We are moving Fast

On the 6th of July I arrived in Chiang Mai after a 6 hours bus trip. While traveling in Chiang Mai by bus I realized that it was different from what I expected. Chiang Mai was far more modern than I expected so I was a little bit disappointed. When we arrived we have been attacked by the the tuk tuk drivers. They wanted to take us to some guesthouses; I think they get commission for every client they bring to the guesthouses. So we went with them but soon we realized that the guesthouses weren't what we're looking for. They told us that they will bring us to other guesthouses if we paid more. We didn't agree with them, took our backpacks out of the tuk tuk and started heading towards the gate. Which gate?? We had no idea....we just started to walk but luckily ended at the gate. The TaPae gate is very close to the Sunday night market. When we arrived there we really liked the area. There was a good vibe there. We decided to stay there at the Darets Guesthouse. It was pretty simple. But we had everything we needed, a bed and a bathroom.
We went outside for a walk on the night market. They really have nice things there. The girls were already buying; I tried not to because my backpack was exhaustingly heavy.

The next day we did a tour in the city after meeting a very friendly tuk tuk driver ‘Joe’. Joe took us for a trip, visiting the temples and the industries. We learned how paper is being made, silver, Pandora charms and lots more. The people that makes the Pandora charms do not earn, the total cost you pay for the charms in a store, a month. Maybe selling my Pandora and give the money to charity isn't a bad idea at all or should I just accept the difference between these worlds. At the end it's the same world we're living in. Thailand really confronted me with myself and also made me realize that there is more to life than what I had been experiencing. And after all what means having a good life? According the teachings of the Buddhism most of us of the western society base our life and happiness on radically unimportant things. Reconsidering our measurements and definitions of good life isn't a bad idea at all...

Back to Chiang Mai in Joes' old and noisy tuk tuk we arranged a trekking for the next day. We had to wake up early the next day. They picked us up in a pickup. The girls went in the back and I get to get the comfortable seat in the front. Obesity has it's advantages. :) We drove for over one hour before we got there. When we arrived we ate and started with the trekking. We had a group of consisting of 12 people and one guide namely D-4. I didn't walk for 30 minutes and obesity started to show its disadvantages. It was still okay for another hour and I was quick but it really started to get hard when we started to climb. It was slippery, wet, and muddy and I felt my lungs coming out of my mouth. I was really tired. The guide came to me and told me to take it easy so I started walking at my own pace. There was only one way to the longneck camp so the guide told the group to go ahead. We walked slowly. He got me a bamboo stick to make it easier to walk, pick different kinds of fruits for me and showed me lots of strange animals and plants. He was very kind and kept saying that I'm a wonderful strong woman, that I'm kind and that he's surprised that I'm not crying. He said normally all the non fit trekkers break down and cry during the trekking. Well I wasn't one of them and that fact gave me the strength to go on. I might not be fit but I'm certainly motivated. I'll do it at my own pace. And like that after 6 hours of trekking, slipping and falling in the jungle I achieved a higher level of accomplishment.
At the camp we saw the long necks (hill tribes) walking, everybody was already taking pictures of them. So we waited till they were done and than we started our photo shoot. Making pictures with two cameras to make sure we have enough pictures of them.
After the photo shoot we had to wait in line to take a shower. By the time it was our turn it was already getting dark. The bathroom was a small hut with a barrel of water which we had to use to wash our body and there was almost no water in it. Because of this uncomfortably situation, the mud and lack of light we had to take a shower to four of us together. What an experience. There was no privacy there…but yeah….simply things that happen.

Dinner was good for camp food. Rice, cole and who knows what it was. They said green curry and chicken but I'm still not convinced. We sang a lot that night...the four crazy b(l)ackpackers again. We made everybody sing a song in their own language. That night we heard Korean, Dutch, German, Thai and Papiamento singing. We had a hell of a time. There were lots of insects and one cat wandering on the table. When the decided to go to sleep we saw a huge spider on our hut. We were terrified. One of the guides on the camp brought his knife, chopped the spider in two and burned it. Buddhism= NO KILLING ANIMALS, Blackpackers=COWARD. So coward we asked our new friends Manny and Fanny to check our hut for spider and snake. It wasn't enough so we asked them to spend the night with us in our hut. So they did. After a couple of hours we finally get to sleep because these Manny and Fanny Austrian guys were having lot's of fun. But we had a good time.

