Day 9 - Chiang Mai — Wayfaring Abroad

Our day began rather oddly. First, the stomach bug arrived and we were not going to be going out in Chiang Mai in full force. Because of this we decided to take an easy day and just see a couple of the remaining things in the city before reevaluating later in the day.

We began by going out to the massive mall by us to look for a book store. We were able to find two within the mall walls and spend some time looking through the books and trying to find something in thai to bring back home. We did not find anything but did spend a good chunk of the morning there.

From the mall we made our way to a cafe for some pastries and officially found the most hipster place we have stumbled across in Chiang Mai. It had all the hallmarkings, over priced, small tables, lots of wood and minimalism. We had intended to grab some waffles but upon seeing the price thought better of it. Instead we grabbed a scone and croissant, enjoyed them within the patio in the back and headed off to find some lunch.

A couple nights before we had gone out into Nimman to find this noodle spot but unfortunately failed in our search. However, in the daylight we were easily able to spot it.

From lunch we headed back to our apartment to see how everyone was doing and to get our bearing before heading out to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.

On the way we were stopped by an older fellow from the west village that was biking by us. He bought a farm in northern Thailand in 2001 and comes down to Chaing Mai often. He advised us on a couple temples to see and that motorbikes are great, but that we needed an international drivers license or else the cops will charge a thousand baht. We chatted for a bit and got back to our apartment.

It turned out that it was still just going to be two of us, so we sat around discussing whether to rent motorbikes after all. After doing a little research we decided it wasn't worth it and that we would just get a red taxi up to the mountain.

We got our things together and headed out hoping to snag a taxi on the way. We grabbed one not a couple hundred meters from our apartment and got on. This was our first time in a red taxi, a converted small pickup with an enclosed bench in the back. There are windows and a door out of the back, not the best visibility. The ride up the mountain is windy and jerky. In the back of the taxi it was quite nauseating.

We finally made it to the top and began walking around the small market area beneath the temple and then up to the 300 plus steps to the temple above.

Unfortunately for us it was a smoggy day and visibility was not high. We got to the top and began a slow walk along the perimeter for the pagoda in the center. We stopped at the viewing point looking out over the city.

We couldn't spot much but were able to see our apartment and the outline of the moat surrounding Old Town. We spent sometime looking out at the view and then continued our trek around the temple.

After making it around the temple we took our shoes off and entered into the middle towards the pagoda.

We looked around and watched as people circled the pagoda and prayed beneath it. We eventually found that in respect to the pagoda you are supposed to round it 3 times while chanting. We grabbed the cards with the chant and went around the pagoda. There was a younger woman and older woman in front of us who were being filmed, not by a gopro but a legit camera, while going around the pagoda. I didn't think that was showing much respect but who am I to say.

The inner pagoda in Wat PhrathatDoi Suthep.

After we were done at the pagoda we went back out to have a snack by the viewpoint before heading back down the mountain. The sun was peeking through some of the clouds and illuminating the golden pagoda while we sat and looked out.

Rays of sunshine peak through the clouds over Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.

When we got back down the stairs we got into one of the red taxis for the ride back down the mountain. Unlike our ride up it wasn't just the two of us in the taxi. For the ride down the taxis were waiting to get 10 people inside before taking off. When we entered there were two others. A non-talkative guy and a guy solo traveling from Buenos Aires. We sat there chatting about his trip and about traveling in general. Eventually a couple from London got it, then a guy from Mexico and two others who were engaged in their own conversation.

This meant we were finally ready to leave, we had waited for 20 minutes. We all rode down in mostly silence due to the noise from the truck, the winding of the road and the overall oppression from the heat. Eventually we got to the bottom of the mountain with the sky casting beautiful reds and purples over the mountain. We jumped out of the back at a stop light by our apartment instead of riding the whole way back to Old Town.

With the sky being as colorful as it was we decided to try to get on the roof of the apartment building and see what kind of view it had.

Looking over Chiang Mai at the mountains above.

We got up to the roof, placed a piece of wood in the doors so we could get back and began looking out at the beautiful sunset. Eventually we headed to a different part of the roof and a guy exited a room on the roof to go back inside. We looked at each other and I moved on. This guy, unbeknownst to myself, had placed the wood through the door handles thus not allowing us to open the door. We only realized this when we were leaving 5 minutes later. We tried to get the door open and I messaged our friend to get him to come upstairs and move the wood. However, he didn't respond so we were on our own. We tried using sticks to move the wood but eventually I had to use the key to the apartment to slowly move the wood. Then we learned he had also locked the door.

We were stuck on the roof, locked on the roof.

I thought I could break the lock on the door, but we decided that would only be a last resort. We looked around the roof and eventually found a door with stairs that luckily led down to the garbage chute on the top floor and thus we were no longer on the roof.

In the end it was a rather exciting day.