Lampang, Thailand

I took an unexpected trip to the city/region of Lampang. I was invited by a Thai girl (Bo) I had met and figured why not. It’s not on the path of most tourists and until coming to the mall now I had only seen 4 white people. It is now up to 7. I took the bus from Chiang Mai here the other day and it was a chill and cheap ride. On the first day I just hung out for a while until my “tour guide” was done with class and able t show me around. I went to the hostel and then went out to eat and explore the night market. Later on we went out with her friends and I was treated to a night of drinking. Altitude is killing me here! I could barely get a buzz and I drank more than any of them. They just kept filling my glass almost nonstop!

The second day was when the adventure began. I got to spend the entire day out in the Lampang region. I was picked up at 9 and we drove for about 45 mins to an hour to get out to the mountains. 

We went to this secluded river area that has newly been opened for “business”. I am assuming I am one of the few white people that has been there with it being more new and how everyone there was excited to talk to me and learn where I was from. For about $3 I was able to go down the river on a bamboo/oil barrel tour raft for about 30 minutes in which we explored a small cave and a large rock formation/ wall with names and graffiti all over it. I’m very curious as to how some of these got there since it was at an incline and I can’t imagine how to climb up there myself. After that Bo and I got to go around on a kayak and explore the river on our own, swim and just float around for about 2 hours. This was all within the $3 spent. It was a real fun time and I was able to help her swim for the first time and somewhat teach her how to. It definitely helped that life jackets were provided. After all of these we were both very tired and hot. The hike back up to her scooter wasn’t too bad but was still tiring in the heat.

This time I drove for a little and got my first taste of driving a scooter. It was too bad but I did almost kill us on one turn! After this I went a little longer until she took back over since we got back to the highway. We went to get some food and ended up eating at a golf course. It was really nice and it overlook a HUGE construction/mining or something site. After we ate we just laid around in the grass for a while trying to finally gain some energy once again. There was a grass sledding hill which was very different and very interesting! I went down a few times and ended up getting as few grass burns. Over all it was pretty fun but I’d rather do it with snow. After this more exploration began once again.  We drove up the mountain until we reached the top. There was a large botanical garden with tons of local plants and trees. Within the middle was a 5 story observation tower which I eagerly climbed up. Here was a very beautiful view and you could see around for miles. The mountains looked beautiful! After walking around the gardens and enjoying the views we decided to go down to one of the bodies of water we saw and I drove down the mountain. This was a little scary and I didn’t even accelerate the entire time.

The water was alright but we didn’t stay long. It was getting late and we were tired so we decided to finally heads back to the city. The drive back was even longer since we had continued to go deeper into the mountains. My ass was so sore from sitting on the back of the scooter for such a long time. Once back we were both exhausted once I was dropped off I just laid around my hostel room and watched all my American tv shows I’ve been missing (Archer, The Flash, Gotham and Game of Thrones!!). It was nice to catch up and take advantage of the goods wifi connection.

It’s now day three in Lampang and I believe that after a movie this afternoon (hopefully there are subtitles or I won’t be going) I will be heading back to Chiang Mai for a few days until I head off to Pai. Lampang has been a great time and like I mentioned before it was really nice to get off the common tourist path. It’s good to be flexible when traveling and not stick directly to plans. If I had then I wouldn’t have been able to experience some more authentic Thailand and get to meet some very nice new people. So, anyone that’s planning on traveling soon keep that in mind!

    

  

Jungle Trek- Panda Tours

This trip was amazing! 3 days and 2 night. About 16km round trip. This was my first major trek in a long time and very first in this damn heat and humidity. It's a good thing I'm not a punk and have the elevation advantage on my side.

Day 1 I was in a group of 5 with a French couple and 2 German women. The tour guide was a young Thai that recently graduated tourism school. Thai people have their name and then a nickname. His nickname was Ice. We began our trek around noon and hiked for about 4 hrs. It was 7km straight uphill all day long. We saw many fruits along the way and stopped to enjoy them all (mango, bananas, papaya and tamarind). I even knocked the bananas off the tree myself with a long bamboo stick. There were cabbage patches everywhere as that is the main produce the hill tribes grow. At least half of the fields were being burned in preparation for the upcoming rainy season so it was very smokey up there. We stopped at a bat cave on the way up which housed around 30,000+ bats. There were big ones, and very tiny babies! 

At the hill tribe village our group played some cards to relax upon our arrival. Soon after we could all move again I went to look around the village. I made a doggie friend and she followed me around and back to the hut we were staying in. Dinner was really good though I can't remember what it was now. We spent most of the night playing more cards and eventually went to sleep around 11. It took my quite some time to fall asleep on a thin mat on the ground in the hut. It was very very windy at the top of the mountain and it was pretty loud as we were trying to sleep, luckily I have ear plugs. For breakfast we were given coffee and used a very old kettle which was pretty cool. In addition to our breakfast we had a nice snack of bees. Yes, bees. Its's the mushy looking food pictured below. 

