$4 bunnies and an unexpected side trip

My journey feels like it's officially begun. The north has highly exceeded my expectations...  Before i made it to the north i took advantage of it being the weekend in Bangkok and made it to the world-famous Chatuchak weekend market, which is actually listed in the 1000 Things To Do Before You Die book. It is a market with over 8,000 stands, the size of over 6 football fields of literally anything you can buy. We're talking sections for clothing and accessories, plant and gardening tools, pets (WOW THE PETS), furniture, handicrafts, artwork, food, books, antiques and souvenirs. No one could ever do the entire market in one day. My favorite section, which was definitely unlike anything I've ever seen, was the pets section. I was tempted to give this its own individual post because they were just that cute and i just took that many pictures, but i'm going to have to condense. They were selling THEE most adorable puppies (Laura if you're reading this, i thought of you) for 100 bucks a pop. What blew my mind more though, were the bunnies. ONLY $4-$7 PER BUNNY.. their size didn't exceed the length of a dollar bill. i was going crazy and my desire to squeeze a friend's arm from the cuteness was uncontrollable. My "oh my god's" were left for the indifferent thai vendors to hear. I swear if i wasn't in thailand i would just buy one on the spot. They also sold pet squirrels for $10 each, from basically fetus to full-grown squirrel, including flying ones. What a crazy market.

I wanted to DIEEEEE this one was so cute. literally no longer than a dollar bill.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Dressed up!

One of the flower stands at the market

En-Route...

I got on a 15 hour sleeper train to Chiang Mai a few hours after visiting the market, and my excitement kept on growing. What was cool about the train ride was that we stopped by numerous stations throughout the day where i got to see famous cities infrequently explored by tourists. I sat next to a thai man who kept telling me the names of each city we stopped that, which gave me enough time at each stop to flip to the city's page in my guide book and have a quick read. Among the many stops were Ayutthaya and Lopburi, with beautiful ruins dating hundreds of years back. Lopburi is known for its impressive monkey population. There are more monkeys than there are people. I watched them scurry everywhere around one of the oldest wats (temples) in all of thailand. it was wild. I managed to get a shot while the train was moving.

Can't really see the monkeys well in the pic but they're definitely everywhere. This is one of the oldest wats.

View down the corridor of my cramped sleeper train, my bed on the top right

Chiang Mai

I finally made it to Chiang Mai the next day and stayed at this AMAZING hostel, recommended by Ali Murphey!! This hostel was the best suggestion. I have met the best group of people here, it's seriously been so incredible. My first day I went to Tiger Kingdom with a few of the friends i made. Normally people frown upon tiger-zoos because it's said that they are kept calm by drugs, but this place insisted that they were taken care of and trained from birth. Trained or not, that didn't keep me from being absolutely terrified to be literally cuddling with 2 of them.... my heart was pounding. I was pretty scared. But it was still cool. My camera died while visiting the tigers but i have lots on my phone, here's one of many:

My body language clearly reads frightened, stiff, and unsure. Do you blame me?

The hostel so kindly drove a huge group of us to Chiang Mai's Sunday market later where they had the cheapest most delicious food, maybe 10 cents for a solid, filling Pad Thai. I could get used to that. We all went out to several bars afterwards where we discussed our plans for the next few days, and watched an awesome fire show. 

Us walking through the night market

Gorgeous silk tapestries being sold at one of the stands

Amazing hand-carved and hand-painted flower soaps. How would you ever want to actually use one of these????

One of the fire shows at Babylon Bar we went to in town

A few of us at a Reggae Bar (note the Bob Marley impersonator)

But no plans were solidified, which was actually the best part. I spontaneously decided the next morning to join 3 other people in exploring the mountains on motorbikes, and visit 2 Hill Tribes. It was incredible. I saw the most beautiful lush green forests, and i loved how free i felt on the back of the motorbike under the warm sun and the cooling wind, anticipating what view the next curve in the road would reveal. We made it to the top of a mountain and stumbled across a hill tribe and had lunch there. These people have their own language and no laws, no police, located here at the top of a mountain in minimal living conditions, just living.... It was very plain, but that's what made it so cool, they were not trying to impress anybody. Hardly any visitors, and we just stumbled across them... 

Getting ready to ride the back of that motorbike...Not sure what that grimace is all about.

I can't crop or edit any pics so this'll do, This is a grandfather with a baby on his back, smoking the LARGEST non-water vapor bong i have ever seen. like i said, no laws here.

One of the stands in the hill tribe

My friend Nick walking in the village

On our way back down the mountains we also got the chance to visit Doi Suthep, another great and majestic wat on a hilltop. It was so beautiful, and I lit some candles and incense thinking about this trip, my family, and friends back at home. I loved this day. it was an awesome, unplanned motorbike trip through chiang mai's gorgeous landscapes - a completely unguided tour, enjoyed for free (minus the temple).

Watching Thais be blessed by a monk. I almost did it. Might do it in the next few days while in Chiang Mai

Later that night the hostel owner Noom took us all out for some fun bowling which was so unexpected. As we left, Noom got us all back in the Songthaew (that open van) and made about 7 rotations in the parking lot and had us all screaming, holding on for dear life (and trying not to throw up). In that moment of screaming (and feeling ill), i was just smiling and thinking of how awesome this was. How this hostel is great, and how the people are great, and that i'm feeling so happy. In those 10 seconds was when i completely changed my plans. We had a solid group of people here and 8 of them were going to Pai the next morning, a backpacker haven with lots of trekking opportunities and amazing lazy living. I didn't want to leave these people, but Pai was nowhere in my tentative plans. I decided, why not? I didn't really have plans to begin with. So 9 of us headed to Pai the next morning. It was hands down the best decision I could've made. I love this unexpected and unplanned way of living.

