Port-Mai

2/27 - 3/1

We made it to Portland!

Oh wait, I mean Chiang Mai! 

What a modern and hip city. Austin and I got here early afternoon after catching a night bus that felt like an airplane on wheels. There was even a stewardess that handed out snacks and blankets! 

Chiang Mai has tourism figured out so we had plenty of places to pick from to stay. We found a reasonably priced place, through down our bags, and hit the streets. The Portland vibe really came through as you could throw a rock from one coffee shop and hit 4 more, plus bookstore. It was a lot fancier then we expected too. There were a lot of high end fashion shops and restaurants that had that Whole Foods local-orgnaic-noMSG feel. As we walked around, passing people taking cooking classes, and trying to figure out which restaurant with cool seating we wanted to go to, we started to feel pretty hip. So hip that we found a jazz bar and watched a couple of local bands play some funky beats. We even spotted our first local hipsters! 

coconut fish pie

We were lucky to have arrived on Saturday and get to experience the Saturday night market. The strip started off with a slew of food venders. So we wedged ourselves in the sea of people to make our way past all the grub to size up our options. I got stuck in traffic in front of a spot selling all sorts of fish. There was a wild looking single serving white pie that I had never seen before. The women running the stand said it was a coconut fish pie, so I handed her 25 baht, grabbed Austin and stepped out of the line of people. We found a less crowded spot on the street to give this thing a whirl and man was it an experience! Yes, there was a white layer of coconut on top that was pretty tasty. The next layer I think was fish that had been blended whole for no more than 3 seconds all surrounded by a fish paste. After Austin pulled a fin out of his mouth, I couldn’t eat anymore. Austin braved through the rest of the experience, pulling bones and scales out of his mouth has he went. We had to play it safe after that experience and opted for noodle soup to get past the flavor. 

After we survived the food venders, we went on to check out the rest of the market. This one was a bit different than the markets we have been in prior. First, there were carnival games! Second, there were announcements over the loud speaker in english reminding people to watch for pick-pocketing, mind there belongings, and that drinking is not allowed. Third, there were a lot of sick and disabled beggars. We were a little taken back because this was the first time we have ever seen this. Streams of people pushed through on either side of the street, it was crazy how packed it was. We escaped down one alleyway and stumbled on a temple where there was a candle light ceremony happening. There were even westerners amongst the monks joining in. 

We got away from the market scene pretty early so we could get back and recover from sleeping on our airplane style night bus. Sunday we decided to check out a few museums. We rented a couple of bicycles and cruised down to the Art in Paradise Museum. The entrance ticket was pretty steep but it was so worth it. The whole museum was covered in 3D pantings that you could pose and play with. One full cameras worth of photos later, we had killed 3 hours in there! The next museum we wanted to check out was the Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders, on the other side of town. We made it there an hour before it closed. The museum itself was pretty small, only 2 stories in a little house, so we went on in to see as much as we could. Their collection was very neat. The top floor was covered in butterfly, moth, and beetle specimens from all over the world. There were all sorts of crystals and unique shells. They even had dinosaur eggs and few other fossils! The museum was the curator’s personal collection of specimens displayed in their home. I really enjoyed all the quotes they had up thanking the insects for donating themselves to science and phrases being thankful for the wonders of mother nature. 

After the museums, we headed back to our hostel and were thrown into the Sunday market. Much like the Saturday market but with less carnival games and food venders. We did find some great food though. We had a huge fish ball that was served in a crab shell, a omelet stuffed with pad thai, a bag of fried bananas, and spicy Chiang Mai sausage. All pretty safe food choices and all very delicious. We even got two glasses of wine that was made at the local university. We ended our Sunday with some more live music at the North Gate Jazz Co-op. Austin was very excited when we got there and a funky cover band was playing. All in all a good day.

Monday was simple. We kept our bikes and cruised around town all day with no real agenda. We discovered some awesome restaurants in a small hip side of town made of oneway side streets, saw lots of neat graffiti and even found the oldest temple in town. The day ended with a nice cold beer and a couple curry dishes. 

