From Sukhothai we took the bus further north to Chiang Mai. It’s about a five hour ride but the bus was not full and there was enough space for a comfortable ride. In Chang Mai we had booked an AirBnB a little away from the city center. Our AirBnB host was so kind to pick us up from the bus station!
A few days earlier my friend Alex from my Stuttgart Basketball team had contacted me and it turned out that she was in Chiang Mai the exact same days as we were! Naturally we had to meet the first night in Chang Mai for dinner and drinks. She has been travelling quite a bit herself, first to South and Middle-America and now Southeast Asia. For this part her mum joined her to travel together. Chiang Mai is a rather touristy town but still very relaxed and a nice place to be. There are lots of bars and cafes and of cause temples and it is easy to visit the city center on foot. Together with Alex, who had been here before, we explored the night markets and bars. I really enjoyed that there is lot of live music.
The four of us also wanted to explore the surroundings of the city a little bit more so we decided to rent scooters and drive towards the mountains to the National Park of Doi Inthanon. Since Alex and I both have a motorcycle license and the international drivers license with it (and our own bike) we were the designated drivers. We rented two 125 ccm scooters, ours was a bit newer and a little more expensive, but also with two working brakes for the whole day. But luckily there are two brakes and we all had a fun and safe day! It took us nearly two hours to get to the park. The first part was boring highways but our two scooters proved that they can run quite fast. The roads in the mountains were in good shape and had some nice turns. There were also a few inclines which we barely climbed at a speed of about 40 km/h. They also drained our fuel tanks so that we were worried if we’d make it back to the gas station. But going down is much more fuel efficient! Curious thing though, here it seems common practice that you rent with an empty tank. And return an empty tank, which it never is because you don’t know how far you can go exactly. I think they pump the rest and increase their profit this way.
In the park we reached the highest point of Thailand and did a short walk through the cloud forest. It’s labeled a hike but takes only 20 minutes walking at a slow pace… We also stopped at two waterfalls and two pagodas which are surrounded by a remarkable garden, where they use plants that look like cabbage to me.
One nice side note, Chris and I got a Thai massage at massage place that specifically employs and trains ex-inmates. It’s not the cheapest massage in town but well recommended and we thought it is a good cause to spend our money. After I noticed my watch was missing but I wasn’t sure I even wore it that day. Just to make sure we went back to the place and asked for it and after I described it to the receptionist, she pulled it out of a drawer. Made my day!
