The Ride. The town of Pai

I’ve done it. I’ve been to Chiang Mai for Songkran, bucket list, life goals, all of the clichés. I wanted something more from my time there. Living life on a whim at this point had only improved my situation, and I wanted an adventure for my last few days up north.

“Fuck it.” I thought. I need to go to Pai. I had heard all about it from the travellers I had met and figured that was my next destination.

I got to talking with John, an eager brit that was staying at the hostel and loved motorcycles, and I had casually mentioned that I was thinking about renting a proper bike (none of this scooter business) and booting through the 700+ twists and turns through the mountains to get to Pai. He was all about it. Sold.

No turning back now

So the next day we rented our bikes for 24 hours and started on a journey that will continue to be the best memory of my trip so far.

The view was amazing

As we rode through the amazing scenery I figured this was pretty much why I wanted to come here. It was times like these that made me want to scream to the gods of insanity and thank whatever forces made this happen. Life was good and I had nothing but a smile on my face for the 4 hour drive there and then the same (same) back.

We arrived in Pai in time for dinner and I immediately fell in love with the town. The vibe was much more different than other parts of my travels. An impromptu jam session took place as I tried to keep up on harmonica. I was asked to stay and get paid to perform at a bar the next night which was unbelievable but I had a flight booked in Chiang Mai for the next day. I’m not sure I can carry a performance anyways as most of my playing is highly improvisational and usually fairly booze fueled.

We only had the night and I saw the town. I met some people, had some laughs and then woke up the next day to ride back to Chiang Mai and catch my flight back to Phuket.

More and more I love this country, the north may have my heart but the south may be where I belong in the long run.

To the next step and back to Phi Phi,

Daniel Double-u

I am hooked

The city of Chiang Mai (Songkran 2014)

Setting out to plan the trip I really had no plans in mind. I just figured enough to book a one way to Bangkok and hit the ground running. I was going to burn it on both ends as long as I was still breathing. Plans meant constraints, and constraints were pretty much shackles at this point.

I did know I wanted to make it to Songkran. Every year starting April 13 Thailand celebrates its new years celebration. In sanskrit the word translates roughly to astrological passage. The holiday is very important to the Buddhist majority of Thailand as it marks a new beginning and a way to start clean and begin a new trip around the sun. 

Just a wild scene

On the streets it is pandemonium. In what has to be the world's biggest water fight, businesses and people line every lane with buckets of ice cold water and load up the water guns and proceed to have the best time ever.

In Phuket they celebrate for one day/night. There is water everywhere you go and if you enjoy the craziness you hit up Patong and get buck, but you could be on a side road in central rural Thailand and some kid will pop out of the bushes with a bucket of water and proceed to soak you with the biggest smile on his face. 

This kid would stand there all day

In Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) they go for five days straight. As Songkran got closer I kept hearing that was the place to be. They go harder, and longer than anyone else. I mulled over going up there for about .7 seconds before booking my flight for the next day.

The old and inner city of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a canal (think moat) and a brick wall. This moat provides the perfect water gun replenishing station for everyone to keep on soaking eachhother. For days. Hundreds of thousands of Thais and tourists flock to this hub and party their freakin asses off.

If this video doesn't work, click this link SONGKRAN

And we did that as well. The solid group of people that convened on the Bann Nana house hostel definitely enjoyed the odd cocktail . A good mix of Canadian, English, Belgian, and German. There was a bar district that saw its fair share of us during Songkran and it was insanity. On separate occasions I danced my ass off to drum and bass (a rare commodity over here), drank 4 buckets in one night, and broke up two fights (one resulting in a concussion). Alcohol and I have an abusive relationship, and it beats the crap out of me on the regular. 

The Chiang Gang

By the time the five days were over I had been wet and partied enough for five lifetimes, but that just seems to be Thailand in general. 

Happy new years!

Daniel Double-u