January 22, 2019

Blogger.com has been under some serious reconstruction/reorganization since I was last involved in 2016... So there’s no app and it’s hindering my ability to upload corresponding photos. Disappointing but we can adapt. 

I have run my sweet girlfriend into the ground today, so she’s currently napping on my belly. Perfect time to catch up on blogging.

I wanna backtrack because I don’t think I described the sleeper train well enough. I attached a photo in my last post (I think)... but maybe you couldn’t tell what was going on in it. Each ticket bought you a bunk, either top or bottom. We bought them online before arriving to Thailand through a third party agency. This company accepts payment from you, then sends an employee running across the street to the train station to pick up your actual physical tickets. The function of this is to reserve your seats. There’s no other way to do this in advance as far as I could tell. The tickets are then picked up by the you when you arrive into town. We swiped ours up as soon as we arrived to Bangkok on that first day. It was extremely simple! 

The very first train we road on to Ayutthaya was 3rd class, like I may have mentioned. This train was not one you’d like to travel more than a few hours on. BUT it was fine enough. Open windows, no AC, dusty fans, no supervision. All kinds of people were on the train, but we were the only non-Thai. We bought these tickets as we headed into the station, there’s no need to buy them early because trains leave every hour to Ayutthaya from Bangkok. 

The next train was 2nd class and prearranged, like I was saying. We were corralled with all of the other travelers into the correct car, and we easily found our seats. AKA beds! They were stacked in rows against the walls of the train. Brooke and I threw our belongings on the top bunk and snuggled down in the second bunk. All of us fell asleep immediately. We stayed asleep. The curtains (pictured) helped block out the overhead lights that remained on for the duration of the trip! We slept like rocks, like I said. In the morning a single dude ran up and down the cars shouting at us to bag all our stuff up so he could pull off some transformer magic by turning each bed into a chair for the last hour of the ride. Then they sold us HORRIBLE coffee. Which didn’t ruin our moods at all- we were so rested and excited to be in Chiang Mai!

Ok, let’s skip back ahead to where I left off.

We ate again at Goodsouls Kitchen, but this time it was for lunch. We weren’t really sure what we were getting into for the day... I had a plan for us to do a little hiking, but I was scared to tell anyone that’s what we were doing for fear of retaliation. So I let everyone have a great breakfast before laying it on them. “It’s a short hike up.”

We had to grab a Grab to the Doi Suthep trailhead. The trail was marked with rips of monk robes. At the top would be a monk’s hideaway.

Again, I wasn’t exactly sure what we were doing.

We headed up and NO JOKE- 30 feet into the hike Olivia broke her shoe. Hysterical laughter. We kept going because now we were alone on the side of a mountain without any other humans nor taxis to take us anywhere.

So we walk up! And it was fine! It wasn’t too hard! There were many resting areas and several little waterfalls to distract us.

After about 45 minutes we made it to the end. It’s a monk’s retreat! That thing I said about Thai garden design applies here to the fullest. It was GORGEOUS and we were more than a mile above the city of Chiang Mai! The view was remarkable! 

Monks were there working on some renovation projects. There was a little tiny coffee shop selling many items. A sign in front of the coffee stand told us that 7 baht from each purchase went to help pay for the monks’ dental care. Brooke and I bought some coffees, even though they weren’t vegan!

We continued on around the gardens. Soooo many beautiful spots to sit and relax. It was truly beautiful. Also, peacocks! The view of Chiang Mai really made the whole hike worth it. Brooke said it was her favorite part of the trip so far! YES!

Hiking up a little higher we actually hit a main road. Some tuk tuks were chilling there waiting for people like us to emerge from the forest. How convenient. One man agreed to take us up to the tip top of the mountain! We hopped in.

I had some motion sickness issues at this point. I’ve been noticing this about myself in the past year. This better not become a thing. The ride took at least 30 minutes. The roads all throughout the country have been absolutely top notch, including this road. Pavement wise, I mean. But that’s got nothing to do with it. This road was a long, spiraling, twisty-ass snake with which our driver had no qualms. Full speed ahead!! Not the most fun I’ve had. Definitely nowhere near as scary as anything I’ve ever done. But it was too fast and sinuous. I adopted my new catch phrase at this point: “I’m gonna yak.”

 I never did yak. 

While in the tuk tuk and therefore unable to escape, I told my travel buddies what was at the top of the windy road... I told them, grimacing... “A wat.”  

Ok now we’re at the top of the whole mountain and I’m chewing on gum to not yak. Five minutes later I’m good to go. 

We find the steps (which were pretty neat) and make our way up to the wat! It was same same, but different. 

Key feature here was the VIEW!!! Through the wat and out the other way there was a glorious view of the city! 

No one was mad at me for dragging them to another wat!!!

Then we meandered through the shops and marketplace right outside of the temple. I bought a beer, which really baffled me after I realized I was about to have to go back down the horrible twisty road!

 But I was fine, no yaks.