Tuesday was exciting, we rented a motorbike and headed for a hundred kilometer tour through the nearby mountains. We found information about the “Mae Sa Valley Loop” in our Lonely Planet book and decided it would be a great way to spend a day. We needed to get away from the city and get a taste of nature before we both went a little crazy, not to mention the city can be hard on the wallet. 

After breakfast, we headed off to find a motorbike rental place which we happened on pretty quickly. Once we signed the contract, handed over our passport, and grabbed keys and helmets, we were off. A short drive through the “Old Quarters” brought us to the highway we were meant to get on to head north to the mountains. All was going smooth until a few minutes outside of town where we were waved down by a traffic police officer. We pulled over and were asked to get show our license. Austin got out his since he was driving and showed it to the officer. He responded “Ohh, where you from?” We replied America in which he then asked about an international drivers license. Not having one Austin said, “Sorry, we were told we are okay on a motorbike and did not need one.” The officer simply laughed at this and showed us a laminated piece of paper with Thai written all over it. He kept repeating “See, international license.” We just shrugged our shoulders and again said we did not have one. He then said, “Okay you pay fine of 500 bahts (15 usd).” Side note: This may not seem like a lot but this is nearly a whole days budget for one of us. Austin handled this well with saying, “Sorry we don't have that and we need money for food and gas for the day. Im not paying you this much.” The officer then replied, “How much then?” Austin responded with 100 bahts which they then responded 200. This went back and forth a few times before another officer came over. At that point Austin opened his wallet to give them 100 bahts and both officers looked inside noting that we had more to give. Austin somehow managed to get away with just 100 even though they insisted on more. He slid the 100 bahts under the officers clip board where he then grabbed it smoothly. 

A weird situation but we handled it well. As surprising and off putting as it was, we have heard many of stories where this has happen to friends of ours. Even though it was only a 100 baht (3 usd), this ate into our budget literally, preventing us from having enough to grab lunch on our journey. We decided to not give up the waterfall and botanical garden visits we had planned just because we paid off an officer. So we didn't. 

Mai Sa Valley

After this hiccup we were back on the road and off to our journey. We were soon off the main highway on the scenic route. The road was quite nice, curvy and quiet. We wound our way up into the beautiful mountains eventually getting to our first stop, the waterfall hike.The hike was nice, we made our way upstream stopping at 10 different waterfalls on the 3 kilometer hike. Austin took a couple dips in the water as I relaxed on the rocks listening to the sounds of the forest and water. The only downside to the hike was that several of the board walks that accessed viewpoints had rotted away and sat in shambles. Once back to the bike we headed up the road to our next stop.

On the way to the botanical gardens we made several stops to enjoy view points along the road. Soon though we were at the gates of the botanical garden and to our surprise it was huge. We expected a small walk through a green house and maybe a garden or two outside but found ourselves at a complex that you drove through. There were many gardens including banana trees and herbs, green houses,  a natural science museum, and even a catwalk tree canopy tour. We first stopped at the banana and white flower collection and strolled around for a while then decided we were getting low on energy so we moved on to the catwalk, which was awesome. After this we headed to the green house area which included 10 or more green houses that varied in species of plants. There was a arid and cactus house, orchid house, water plants, and even a rainforest enclosure. Getting hungry and late we decided to high tail it to the museum so we could get a quick look before getting back on the road. Although aimed towards young adults and children, the museum was one of the nicest ones we have been in so far. 

Botanical Garden

Around 4:30 we got back on the road to complete the 50+ kilometers or so we had left for the day. We headed up and down and round and round through valleys and over ridges enjoying the view as we did. We made a few more stops to take photos and de-numb our bottoms as we made our way through the mountains. An hour later or so we found ourselves back on the busy streets of Chiang Mai, once again dodging other motorbikes and cars. We soon made it to our hostel where we dropped off the bike and found the closet establishment to grub down. I think we set a record for fasted consumed meal in Chiang Mai. 

Tomorrow we head to “Crazy Horse” the climbing crag outside of town to spend a view days exploring new routes. Its been a good rest but we both are way better at spending our time climbing than we are spending it in the city! Keep tuned as this will be some of the last climbing we do on this epic journey.