Wrapping Up Chiang Mai

After returning from the ENP we cleaned ourselves and ate meat to make up for our vegetarian lifestyle of the previous two days. After this we hung out for a little while in our hostel and it turns out there were a few other people doing the exact same thing we were doing. One of them was an interesting man from England who had been away in Australia as a semi professional basketball coach. So, on our last day in Chiang Mai we invited him, Ash, to join us on our day adventure.

We took our scooters that we had rented the night before and stopped off for a quick breakfast at a small cafe on one of the back alleys. After gulping down a great breakfast of eggs, ham, and bread, we revved up and skirted through traffic until we reached the outer limits of the city.

Similar to Boulder, Chiang Mai has hills and mountains that jet up almost immediately as the city ends. Our intentions were to go into the National Park and see whatever wonders the rainforest held, specifically waterfalls. The road up into the forest was quite the adventure as it was incredibly curvy and steep. The scooters were up to the task however and we raced up into the mountains.

Almost 30 minutes later of driving through small mountain villages, we reached an overlook on the back side of the mountains which afforded us an incredible view of what we had ridden up. The dark clouds looked somewhat like rain, however, so we didn't pause long before continuing on in search of a waterfall we thought would be at the top of the road.

Looking out into the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park.

After reaching the end of the road we were disappointed to only find a vacant campsite with a couple of Thai men and restoring the buildings there. We did find an excellent view back out over Chiang Mai however and stopped to take some photographs.

Looking down on Chiang Mai

After this we went on a short hike through the rainforest in attempts to reach the local peak of these mountains. Although we didn't reach the top we saw cool forest scenes and had a bizarre experience listening to the rain forest. The cicadas, or other similar bug, was almost deafening as we walked through the overhanging moss and vines. The crazy thing was that everyone of these bugs, which never actually saw, made their sound in perfect unison. Every thirty seconds a blaring noise would erupt from the trees and last for about 10 seconds. This happened almost the whole way up.

The crazy bugs.

Afternoon was fast approaching and we needed to return the motorbikes so we turned around from the hike and began to drive back down the steep winding roads. We knew for certain of a waterfall at the base of the mountains and decided to stop off for a quick peek. We walked up the path for about 200 feet before being graced with the sound of falling water. Almost sliding off the rocks (Paul), we approached the waterfall and sat down for a couple of group pictures before continuing on back into town.

Finally made it to a waterfall! Ash took a pose with us as an elder Thai man tried to operate a smart phone.

Around 5pm in Chiang Mai, the rush hour hits very hard so we fought traffic and attempted to return the scooters before our rental place closed. Thank goodness scooters can easily weave in between the deadlocked traffic. After about an hour of wiggling through cars and speeding off at green lights we finally made it back to our part of town.

Our dinner spot that night in the night Bazaar - they had just a few options.

Later that night it was time to return to Bangkok so we boarded a night bus and scrounged out what little sleep we could while being jostled around and awoken intermittently by the bus stopping to let passengers off. At one point in the middle of the night we stopped and several military personnel with guns boarded the bus and removed what seemed like a local without question. Soon afterwords we were on our way wondering what just happened. We made an agreement that we are definitely not doing another night bus in our lives if at all possible. 

After we arrived completely groggy and almost sleepless to Bangkok we rented a room for a day and showered and rested. We aren't huge fans of this city and Hunter was suffering in full swing from some sort of stomach bug so we stayed inside sleeping and writing all day and barely even went out for food. Feeling a little tired, and some of us still pretty sick, we got ready to take our night boat down to the beautiful island of Ko Phangan. The idea of finally being at the beach gave us the energy to stay positive regardless of our energy levels.

Nola can't wait to be bear the beach, Hunter can't wait to be near a bathroom.

In order to get down to the massive catamaran speed ferry that would take us to Koh Phangan we had to take a bus from the center of Bangkok to the shore. After the bus arrived over 1.5 hours late we climbed aboard. After some time passed, thoughts of the previous night bus started to creep in. unfortunately these thoughts were made into reality and we had broken our night bus pact only 12 hours after creating it. The bus took us down to the coast for 6 or 7 hours where we met the boat around 5 am. Then we waited for another hour and a half before getting on the boat as per typical Thai efficiency. After the 3 hour boat ride to our island we had finally made it and could relax.