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Friday, February 5, 2010

Chiang Mai at its Best!

Summer of 2009 and this time my feet hit the north. After another tiring Bangkok International Motorshow event, I made things set-up completely again …. bus and plane tickets purchased and hostel ready, Chiang Maaaai baby here I come! For a change though, got a bit bored hanging in the beaches down south all the time and of course Thailand is not all just south… it has north, east and west too. Before I forgot, its Songkran Festival again and if you’re still unaware of this event do check my Phuket & Me blog for more info. Please.

I stayed in a mini hotel-like place where a good friend stays as well and just a door apart from me, sweet! My first night was spent on dinner with some friends and later hanged-out in a sardine-like discotheque nearby. After being suffocated and got bored standing without moving we decided to unwind in an open-air situate for some tea and wine. The partying and chatting didn’t last that long as I requested to retire early for an adventure plan with my friend the next day and must be very early for the pick-up time.

The day of adventure has arrived and I’m the only one going due to my friend’s inability to come-up with her decision to go and preferred to sleep more and enjoy the presence of her family. After being picked-up from my place, we bore some tiring and rocky mountain trip. Upon reaching the place, we were welcomed by some coordinators who served us with early morning breakfast and freshly brewed coffee just before leaving for an awesome pursuit… The Flight of the Gibbon!


No monkeys flying and dangling here. Flight of the Gibbon is one of the most highlighted activities in Chiang Mai and gained lots of popularity and attention especially by foreigners visiting the city. Here you are equipped with belts tied around your body, a crash helmet and a Y-wooden stick you need to use to minimize the speed of your flight as you approach a stop and heard the warning yell “Break!!” This is where I almost got deaf with the loudness of my own scream like an excitement of riding a roller-coaster. From this experience I also chuckled several times hearing some Jews from Israel were I was teamed-up as they shouted “Buddha Bless, Buddha Bless!!” while on their flight and when it’s over they will utter “God bless Buddha!” Tsk tsk…. followers really they are. No kidding!

After claiming my free t-shirt for the adventure, lunch was served with another round of freshly brewed coffee and cold drinks after that huge excitement and later sent back to our places. The next day and yes it’s my birthday again, me and my amigas went to this famous Mae Sa waterfalls to refresh ourselves from the terrible heat during that season. The water from the mountain was cool enough that I shivered on my first splash, but later on got used to it when soaked for a long time. It’s a very comfortable place to hang-out in groups as you can rent a mat and a basket to put all the stuff you purchased (like food, snacks, beers etc) from the near entrance before going up to reach the waters.


After several hours of chatting, eating and drinking we finally decided to dry ourselves and head back home. It’s getting late in the afternoon and people are starting to disappear one by one and it’s still an hour drive back to the city proper. So, after the adventure and the cool water escapades, next is another kinda big thing to take pleasure in, the last day Songkraning!

While on our way to the meeting place via tuktuk, me and my friend almost got drowned as people threw water on us from each and every streets we passed by. There was this incident that we felt like it was a bucket-full was splashed on our face and a 5-second silence emanated within before we caught our breath and laughed hard back again. The party place was graced with huge crowd, drenched and dancing to the music played by live-artists performing every block on the street. Water sprinklers and hoses are everywhere so there is no way you couldn’t get out of this place without getting wet. The music, the water and few beers while the sun was up was such a good party combo and this I can say the most terrific Songkran Festival I’ve ever celebrated. If there is one fantastic place in Thailand where Songkran is worth enjoying, it’s in Chiang Mai.


The same day when darkness set-in and after getting showered and dried, we grabbed some few drinks in this popular dining they call Monkey Bar. The live music was good and the place is spacious, packed with many locals and few foreigners. The day was called off and we all went back to our nests for a deserving rest after a tiring and drunken day of feasting.

As the plane started to rise from the runway (heading back to Bangkok), I felt like another part of somewhere else is injected again inside my veins circulating the same blood vessels that keeps me breathing and pleased with every jaunts I make. The experience, the people, the tradition and the adventure are things worth reminiscing, and the very reason why I penned my travels is to share how wonderful the feeling is and always. Life isn’t all about the stress of workload and dramas of relationship, let’s set a corner where we can scream and laugh out loud as if its our last day we have on earth.

Worth visitttttiiiiiiing!!!

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http://www.popcarrentchiangmai.com/images/ts_waterfall.jpg
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