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.

Timeless Ko Lanta

I spent the last week on a beautiful island off the coast of Krabi called Ko Lanta.

Time is a strange thing on Lanta. The days seem to stretch into each other endlessly, but my week was also over before I knew it. If I asked anyone how long they had been on the island, it always took some hard thinking to really pinpoint what day it was and how far into their journey they were.

Ignore my poor plating... I added the sauce way too early!

When I arrived, I made my way to Oasis Yoga and felt at home, even though I am a quite inexperienced student. I feel short of my five class goal, but as noted... time gets away from you on Lanta.

The first five nights I stayed at Time For Lime, which had amazing bungalows and a beachfront restaurant/cooking school. I am so glad I did the cooking class - all proceeds from the class, and from my understanding the restaurant/bungalows go back to Lanta Animal Welfare, which is run by Time's owner, Junie.

The food was delicious, and I learned a lot - for example, Thai curry is different than Indian curry because they use fresh ingredients to make it instead of dry spices. I also learned that the level of spiciness of curry can be tailored to your tastes (mine - timid, Darryl's - not) and as a result, I have a newfound love of red curry.

Fresh, simple ingredients are such a delight to photograph

What my plate should have looked like

The next day, a very kind woman I met at Soi Dog (Kajta), who coincidentally lives on Lanta, welcomed me along to her family's Sunday ritual at Somewhere Else - a confusing name to an outsider, but it's a restaurant with beachside salas and epic relaxation. Katja and her family are from Sweden and she is the reason I ended up at Oasis Yoga. Two other very sweet girls, Jana and Gen, who I met at cooking class joined as well.

Jana/Gen extended their hospitality into next day, when we rented scooters and explored the island. We managed to escape our explorations unscathed, which I can't say for everybody I met on the island.

The next day my new friends made their way to Bangkok, and I packed up my belongings. At no fault of Time For Lime's, there was a bar nearby that had ridiculously loud bass playing at all hours, so I couldn't sleep (sign #1 that I am old). I irrationally decided it was a good time to move into a treehouse hostel, called Chill Out House, thinking I was staying at one of the bungalows behind the hostel.

It turned out I booked a private room in the main hostel.. At this point I came to realize how old and out of place I felt.

All signs pointed to awesomeness, or so I thought

I think I'm generally an outgoing person, but I just didn't feel like I fit in. Almost everyone was in their early 20s and while I tried to connect, I couldn't seem to succeed, outside of with a handful of people who extended themselves to me. I didn't have an issue with younger people at any other point in this trip, but this just felt more insular for whatever reason, which was possibly all made up in my head.

I moved into the bungalow (that I thought I initially had booked) for the next two nights and continued to try to make friends. I decided it was OK to continue to branch out on my own and made a trip Lanta Animal Welfare.

It was so nice to see their operation and all the volunteers (who have to make a month minimum commitment and live on site) caring for the animals. I tried my hardest to not fall in love, but it's impossible. I even watched a live sterilization!

For my last full day on Lanta, I signed up for a 4 island boat tour, and while the snorkeling wasn't as impressive as my first outing, there were other parts that more than made up for it.

The first place I was really excited for was Emerald Cave. So.. it was really cool..

but OH MY GOD, the water there was teeming with thousands of jellyfish eggs, which was a huge issue because A) I do not like being in close proximity of jellyfish, which is probably why I've never explored becoming an expert diver and B) I had no idea if they could hurt me. I later found out they are harmless, but I don't think that would have made the temporary nightmare any better.

I made it about halfway into the cave, had a secret panic attack, and swam like hell back to the boat.

ohmygod get me out

Why am I such a baby

I'm sure some of you will be like "Oh cool, jellyfish babies, that's harmless," but there were so many I was hitting at least 5-10 with every swim stroke.

Emerald Cave - 1, Erin - 0.

I did not share my panic or fear with anyone on the boat, and another woman made me fill silly as she picked the eggs up out of the water and squished and played with them. Ugh.