Day 2 our group hiked down to a waterfall and we enjoyed swimming and cliff jumping for about an hour. It was my first time cliff jumping in a while and was tons of fun yet I got both of my ears waterlogged. This led to a very uncomfortable rest of day 2. After the waterfall the rest of the group left and it was just myself and the guide. We went to lunch and to another waterfall. At the second waterfall 2 more people joined the group; another American from NY and a girl from Australia. She was really fun and we spent most of the remaining time chatting.
We hiked back to the jungle camp that I had lunch at and I just laid down trying to ignore the pain in my ear and get the water out. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful and it is still in there now! But it doesn't hurt anymore at least. That night we made a fire and say around it for some time just talking. Once we eventually went to sleep I could not stop smiling. It was awesome going to bed with the sounds of the jungle around me. There were crickets, other bugs that only god knows what and a bunch of random animal noises. It was so cool.

3 We hiked back down until we caught a cart to head to the elephant sanctuary! Here I got to feed an elephant; she loves bananas! The feel of her trunk on my hand was funny and I couldn't stop laughing at how quickly she would shove the food down her mouth. We then smashed up some giant vines which is the shampoo for the elephants. We used a very heavy sludge hammer. We then went and got in the water and scrubbed her down. The Australian girl and myself were the most enthusiastic and had a blast. We climbed on her back scrubbed her head, neck and I made sure to get behind her ears! This was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever done. We finished off the day with a bamboo raft floating down the river. It was very relaxed and soon went home.

This was an unforgettable first trek in SE Asia and I cannot wait until the next!

Welcome to Chiang Mai!

It’s only been a few hours but I already love this city! It’s still a sizable town but much less hustle and bustle than Bangkok. The streets are still very hectic though; it’s like frogger come to life! I took the sleeper train here last night. That was definitely an experience. The train car wasn’t too bad, the bed was comfy enough and there was no one else in my area (which was really nice) but they had the AC on blast all night! I woke up multiple times from either cold or weird train noises. I eventually found my earplugs and grabbed the blanket from the next bed and it wasn’t as bad. The train went a little slower than scheduled and it was about a 14-hour trip. I still am glad I did it and the lady on the train that brought me food was really nice and really excited that I gave her an extra 50 Baht. She liked me a lot for that. I woke up and saw the sun rise above the jungle/rainforest and it was a beautiful sight. After that I went back to sleep for a little longer then woke up to eat and have some coffee. From then on I just laid in the bed facing the window and taking in the morning views.

Bus Station Welcome sign

Upon arrival to the train station I took a taxi to my hostel, the Green Tulip House. I would highly recommend this hostel to anyone coming to Chiang Mai! The lady at the front desk is one of the friendliest people I have met thus far. She is definitely a saleswoman as well! I am now going on a 3 day and 2-night trek through the jungle tomorrow morning. I so excited to get out in nature and get my first taste of what I primarily came here to do. After booking the trip through the hostel I only had to wait a few more minutes before I was able to go up to my room. They were very nice and let me check in about 3.5 hours early.

Once I was settled in and showered I came back down to the lobby and was given a map with a few places to make sure I saw today. I spent the afternoon wandering around Old Chiang Mai. I started with a small park with work out machines, a few ponds and quite a few people. It was a nice park but unfortunately the water was pretty murky and you could barely see the coy fish within. After that it was off to experience my first temples. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL! There is so much detail in the design I just kept getting awestruck with every turn.  I wish churches were as beautiful as these temples (well at least in the states). I’m not sure how long or how many temples I went to (at least 3) but it was a wonderful afternoon and introduction to the city.

As the rain was starting

I was heading back to the hostel when all hell broke loose. The clouds opened up and dumped all they had on the city. It started with just a slow rain so I thought nothing of it but suddenly it transformed into a torrential downpour! I had to walk in that for about 20-30 mins. I was soaked through to the bone and luckily my phone did not get damaged from the rain and my bag kept everything inside nice and dry. Once I returned to the hostel the rained stopped within 10 minutes. I really should’ve just stopped at a bar and watched the rugby match I saw at one but I was so determined to just get back.

Once back I met my dorm mates. They are two German girls so I was able to speak German for the first time in about a year. It was pretty shitty but at least I could talk some! I had to wring out my pants and my shirt (which is now tinted pink thanks to my red hat) and hung them out to dry. I got a beer and am finally relaxing typing this now. Since I did not sleep the best last night and I have 3 days of hiking, exploring and playing with elephants ahead of me I’m going to get to sleep early. Talk to ya in 3 days!

Cheers!

Views from the train