As soon as I walked into the common area of the guesthouse I could see Sasha at a table chatting with a couple of other guests. She jumped out of her seat to welcome me with a big hug, and just like that all my concerns about skipping half the country to make my way up north to meet her disappeared.
The common area of the guesthouse was pretty packed. The place was listed in the latest Lonely Planet, so probably had that to thank for it.
I asked for a private room at the counter and was promptly shown to a tiny one just behind the desk, with just enough space for a bed and to place my backpack alongside it on the floor, with a shared bathroom right next door. At 200 baht and less than many places would charge for a dorm, it was a winner. I quickly showered and changed before sitting back down with Sasha and the group she’d been sitting with when I arrived.
We spent the next little while exchanging stories of what we’d been up to since we last saw each other over some coffee, and made plans to explore the city together over the next few days, starting with some temple hopping that afternoon.
It was great to be out and about in Chiang Mai again - I’d been dying to go back since the moment I left on my previous visit. It was also something of a relief to arrive and start right where I left off with Sasha. Having a friend there to share it all with straight away helped me to avoid feeling any pangs of sad nostalgia for the time I’d spent there with my ex, as Chiang Mai was probably the destination that left the biggest impression from that trip.
Temple hopping was...well it was temple hopping. I don’t tire of it as easily as a lot of people do when travelling in south east Asia, I could marvel at the intricacies of the architecture and let my mind trail off thinking about the incredible history behind every one of them all day long.
Still, there is only so much you can say about them. I enjoyed the afternoon, took some photos while trying to be as respectful as possible, and just generally felt good about being reunited with my travel buddy.
We walked to a nearby bar that evening, talking all kinds of nonsense before making plans for the following day, mapping out the motorbike loop we’d picked from the Lonely Planet to drive around and which points to stop at.
With a big day ahead we didn’t stay out drinking too late, though still had enough to drunkenly sing One Direction songs to each other on the walk home.
That next morning we were up early for a quick breakfast and out to rent a bike for the next couple of days. I hadn’t yet had a passenger riding with me, and was a bit nervous about this girl I had only known for a couple of weeks putting her trust in me to navigate Thai roads and the winding mountainous loop ahead of us that day. Especially given what had just happened to my friends just a couple of days ago down in Koh Lanta.
I needn’t have worried in the end as it was much easier than I anticipated, but I was pretty nervous about it at the time.
Once on the bike we made a quick 7-11 stop to buy snacks for a picnic at the waterfalls we planned on stopping at, as well as a much needed iced coffee for me. We then set off for the mountainous jungle outside of the city.
After 15 minutes or so on city streets we reached the open roads of the suburbs, which eventually became narrow, winding roads through dense jungle. The roads weren’t busy at all, so I quickly became comfortable with the two of us on the bike without having to worry about traffic. Before long we reached the turn off for the waterfalls, and parked up in the car park.
According to what we’d read when planning our little day trip, this was a popular weekend spot for locals, consisting of 10 small waterfalls of varying sizes. It promised a not too strenuous walk up to the 10th, where few people bothered to venture so we’d likely have it to ourselves.
What we hadn’t accounted for, was most of the dirt trail leading up there to be wet and slippery as all hell for us in our flip flops, and therefore taking us twice as long as it probably would have with proper shoes on. We climbed slowly, holding on to each other and whatever tree branches or rocks we could along the way.
The struggle was worth it though, as we were rewarded with a refreshing pool of water to cool off in below the waterfall, and a peaceful spot to eat our eclectic ‘picnic’ of slightly odd 7-11 snacks, like shredded pork in sugary bread pockets and milk flavoured croissants.
It was a beautiful spot to relax in for an hour or so, have a swim and get lost in conversation for a while. The day was full of ‘I can’t believe my life is this good’ kind of moments, and this was absolutely one of them.
Getting back down to the car park through the muddy trail was even more tricky than the way up, and I think we both had a slip or two into the mud along the way. The local families splashing around in one of the lower waterfalls had a good chuckle at our awkward half walk/half slide down a particularly steep slope.
