getting to thailand

My journey to Thailand started well, sitting in the airport lounge feeling fancy. Then I got denied boarding because the Air Canada lady decided my passport was invalid! I ended up getting a different flight, had to sleep in the Seattle airport, have a layover in Seoul and then finally fly to Chiang Mai instead of Bangkok. An adventure to start my adventure! I have to say I enjoyed my airplane food, got to try some Korean food in Seoul and had fun checking out their airport. They had robot machine things you could use to carry your luggage for you!(Also I had my passport scanned in 4 different countries and not a single person said there was anything wrong with my passport, thanks Air Canada) But now I’m in Chiang Mai!

chiang mai

My first full day in Chiang Mai, I spent it walking around the city and taking in the sights. It’s definitely a big change from Canada! There’s so many temples and shrines everywhere. I tried some authentic pad Thai at Kat’s Kitchen, so good and the prices were great. There’s so many cats and dogs everywhere too. I went on a pub crawl with the hostel and I ended up making friends with 8 people from the Netherlands throughout the day!

For my second day, I went on a tour to Doi Inthanon. These are the two waterfalls we got to see along the tour.

The park was beautiful and the nature walk was gorgeous. We went to the highest spot in Thailand. I balanced a coin in the middle and apparently it means I get good luck for a year!

The temples up there were amazing and so were the gardens. We had to take the trucks up there because I guess the vans aren’t allowed. I didn’t bring my bag up so I didn’t have my pants, had to wear the yellow skirt to cover up my shorts. I did buy proper clothing to visit the temples with though! Women are supposed to cover their knees and shoulders out of respect at the temples.

We also stopped for lunch and I tried some Thai food. The soup was a little bland but the frog wasn’t bad! A little unsettling but I want to try different foods while I’m over here! We stopped by a mountain village and got shown around, we also tried some of their coffee and teas. Even got to see the plant they use to make coffee and what coffee beans look like right out of the plant.

Spent my morning walking around, tried some deep fried dough stick (which was delicious and cheap I don’t know what the green sauce was but I loved it) I checked out some temples, they’re beautiful and there’s one on almost every corner. Also lots of cats and dogs!

had some Khao Soi and a papaya smoothie for lunch and then headed off to the sticky waterfall (honestly wasn’t sticky, more like the grippy waterfall) was still a fun way to spend an afternoon!

Spent some time hanging out with friends and walking around Chiang Mai. The city is really fun, but time for Pai!

Pai

Some stops along the way to getting to Pai. They have beautiful parks here, the view is amazing on the mountain, I wish it hadn’t been so smoky. I was also too chicken to go very far into the cave since I could hear squeaking I can only assume was bats. Made it to Pai and made some new friends from England and Latvia. We went to a local bar and saw a fire show, who knew there was a circus in Pai?

First full day in Pai, I went for a walk around the city and had some breakfast. Then I went tubing for the day, a lot calmer than tubing on the island! More of a lazy river type of deal. I definitely lost both groups of people I knew but that’s fine, I met lots of new people along the way and at every stop we made. Even met some other Canadians! Actually I forgot to mention when I was in Chiang Mai I ran into a guy that went to the same highschool I did!

The next morning I went and checked out this cute little restaurant just outside of Pai. All strawberry themed! It was pretty quiet when I got there since it was still early but the food and drinks were delicious and I had a nice time.

I got back to my hostel and went on a tour, it started off with a stop at the Doi Kiew Lom viewpoint. It was pretty, I saw a tiny little praying mantis and tried some Thai sausage. The views really are amazing in the mountains here.

Then the whole point of the tour, the Tham Lod caves. These caves were absolutely massive! There were 3 caves to walk through and we were guided by lantern light. It’s pitch black in there otherwise, we also took bamboo boats in the water to get to each cave. There were old teak coffins, cave drawings and lots of stalagmites and stalactites. While our guides English was minimal she made sure to point out all of the rocks that looked like animals haha. She was super nice and it was a nice tour, surprisingly hot in there. Also had a little mochi icecream treat and a taro milk after. Trying to taste things that we don’t see as often in Canada!

We ended the day with a stop at Pai canyon where we could watch the sunset. Many people end up here at the end of the day so it got pretty busy! Then went back to the hostel to enjoy some free dinner once again.

I wasn’t going to, but my friends convinced me to go to the Jungle party. (A free ticket is hard to say no to). It was pretty fun, we painted each other and listened to some music. Was pretty late/early when we got back!

I did some exploring the next morning checking out some stops around the city. There’s so much to see! Had some pad Thai and a smoothie before heading back to my hostel. A little icecream is always needed on a hot day, I tried the Thai tea flavour which was pretty good! Also only 10-20 baht which is less than a dollar, which is also pretty good.

Kind of in the wrong order but during my exploring I went to the bamboo bridges. Beautiful place and was an enjoyable way to spend a morning walking around. Although I have to watch where I walk apparently. There was a sign saying no women allowed but there was no one around to say where exactly we weren’t allowed.

Bangkok

Left Pai and headed down to Bangkok on the overnight train. Actually had a pretty good sleep and I would definitely ride again. Made it to Bangkok in the early morning!

Walked around the city checking things out. I love the pedestrian walks in the intersections, way easier to cross the street when you’re above traffic. I tried some Tim Hortons and honestly theirs might have been better. I also got my first tuktuk ride which was fun.

Went to the night market and tried lots of interesting food like crocodile, jellyfish, bugs and fun treats too.

Walked around and checked out the streets, had some food and relaxed for a bit