Then we made it to our last destination and my favorite place - a place I want to take Darryl to when he comes to visit, even though there is probably nothing to do besides snorkel, eat and drink.. but that sounds like a great place to catch up.

It's called Ko Ngai; there are no roads on the island, and it is picture perfect. Also because it is only accessible by smaller boats, it's not as touristy.

Again, this is the Thailand I have seen in my dreams.

In reflection, I made some great new friends on Lanta, but also at a point felt completely awkward and like I didn't belong. Even on a beautiful island, away from everything, you can feel doubts and miss home horribly. These are all feelings I have to look at as necessary - as one lovely person pointed out to me, it's a good sign to miss home/friends/family, because it means you have something nice to go back to.

Full set of photos here.

**Edit, I forgot to note an amazing trivia night I went to with Jana and Gen on Monday night at the Irish Embassy (yes, that's the name of the bar). We were impressed that we managed to come in 6th place, Jana was not as impressed that her 3 ciders cost 660baht.

-Erin

"Sawadee Ka" to Soi Dog and Naiyang Beach

Like "aloha," the Thai word for hello and goodbye ("sawadee-ka" for women, or "-krap" for men) is the same. It provides a circular openness so while I'm on my way out, this journey is only beginning.

With Komarn on my last day

Leaving the shelter was hard yesterday, and I cried like a baby when I walked into run B2 for the last time. I cried because I would miss them dearly and I couldn't take all of my companions home with me. I also didn't want to think of the reality that if there weren't enough volunteers, they would not get the same amount of daily attention.

Everyone kindly comforted me and told me that I would come back to Soi Dog, and it would be easier the next time. That I would see that the dogs continue to endure as they did before... and they are right. You can't turn your back on a place that changes your life.

It is a ripple effect with the dogs. Gain one's trust and another is sure to follow, especially if they are bonded to each other. Remember those beautiful shy white dogs? The sweet, yet timid, Chocolate showed them that I was trustworthy and I walked one of them on my last day. It was one of the first times a volunteer had ever walked her (Rabbit) - she didn't move very fast or go very far, but enjoyed sniffing her way slowly through the foliage. Hunde started to howl in excitement for me every time I'd walk in. Iggy learned to savor a massage. Purdie, Singto and Soldier remained untouched, but they would at least tolerate me in the area without running away near the end. All 15 of these dogs has a story of growth and touched me deeply.

Today I took in some sun at the beach and reflected over the past few weeks. I keep telling myself that I haven't done very much, but I came to realize that I have. No, I didn't get a better handle of the Thai language like I hoped I would, or explore the entire island.

But I've seen amazing sunsets and storms, my little beach town flood, snorkeled in paradise, and visited Patong and Phuket Town. Most importantly, I've met lifelong friends and basically became a part of a pack of dogs, while hopefully making an impact on their lives. 

They have certainly transformed mine.

I have started to feel a calmness inside of me. Since I parted ways with Darryl and felt an overwhelming amount, I felt a little void of emotion. It was like I wasn't truly processing things as they came at me as I was still wrapping my head around the foreign feeling of being alone in a strange place.

This place, the people and the animals changed this. Seeing an almost happy family form in B2, with the dogs starting to frolic, play and be dogs warmed my soul. I realized this anxiety I felt too frequently is almost gone. I can live and enjoy the moment, and if needbe, take sadness in it. 

It doesn't hurt that I have few of the normal outside pressures of life, but it is important to learn and remember what it feels like without the daily rush. The only thing I am really anxious for is for Darryl to come visit.

It's a really nice feeling.

Tomorrow I head for Ko Lanta for a few days, where I will continue my "pursuit of calmness" with daily yoga on the beach and continuing to walk dogs at a bungalow called Time For Lime. They do great work and their proceeds go to Lanta Animal Welfare.

As one last monster storm rolled in during dinner tonight, the booming thunder, rain and wind enveloping me, I felt satisfied with I have done, and I'm beyond excited for what's ahead.

-Erin