We managed to wash the mud and bark from our hands near the car park, and studied the map for the next bit of our journey. There was no real destination anymore, just riding around the loop and stopping at a few viewpoints.
I continued to grow in confidence on the bike, revelling in the quiet roads and taking it slow enough to safely gaze out at the hillside rice terraces to one side of the road as we went along. We stopped frequently to hop off, take photos, and marvel at our surroundings. It felt almost as though we had the entire route to ourselves, hardly encountering another traveller nor much traffic all day.
As we neared the end of the loop through the jungle, we were delighted to get stuck behind another road user that was moving incredibly slowly on the single lane road.
Why delighted? Well it’s not often you get stuck behind a huge elephant striding along in front of you, guided by it’s mahout. The situation was much like getting caught behind a tractor on a country lane in the west, only much cooler and with a much greater risk of driving through some freshly dropped poo.
We weren’t too sure whether speeding up and overtaking would spook the animal, and were both loving the situation a bit too much to care about how slow we were going anyway, so trailed it for a good ten minutes or so before the single lanes split into two and we could safely pass while giving the elephant plenty of clearance. Sasha probably got some good photos, but I kept my camera in my pocket to be responsible while driving.
Not long after that we were out of the jungle and approaching the outer suburban parts of Chiang Mai. It was then that I realised we were getting very low on petrol.
A little earlier I’d seen the fuel gauge was kind of low but assumed that we’d easily find somewhere to fill up once we reached the bigger roads on approach to the city. This proved...unwise.
With the gauge sitting about as low as it went by this point, we were starting to panic a little that we would run out any second and be stranded several kilometres from the city with no idea of where to pick up any petrol to get us home. There were none of the roadside stands selling litres on repurposed soft drink bottles that seemed to be common in other parts of the country.
We parked up at a supermarket and asked for directions to the nearest place. We saw a petrol station from a distance and thought we were in luck, only to discover once we got closer that it was closed down and abandoned.
We took detours from the main road whenever we saw a strip of shops or warehouses where we might reasonably expect to find a petrol garage nearby.
The sun went down and reduced our ability to scan the roads around us in the darkness.
Nothing!
By this point I was convinced we were screwed. The bike must have been running on nothing but fumes by that point, there was no way we’d make it all the way to the city itself, and we’d be spending some time sitting in the dark by the side of the road, hoping a kind stranger might help us. After such an amazing day, I felt like I’d fucked up and let Sasha down again through my carelessness.
Just as the bike started to sputter, sounding like it could cut out at any second as we held our breath and continued as far as we could, salvation. A big, shiny petrol station ahead of us on our side of the road. We both shouted with excitement as we realised the day was saved. The engine finally cut as soon as we were stationary, before I had a chance to turn the keys. We hugged and laughed at our stupid little predicament as we got off the bike to fill it up.
Once we pulled away again, the bike felt three times as heavy. It must have really been empty for it to be quite so noticeable.
The journey back to the guesthouse from then on was a breeze. The peak hour traffic around the city didn’t bother us in the slightest, as we made light of what now seemed like a lucky escape and how stressed we had been just 10 minutes ago. Just like the walk home the night before (only sober this time) we sang stupid songs together when we were stopped at traffic lights.
We weren’t done for the day just yet, and quickly freshened up at the guesthouse before heading out to the walking street night market a few blocks away.
The night market seemed like a fun mix of a typical tourist spot for the region, and a popular place for an evening out for a lot of local families.
We wandered through crowds of fellow backpackers and Thai couples pushing prams through the narrow walkways, stopping to try a few different snacks and sweets along the way and picking up some new clothes to fill our backpacks. The crowds got denser as we got closer to one of Chiang Mai’s larger temples and discovered a celebration of some sort going on inside the grounds, monks milling around while people made merit and school children put on dance performances on a stage near the entrance.
It was a far cry from our afternoon of exploration and relative solitude, but a good way to round out a big day. We didn’t stay out late that night, and collapsed into our beds as soon as we got to the guesthouse.