Train To Chiang Mai
I think I have discovered something significant, at least for a travel writer. If you stall and stonewall and procrastinate before you write, you get to carry the adventure inside you a little longer.
It has been weeks since I reached the final stage of the Thailand adventure. The trip covered the tiny nation and introduced the team to many, many wonderful people. My traveling buddy and I have driven the backroads of Phuket. Slept in $10-a-night hotels … wined and dine in luxury resorts, ridden trains and water taxis and almost been crushed in a New Year’s eve mob. We have scored world-class sunburns in the Andaman Sea. We have seen cockroaches served as snacks at open-air markets. We have ridden hundreds of miles in tuk-tuk taxis … But there is more to tell … And I feel as if it happened yesterday, and almost wish I could just hold it all in … forever. But, tell the tale is what i do …
As mentioned in the last blog entry, the last significant leg of our journey was the train to Chiang Mai … an ordeal … and for what? You want to know why I was so adamant that I MUST go to Chiang Mai? Well … it was a silly reason. Silly if you are not me. It was a Ping Thing.
You see, it was the flooding in Thailand and the Dirty Gig that took me to Thailand, and as I read more and more about the region, I learned that one of the rivers that contributed to the flooding was … YES … The Ping River.
Prior to and even after landing in Thailand, I knew little about Chiang Mai. But when I found out it had a Ping … “I am there!”
And although several detractors told my colleague and I that there wasn’t much reason to go to Chiang Mai … I had sufficient reason.
Sometimes it pays to listen to your inner ping and ignore the sage advice of others. Chiang Mai — which incidentally means new city — wasn’t just a great ending of the trip. It was a crown jewel.
Ping On The River Ping
I think my buddy Steve will agree it was one of the most carefree, most fun times ever. Sure, Chiang Mai has many of the same retail attractions as every other open market in Thailand … the same t-shirts, the same carved frogs and carved elephants and the same funky hats .. “Same Same!” (the mantra of the vendors when they describe the quality of knock-off items, mimicking famous retail brands) … But at the Chiang Mai market, it is is just a different atmosphere — much more laid back than the thousands of vendors in Bangkok … more upscale than the offerings in Ayutthaya … and a more temperate climate than both, with a few mountains in the distance.
Best of all, Chiang Mai doesn’t have the bustle of its Siam sister cities to the south. For the first time in two months, I felt safe — totally safe — on the streets of the city. Sure, Steve and I had driven a rental car throughout the southern countryside. But we only talked of motorbikes and motorcycle taxis briefly … our first week in the country. In Ayutthaya and Bangkok, it was readily apparent, that two-wheelers in those metropolitan areas were not a safe option.
Sadly, as I write this, I am reminded that a colleague from The Dirty Gig lost his life in Thailand, in Ayutthaya, were we stayed for a couple of months. The mishap was after I left Ayutthaya, and I have only second- or third-hand accounts of the accident. But I am told that the gentleman was on a motorcycle taxi at night, and was hit by an automobile. How awful. Had the accident happened earlier … we may never have experience motorcycles in Thailand. But as fate would have it, we did.
Steve At Falls
It was an awesome ride. My friends who know me best, know that I had horses when I was a kid … and that I always wanted to trade them in on a motorcycle. Yes … it has been a lifelong dream to ride and own a motorcycle … but for some (probably very sensible and conservative) reasons, I never have. But on this trip, the motorcycle karma had been working on me for weeks … certainly since I had coffee at Classic Bike Cafe back in Phuket.
What the heck. The city of Chiang Mai looked like its traffic was civil enough for me to navigate on two wheels. So, Steve and I plopped down a few thousand baht and got bikes for a day. HA! But first the female motorcycle attendant had to drive me to another location on her motorbike, to pick up another bike. So, yes, pardon the expression, I have “ridden bitch” on a bike — behind a woman — briefly, in Thailand. Put that on the resume. Before the day was over, we made arrangements to keep the bikes longer.
Wannabe At Wawee
Even after the trip … and certainly during the Chiang Mai adventures, I kept hearing the words of another colleague … “Be careful not to pick up any (bad) habits in Thailand … they might be hard to shake when you get back to The States.”
Well, I don’t think that guy was referring to motorcycles in the wild, anything-goes-nightlife of Thailand … but for me it only applied to the bikes. More on that later …
Sunset At Le Meridien
In Chiang Mai, we stayed in yet another fantastic Starwood property — this time the Le Meridien, a high-rise in the heart of downtown, just two blocks from the open air, Night Bazaar. Did the hotel have Wi-Fi? Yes … and each morning, I pinged the rest of the world on Twitter, with a barricade of food surrounding me and the MacBook Pro — Belgian waffles, a mountain of bacon, yogurts, exotic fruits, Asian dishes, Western favorites … pastries from around the world. Ha … I sampled them all, as I checked out the hotspot. Each morning, I sat in the back of a huge banquet-sized hall, hidden by food from the buffet, using Wi-Fi that was fast and easy. In the afternoons, I parked my arse in the hotel lobby, under a great crystal chandelier, just outside the hotel bar.
Waraporn
To my surprise, the bartender would stroll all the way over and offer cold beverages to go with my hotspot ways. I gave up those libations years ago, but decided to engage the friendly staff anyway. There is now a great bartender in Chiang Mai, equipped with a master’s degree in hotel management, fluent in English and the newfound ability to make a perfect watermelon milkshake, just as I taught her, and as I learned in Winston-Salem, NC … Isn’t cultural exchange fun?
