THE ROAD TO CHIANG MAI

As mentioned previously, I had no clue what was happening in Thailand when I first arrived. I spent a few days in Bangkok, and needed to leave – let’s just say I could count the hours where I could see straight on one hand. I was spending too much time on Khao san Road. For my sanity¹, I needed to move on. After speaking to several backpackers I had found out that there was another tourist hotspot in Thailand, Chiang Mai. I had also gotten advice that it was preferable to go on the night train. That way I did not have to pay for accommodation for a night and would get there in time to explore the city.

This was perfect, it was North – the direction I was heading. One thing that I tried to live by while travelling is that spontaneity is king. Sometimes, I have left a city not knowing where I would be sleeping that evening. It was the same in this case. All I knew was that there was a famous backpacking trail called the Banana Pancake trail². I didn’t quite end up following that route entirely, that’s a story for another time though.

I booked a ticket to Chiang Mai, no idea where I would be staying or how to move around at all.

The train ride was alright, I met two Israeli guys and we became best buds. I saw them all throughout my trip in Thailand and Laos³. I don’t remember much from my trip, I had a bed, a view and slept through the train ride. Which was quite cold actually⁴.

The journey was about 12 hours long. Looking back at it, my first trip to Chiang Mai was boring – I missed out on so much. I had no idea about anything really, maybe one should do some basic research first hand? A better route would’ve been going to Kanchanaburi⁵.

Unfortunately, I also did not have many snacks with me. My parents had given me a bag full of snacks that I had finished and thrown the bag away. This was a mistake, I later realised the importance of always having something quick to eat. I also travel with at least biscuits now, one never knows when their next meal will be (or how much it will cost).

1. And more importantly, bank balance ↩︎
2. Coincidentally also one of my favourite songs by Jack Johnson ↩︎
3. One of them became quite sketchy and started pulling moves on the girl I was with though… ↩︎
4. After basically 2 ^1_/2 years that’s what I remember… it being cold ↩︎
5. If I had done that though, that would’ve not led to another saga I had with a pretty Canadian girl… Funny how life works out sometimes. ↩︎