Chang Mai Grand Canyon

Chiang Mai: Northern Thailand

Late in the night we found ourselves boarding a train to Chiang Mai. This one felt a little bit more modern than the overnight Sapa train but we soon discovered that it wasn't nearly as good. After exploring our cabin, we found the section where the two cars connect and fearfully observed that the cars were almost bouncing off the track, jumping almost a foot apart on the good bounces. Adding this aspect to an already troublesome night of sleep, having the train lights on all night, we arrived in Chiang Mai a little more than groggy. Despite this we found ourselves at a breakfast buffet and enjoyed our first fantastic meal in northern Thailand.

"I'm bringing him home."
-Nola

Loud chanting projected from this place of worship in the wee hours of the morning.

That day we decided to rent scooters again and investigate what a fellow traveler called the "Grand Canyon of Chiang Mai". About a 40 minute drive outside of the city was this fabled place. The drive took us through the very busy downtown and out on a medium sized highway (we never saw the speed limit sign but we were doing 60 to 80 kmh). We quickly learned how to drive on the other side of the road and drive our scooters in super dense traffic as well as open highway speeds. Finally after navigating a city where we knew not a single letter of the alphabet used on the signs, we made it to our destination. What we thought could be a natural wonder of the land turned out to be an old rock quarry that had filled up with water. A cheap entrance fee of 50 baht later and we found ourselves gaping over sheer cliffs falling into sapphire blue water.

After an excitingly fast and busy ride with some new friends we actually made it to the Grand Canyon.

There were tourists of all nationalities enjoying this water paradise, some jumping, some swimming, or some just taking pictures of the fun. We ourselves decided to test the waters and walked out to the end of a long dirt peninsula. Hunter and Paul then proceeded to get into the water the only way you should: jump.

A little grainy but Paul and I jumping the big cliff to first enter the water.

The water here was a refreshing bathtub warm temperature and was perfect for swimming and lazing in the sun. We talked with other people, mostly from Australia and England, and watched as they also enjoyed jumping off the cliff.

Nola, finally jumping off!

Paul cliff diving.

Paul impressing a large group of english girls.

Some four hours later we had had our fill of the Grand Canyon and had successfully done our first water adventure of the trip. We treated ourselves to some Magnum Golds, our new treat of choice, and then rode on the scooters back to the hostel after a day in the sun. 

A relaxed night consisting of Thai food, large beers, and a game or two of pool left us back at the hostel eagerly awaiting the adventures of the next day: the Elephant Nature Park.