meals before leaving our name tags on the wall (it was so cute how everyone had stuck their name to the side of the cooking school.

For our last day us girls went on a day tour around Chiang Mai (not the best tour we’d done but still good crack and we all had a laugh). We played some really fun games on the mini bus in between each stop which helped pass the journey (the “I went to the supermarket and bought a ...” and the alphabet game).

The first couple of stops were waterfalls which were really stunning and at the second we stopped for lunch. We then went to the highest point in Thailand and saw the two Pagodas (one was for the King which took 360 days to build and the other was the Queens which took 900 days)! They were very beautiful and Doi Inthanon National Park was lovely but I think my Chiang Rai tour was more impressive. We stopped off at a market on the way back and made the most of a lot of free food. Three of us also made the mistake of having a shot which I am convinced was pure ethanol.

When we got back we all had drinks at the bar and played games which was a fab finish to our time in Chiang Mai. I had loved it here and could see why so many people said it was a highlight of the north.

PAI

If going from Chiang Mai to Pai you have two options. A minibus or a motorbike. Obviously the latter is more dangerous and an absolute no if you are not a confident driver but the bus is known for making people extremely car sick as there’s a total of 762 bends between these two places. Everyone went on the bus bar Gerard and I as he had ridden a motorbike a lot in Vietnam and was a very good driver. This meant we had a wonderful day (unlike the others who apparently had an extremely gassy driver, sorry girls)!

We set off earlier and made a few stops en route. We drove through some jungle terrain which was off the beaten track and then went to a National Park which had a gorgeous waterfall with a plunge pool you could swim in and a short walk to a cave. Our final stop was a second park with geysers between 90 and 100 Degrees Celsius and a pool so we’d managed to fit a lot into our day.

After six hours we arrived at our hostel, Pai in the Sky. It was by a temple so no drinking, playing cards or loud speaking (uh oh), but to be honest we needed a bit of calm and the location was right on the main strip with bars everywhere so it was actually perfect. Most people tend to go to Circus hostel which is further out but more of a partying place so if you don’t have a solid group like we did that would be a good shout (I also have a friend who stayed at Pai My Way which was also supposed to be good).

After checking in we collected our bags (when you get the motorbike a bus takes your bags to Pai and luckily AYA (the service you book with) was next to our hostel! We then all went out for food and sat at Paizy Bar for a few drinks whilst playing jenga. Such a civilised night for us!

We’d booked onto a tour for the next day which effectively shows you the whole of Pai. The first stop was a spectacular white Buddha but it was our second stop which was the best of the day. The Yun Lai viewpoint was honestly the funnest place we’d been. It had this huge rusty swing with four seats that rotated round (a bit like a Ferris wheel), so we all took it in turns to go on that. We also did handstands and kart wheels on the grassy patch and then piled into a hammock. To be honest, we didn’t even really look at the view!

Next up was Chinese Village which was pretty to walk around but there wasn’t masses to do so we went on to Coffee in Love, a very cute cafe (I recommend the Oreo Cheesecake)! We saw the I Love You Pai sign but didn’t stop off and we also decided to miss the waterfall as it was dried up due to it being dry season and we’d seen plenty by now.

That meant we had the bamboo bridge and land split to see. Both were fun, the bamboo bridge was so long so it was nice strolling down it and the land split was a huge crevice in the earth (unsurprisingly). Our final stop was the canyon where everyone goes to watch the sunset. It was lovely but my feet were black by the end of it due to all the dust. Be warned, your clothes, shoes and skin will get stained!!

Once back, we got street food then ended up at Paizy Bar again. One of Gerard’s mates, Lily, joined us (she was so nice). Another Irish guy and Londoner who we met on the tour that day walked past so they joined us too. We all got multiple mojitos and then moved onto the strip. Bamboo Bar was the first, then we clocked onto Banana Bar which had a pool so Lauren and I decided to jump in (trainers on and all).

We also went to a bar called Hakuna Mattata and our final stop was at a place with a fire pit which I really needed as I was soaked (I still didn’t dry though)! We got back at 6AM having probably drunk the majority of Pai’s alcohol between us.

The next day was a bit of a write off. When we all emerged a few of us did manage to go get pasta and pizza and we bumped into they guys we’d been with last night (the same ones from the tour) so they joined. Honestly, it’s ridiculous how you keep bumping into the same people in Thailand.

I did manage to write a few postcards and get them sent off (see, I do love you Mum and Dad)! Other than that it was a fairly chilled day of walking around the markets and having our last bit of Thai street food. The next morning we were up at 6AM and we left Gerard having spent three weeks together. It actually was really quite emotional, he’d become so close to all of us and leaving him was hard. We’d already planned a trip to Ireland though, so we knew this wasn’t the last time.

We got a bus to Chang Kong for the slow boat to Laos. Let me warn you now, Pai to the slow boat is one hell of a journey. It probably didn’t help that I’d woken up with my throat so swollen it felt like I had a melon in it. I think Thailand had finally taken its toll on me. We did have a 40 minute stop for lunch and 20 minute stop in Chiang Rai but we didn’t arrive at our hostel until 4PM (so 9 hours from Pai to Chang Kong). A lovely woman who owned the accommodation got me on her moped and took me to a pharmacy where I got antibiotics (I had a throat infection, how fun).

Everyone went to dinner and I chewed each mouthful about 300 times in order to try get it down my swollen throat. I then coughed myself to sleep, sad to be leaving Thailand and not sure what to expect from Laos as we’d all heard very mixed reviews but hey, it was the next stage of our adventure.

Note: if you’re going from Thailand to Laos you can do it by bus or slow boat (you could fly too but we never looked into this). A lot of people say the slow boat is a great experience so we went for that plus the coach sounded pretty horrendous. We paid 1,800 baht (£44) which included a transfer from Pai to Chang Kong, accommodation at Chang Kong with free dinner and breakfast, transport from Chang Kong to the slow boat and then the two days on the slow boat. We did have to get accommodation for our one overnight in Pakbeng (the area you stay after the first slow boat day) but it only cost us £2.85 and we were able to book it before boarding the boat. It is good crack and a lot of people just get drinks and play cards whilst boozing all day on the boat. I can think of worse ways to get to Laos!