Early in the morning we woke up and started the trekking again. For me it was like 2 hours walking with less slipping and falling to the elephant camp. We arrived there and took a 30 minute ride in the jungle and the river on the elephant. After that we continued to the white water rafting. The girls didn't join me because of the risk of danger; these rafting trips have seen their share of injuries and fatalities. The rafting guide explained us what to do in different situation, while the trekking guide (D-4) was making sure I had my life vest on. We started the white water rafting, it was really awesome. We had like 4 rapids, I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. We ended the trekking with a relaxing bamboo rafting where my leg got stuck in between the bamboo. . D-4 declared his love for me to my friends and left his number. I didn’t know about anything till they dropped us off back in Chiang Mai.

At Darets guesthouse the girls told me about what D-4 had said so I decided to call him especially after he had been very patience with me during the trekking. So I invited him for dinner that night.
I took a shower and tried to get some mud of body. After dinner I stayed at the market with D-4 and talked about our difference in life and culture. And since that day we started to hang out.

The next day I couldn't walk I had extreme pain in my legs because of the trekking/bad condition. I had to call home for some long distance Reiki and visit our massage friends (Buffalo, same same, big boy) almost everyday for a foot massage.
After 2 days I was functioning as a 23 year old again. Visiting the night market and exploring Chiang Mai on the scooter every night became my Chiang Mai daily routine. We also visited the Don Ithanon and reached the highest point of Thailand at approximately 2565 meter high. We were walking in the clouds, the ultimate experience…it was really cold. We also stopped at two pagodas that have been built for the King and Queen and some waterfalls. It was very nice there.

We decided to go to Pai for two days by local bus. There was no air-conditioning and the bus was full but somehow I was okay with it. I think I started to get used to the whole backpacking thing. I got used to the smell, the sweat, dirt and everything. To get to Pai we had to travel through a lot of mountains. In the beginning the trip was really nerve wrecking. The bus was loaded, my backpack almost fell out of the bus, and so did a guy. The bus was old and every 5 minutes we heard like something of the engine breaking. And it sounded like the gear was difficult to shift, so I expected us the end up ravine. And nobody would even find us because Pai wasn't on our schedule. But as we went on I started to get used to it and started to enjoy the breathtaking view. It was really beautiful. I took some picture but it still isn't what I saw. I think it's all about the moment.
When we arrived in Pai I suddenly felt this good vibe. Like this is the place to be. We walked like for 30 minutes with our heavy backpacks looking for a guesthouse. Michella and I decided to sit and wait while Sharay and Mya looked for one. In that little time we met like a lot of people already. Everybody is like open and friendly. In Pai you are and everybody is your best friend. The first night Sharay and Michella met a group which became our Pai group. There was this Spanish photographer (which is still traveling with us) and some other people from Argentina, Israel and Chile. They advised us to change guesthouse, so the next morning we did. We checked in at the unicorn guesthouse. We had like the house of the Villa. After that we decided to rent scooters. We all got to try it out first because it was our first official time on the scooter. It went pretty well so we rented one for each one of us. Pai is the perfect place for riding scooter the first time, the view there is unbelievable, really. That same night we had dinner with our Pai family. We visited some bars, drank some beer and sang La vida es un carnaval by Celia Cruz sitting on the street. I had such a good time and Pai has been categorized as my favorite place to be in Thailand since traveling. Chiang Mai is number two.

Back to Chiang Mai the next day we visited the Doi Suthep.  The Doi Suthep is an extravagant Buddhists temple located 15 km from Chiang Mai on a mountain. We had to pay at the entrance but the view is priceless. It’s time to say good bye to Chiang Mai. After all we had a hell of a time in Chiang Mai, we made lots of friends. We picked up our backpacks and went to the bus station to take the bus to Chiang Rai. It was hard to say goodbye. Chiang Mai the city of same same but different. Think about it. Everything in our life is same same but different. Hahaha

The trip to Chiang Rai was very relaxed; I slept through most of it. Chiang Rai was different. We didn’t stay for long. We just visited the night market, had some ice cream, took pictures for our visa, took a Thai massage and went back to the guesthouse for a good night of sleep. Cause the next day they picked us up at 6 o’ clock to go to Chang Kong. From there we took a small boat to cross the Mekong River. In 5 minutes we were in Laos.

Next: Lao adventures and a two day slow boat experience. Same Same but different.

By the way Thai massage isn't one of those relaxing oily massage the most of us know. While getting the massage I was really wondering if I could walk after it and if I had chosen the right insurance. Ohh also another marriage proposal...