Anywho, Le Meridien had impeccable wireless Internet in the lobby, the rooms, up on the deck around the pool and health club, and everywhere else I checked. The staff is as nice as any you will meet, quite fluent in English, and easy on the eyes, if you are into that sort of thing — 6 pings.
Best of all, Le Meridien had a big parking garage, the new home for our rented wheels. Each night we chained the two front wheels together, in the center of a nest of workers’ motorbikes. Each morning, after the glutinous buffet, we hopped on our bad motorscooters and rode … all the day.
Lunch At The Falls
We road up the mountain …we rode to the sports arena …. we road to city hall …. we road to Chiang Mai University …. we road to Huay Kaew waterfalls … (I think that translates as “way cool.”). We road to the old walled city and circle it a half dozen times before we figured out the route was a 4-mile circle … all the sections of the wall and brownstones and street were fairly similar. But we noticed one big shrine again and again … The next challenge … how to get off the treadmill … since the inner part of the circle was a walled ancient city. A few creative u-turns and we were on our way … BTW, as simple as that sounds, it really wasn’t, considering I was a newbie biker wannabe, and compound that with the fact that the Thais drive on the “wrong side of the road” … and of course the fact that two-wheelers pretty much go which ever way they want to go, whenever … Wrong way on a one way — no problem. Wrong way on the shoulder — totally acceptable. Cut across the sidewalks for a spell … almost expected.
Thai Student Researchers At Shrine
So, where to go? Who knows and who cares? “If you don’t care where you’re going, you’re not lost.” Time and time again, we sat at traffic lights amidst a sea of mopeds, motorbikes and motorcycles. I envisioned those sports bloopers where one bike goes down and they all do, but no such bad luck. A few times, we struck up conversation with the other riders and they were happy to give directions. I could tell I was getting a little too comfortable on the bike, when, just like one of the local riders, I intentionally ran a red light, as the other lane of traffic hesitated. But for me, the trick didn’t work so well, and I got a few dirty looks and beeps from the oncoming traffic. Ha … and poor Steve was following me on through, getting the brunt of the road rage back there … Sorry man!
Achtung!
I mentioned that most people we met were somewhat English speaking. That includes a German film crew we met, during the shooting of a travel documentary. Very cool. All along the Ping River we found restaurants and coffee shops with free Wi-Fi. Just as I raved about Rabika Coffee back in Ayutthaya, I soon found a favorite coffee shop in Chiang Mai … No, make that two of them. One, near the old city is Black Canyon Coffee. Those shops are pretty widespread, methinks. Along with free Wi-Fi, they offer a large 60s kinda-waffle-house like diner, greasy spoon kind of restaurant layout, if that makes sense. My buddy and I thoroughly enjoyed the blended drinks, the Wi-Fi, people watching and a little eavesdropping on the conversation of some Western tourists. But, I was itching to get back on the bikes … so excited in fact, that I finished my drink and headed for the door … totally forgetting to pay in cashier-near-the door style. Oops .. and LOL … a little Thai barrista came chasing after me on the sidewalk … Not angry … just laughing at the absent minded tourist. All good.
Black Canyon Coffee — a Western flare to the place, great drinks, and good Wi-Fi … a little bit of funkiness in the bathroom plumbing though, so I would say about a 5 pinger. As The Lonely Planet site put it: “Local chain with multiple branches in the city and a high energy ‘see-and-be-seen’ location in front of Pratu Tha Phae that is always packed with people-watchers.”
But my most favorite, favorite — Wawee Coffee, another local chain with multiple locations. The one Steve and I checked out was on the outskirts of town, near the sports arena. It had lots of funky antique bicycles and fountains and stuff all around. Inside there were multiple rooms with comfy seating to relax, but the patio area was total coffee zen … huge trees, fountains, ponds, wind chimes … so World Market-ish! We had a round of Wi-Fi, took the last two sandwiches, met the manager, took photos of the place and had a couple of lattes. The Wi-Fi … as good as the atmosphere … very cool.
I was wowed by Wawee … was almost even gaga … Very hospitable. Had there been more time, and less motorbikes, we would have parked and made Wi-Fi for long time. Perfect score — 7 pings for Wawee.
M, Noom & Piom At Wawee
We continued on two wheels … what a perfect way to coffee bar hop around Thailand. Worth an honorable mention was Mac Cafe. We found the Mac in an area lined with restaurants — near the T-Ten Cafe where we dined. How could I not go in and check out the Wi-Fi? Interesting … “Dude, you are so ripping of Apple.” Do they know this or care? I spoke briefly with the proprietor and he assured me they have no licensing agreement with Apple. Yet they have a somewhat similar logo and decor. More power to you. The place has great Wi-Fi and all kinds of Apple computers, old and new … for use or for purchase, if I understood correctly.
Mac Cafe
Another interesting site — the “Rat Bridge” as we called it. A small bridge in the heart of Chiang Mai with interesting little statues of rodents. Of course we stopped to have our photos made, and as we glanced over the bridge took note of scaffolding behind the bridge … with people sleeping or totaling living on the small scaffold. They lived in One Rat Bridge Plaza, I suppose.
In summary … why don’t we just do away with cars (except for rainy days) and ride motorcycles all the time? I ask you. So, yes, to my friend. Pretty sure I picked up an itch I’ll have to scratch back in The good old U.S. of A. — motorscooter fever.
Self-Explanatory
Know what I sayin?
