Doi (Mt.) Suthep and Thanksgiving in Pai

OK, I'm going to admit it. Choosing a destination (AKA Chiang Mai) for more than a few weeks has made me relatively lazy and ruined the early morning motivation and momentum I had in Phuket.

About two weeks ago, in an attempt to break myself out of my non-routine, I walked about an hour west and caught a songthaew (a red truck type of "bus" system in Chiang Mai) up to the top of Doi Suthep, a jungle mountain that towers over the city.

There is a major temple there that you need to walk 300+ steps up to, giving the Howe St. stairs at home a run for their money.

The golden chedi up top is spectacular, though I'm not sure how it didn't blind my eyes in the penetrating sun.

There were hundreds of tourists adoring the temple and chedi up top. One side of the temple grounds provides an overlook of the city of Chiang Mai - one of the main reasons I came up here. I will definitely have to go back and see the temple for a sunset before I leave because the colors of the sky in the morning here are usually pretty incredible.

I think a favorite part of my trip to the mountain was when I walked back down the stairs at dusk. Suddenly there were neon lights illuminating the stairs and parts of the temple to guide your way back.

It was great to get a little bit out of the city, but I still needed a little bit more of a nudge to get back on track. Thailand always throws a mixed bag of coincidental and unexpected adventures (and people) my way to keep me on my toes. Kristin, a friend of my good friend Nick happened to be passing through Chiang Mai with her roommate Aaron, so we met up and explored the city by foot and bicycle. When they mentioned that they were going to head to Pai for Thanksgiving, I asked to tag along, and I'm so glad that I did.

Pai is about 3 hours north of Chiang Mai by minibus, and the road boasts an impressive 762 curves.

I was amazed to see that there was some type of pine tree thriving at the highest point of our drive. It's hard for me to believe when it's usually 86 degrees in Chiang Mai, but the temperature can drop to below freezing in the mountains.

Once in Pai, we found a bungalow to stay at and quickly exhausted the options of the town itself. Pai is a pretty small and hippie-centric town, though it has developed a lot over the past 10-20 years. The allure of Pai for me isn't really the town itself, but the endless options for exploration, using Pai as home base.

After eating (2 meals for me - soup followed up with pizza, happy Thanksgiving! ;), we connected with a group of Dutch guys that Aaron had met in Vietnam. It was at that time that we decided the best option for the next day was to form a small motorbike gang and take on the countryside of Pai.

I was excited to get some practice with a group of more experienced riders, and to break out of my comfort zone a little. It was beyond worth it and opened my eyes to a whole new world of travel.

We were only on the road for about 3 minutes when we had to pull over to take pictures from a gorgeous viewpoint. I found myself smiling uncontrollably as we rode off to our next unknown destination.

We set out originally to find some hot springs, but ended up at a "trailhead" for a waterfall. Unfortunately after walking about 10 minutes down the river, we discovered that there was no land trail that anyone could find, and we would have to continue up the river about 2-3 hours to reach the waterfall.

Some of us didn't bring a change of shoes (and the hike would have probably left us walking back in the dark), so we turned around and got back on our motorbikes.

We found a national park with hot springs. After haggling (OK, we showed them our driver's license and they thought it was a student ID), we got into the park for a less obnoxious fee. "Farangs," aka white tourists/expats consistently are charged more for services, but I don't mind paying to support the parks. :)

We headed in and found the multi-tiered hot springs, each pool hotter than the next as you approached the source.

I had a worry in the back of my mind because Darryl told me Axle wasn't acting normal (spoiler alert: he's fine, thank god!), so after we grabbed some dinner I went back to our guest house so I could keep in touch.

Aaron and Kristin left the next day to go to a monastery at Mae Hong Son (even further northwest) for 3 days, where they meditated with monks, as well as fasted for 20 hours a day.

I decided I would head back "home" to Chiang Mai so I could keep tabs on Axle as I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to keep in touch via cell phone if I went to the monastery. It turned out that Axle was fine, but I'm still glad I went back. It feels terribly helpless to know something might be wrong when you are thousands of miles away.

The rest of this week I've spent trying to prep for my next big adventure, with a friend (Eric) from my hometown who happens to also have left his life in Seattle to travel the world. We leave this morning - it's 66 degrees out and I'm freezing, which is very confusing.

What's the plan? A very loose 2 week itinerary involving touring the Thai countryside via motorbike. I promise I'll be safe, cautious and focused on the road, but I would have some serious regret if I didn't take this opportunity. Every account I have read has said that motorbiking (they are 125cc scooters honestly, ha!) the north is the best decision they made while in Chiang Mai.

So here we go... no reservations made, just on the open road and taking it day by day.

-Erin

Full set of photos from Wat Doi Suthep here.
Pai here.
And another mini temple exploration I didn't blog about - here.