Pai

9 of us from the hostel in Chiang Mai made it to Pai in 3 hours, and it just blew my mind. The ride there from Chiang Mai too is notorious for its 700+ curves in the mountains, and lots of people throw up along the way. they sell t shirts in pai that say "I survived the 752 curves" or something.
Originally i only booked for 2 nights because I wasn't interested in staying longer, but seeing where we were staying, a few of us instantly asked the owners to book us 2 extra nights. We were at SpicyPai, owned by the same company. I didn't want to leave! It was the chillest, most relaxing social scene with bonfires, BBQs, lounging, laughing, and just loving every second.

My home for the next 4 nights

Our crazy bunk beds. soooo awesome.

Lazy hut living in hammocks, all day every day.

The day we got there, Kit the owner told us we should all go and visit the caves in Pai via motorbikes. I think we were a group of almost 15, and we rode the bikes for an hour and a half through the thai countryside. The journey to and from the caves through the countryside was enough to make the whole day worth it - it was amazing. Once we got to the caves we were asked to bamboo raft through them (something i've always wanted to do!) and we fed tons of fish. These caves are apparently the largest in Thailand, with 3 rooms each 800 meters long, and a few cave paintings dating back 3,000 years ago made by hunters. The only bad thing about this trip was that i grazed my leg against one of the parked motorbike's exhaust pipes and now have a crazy burn on my leg. It hasn't blistered though, good sign. Or maybe the bad part was that i got PEED ON by 2 different bats!!!!! Can't decide which is worse.

One of the many sunsets. Love this pic

3-wheeled taxi at one of our pit-stops...

Our SpicyPai group for the day. Thank you, Nick and Levi, for your memorable nipple and ass poses

Right outside the caves, a local with his pipe hanging out on the bamboo rafts.

Later that night we went to the Pai night market. I bought these AMAZING genuine leather-woven sandals for $12 USD (not madddd). We all decided it was a good idea to buy a bunch of those lanterns (you could buy them here too), and let them all go at the same time in the field by our huts. It was soooo cool. We stayed at our huts that night and enjoyed a camp fire (it got incredibly chilly here at night). 

Okay, this guy was out of his freaking mind. I had a hot ginger tea in one of those bamboo cups.

All of our lanterns in the night sky

The next day was spent exploring Pai and trying to find its many waterfalls. I went with 4 people, and I was at the back of a 3-person motorbike which wasn't the most comfortable of experiences, but still manageable. The waterfalls were gorgeous, and we were the only foreigners there. I soaked my feet in the cold stream and overlooked the rocky hills with these 4 friends, enjoying the moment. As we left we saw a monk arrive on his own, and we all agreed that the presence of a monk instantly makes a place look more spiritual and magical, of course we all seized the moment to snap a photo. 

Marije with some cows at the waterfall

Levi sliding into the water

The lone monk, lost in his own world and enjoying the stream, rocks and breeze. 10 monks joined him shortly after.

We got lost after this point, looping around in circles, finding ourselves in an animal sanctuary and eventually a local village which we knew was never visited by tourists, given the locals were so enthusiastic in waving to us and saying hello. We had an incredible BBQ this night, everyone around the camp fire again, drinking and enjoying ourselves. 

The next day was a really lazy day lounging at a nearby pool. I also had the most amazing western meal with a delicious Lychee-Mint shake that i HAVE to learn how to make once i get back home. For our last night again we hung out in the hammocks, watched the sun set and talked through the late hours. A Danish boy played the acoustic guitar the whole night and asked me to sing songs with him. We were the entire hostel's musical entertainment, i thought of my singing group the connchords!<3 I didn't want to leave the friends i'd made here, but everyone was going in a different direction. I didn't want to leave Pai. I didn't want to leave this moment, singing these songs, talking under fleece blankets with these people, lounging in these hammocks, barefooted and cozy with a Chang beer in my hand.

Where I am now:

I left to go back to Chiang Mai this afternoon and am back at SpicyThai with 2 people from our group. They're hosting a BBQ here tonight (not mad about 2 in one week), but it already doesn't feel the same - It is disappointing but also something you need to be at peace with when traveling; that when you make great friends, each of you has to part ways eventually. People from our group were ending their journeys, traveling back to Bangkok, going to Burma, going to India, venturing off to Vietnam... One of the 2 who came back with me, Marije from the netherlands, said that she missed our group. So do I already, but it's something you need to accept while you continue on your journey. Pai was an incredible 4-5 days. It doesn't sound like much, but time feels accelerated when you're traveling, living with the same people, doing the same activities, never leaving each others' sides.... I've met people from Finland, Russia, South Africa, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, the US, England, France and Denmark here, all in their mid-20s, and all eager to discover and learn like me. It's been wild getting to know all of the cultural differences and similarities, and even more wild discovering more about myself day after day.  

I plan on staying in Chiang Mai another 3 days and then headed even further up north to Chiang Rai, then eventually the Golden Triangle where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet so I can take a 2 day boat ride down the Mekong river into Laos. In the next 3 days I want to do a bike tour of the old city, and take a thai cooking course (I'll learn how to cook 6 meals including spring rolls, pad thai, mango sticky rice, green curry chicken... really exciting). Another day hanging by the pool doesn't sound too bad, either. 

Can't believe I only have a week left in Thailand before my visa runs out. It's been a wild, eye-opening journey so far. Til next time,

Celine