Northern Thailand
We’ve decided to consolidate our journeys through Northern Thailand into one blog post, mostly due to the fact that we’ve been quickly hopping around from place to place, spending little bits of time here and the there. Let’s run through the highlights:
CHIANG MAI
Like any good hotel elevator, we’ve learned that traveling has its ups and downs. You’ll arrive at a new destination with high hopes – based on positive travel blog reviews, TripAdvisor tips and hopeful, naive instinct. Occasionally, however, you get disappointed when something doesn’t live up to expectation. Emily and I are constantly seeking increasingly authentic experiences, but sometimes find ourselves disappointed in places that have already been overdeveloped by tourism infrastructure (think Yellowstone), or in places that have zero infrastructure (think Jamestown, North Dakota).
Going to a place that is overdeveloped means that food prices are high (locals will also try to cater to tourists by selling expensive western food, which, every once in a blue moon, we cave into), tourists are snobby and entitled and it gets difficult to visit the outdoors without being forced into a guided tour experience that lacks any sort of authenticity.
[Too tall for public transportation]
We came into Chiang Mai with high hopes. Esteemed as a lowkey, genuine food capital of Thailand, rich with culture and surrounded by incredible, explorable outdoor scenery. We arrived at an incredibly picturesque city, with canals and buzzing street markets intertwined through a frenzy of smiling Thais, wandering stray dogs, and typical congested traffic.
[Local Flower Markets]
We experienced the wonders of the multiple food and flower markets littered throughout the city. Pork rice and pork noodles, for almost every meal; the most delicious was one served by a famous vendor known for wearing a cowboy hat. True story.
Chiang Mai was ultimately pretty dissapointing. We got scammed by local police, for driving a rental scooter without a official motorcycle license – also true story. We were singled out in a frenzy of local Thai traffic, like many other western-looking tourists riding rental bikes. Upon checking our International Driver’s Permits, we were told that we didn’t meet the official requirements needed to drive and that we would need to pay $1000 baht, or go to jail for 30 days. After concluding that jail time would likely disrupt our travel itinerary too drastically, we reluctantly paid the fine. The cop said that we woud have to go to the local DMV to test into a motorcycle license, an easy process he insisted (a process he insisted would only take an hour)… which we would later find was a total scam.
And so we spent a good part of our day there, at the DMV in Thailand, before being told that cops do this all the time because they know that in order for tourists to get licensed, a week long training course + test AND proof of Thai residency are mandatory. Similar to how we figured jail time did our itinerary no good, we also decided that dipping into our travel funds to buy a Thai chateau would also likely do us no good. And so we left it at that… knowing that our funds probably bought a police officer and his buddies some delicious pork noodle soup for lunch. Probably a few Chiang beers as well.
CHIANG DAO
Chiang Dao, on the other hand, was incredible – a perfect northern Thailand experience, one filled with a breathtakingly beautiful hike, and even more delicious pork noodle soup (I wasn’t kidding – it’s all there is to eat around here). Chiang Dao struck the perfect balance of being a place that had the minimum required infrastructure (IE: it was easy to rent a scooter to explore) and being an authentic place that felt well off the beaten path. Having access to a scooter meant that we were able to get far away from the tourism and the expensive amenities nearby and closer to where the locals went.
I’m going to cut to the chase here, two key takeaways from Chiang Dao: (1) epic hike – (2) our favorite Thai street food yet.
(1): The hike, Doi Luang Chaing Dao, was an adventure up Thailand’s third tallest peak, nested deep in the Chiang Dao National Park. Research and preparation for the hike had us at a crossroads: on one hand, all official information on the hike said that it was manditory to pay an absurd amount for transportation (apparently scooters weren’t allowed to access the trailhead due to bogus theft concerns) and an even more absurd amount for a guide that would take you on the 8 hour hike (officials will tell you it’s a two day hike) through the tropical rainforest. On the other hand, numerous accounts online insisted that the fees and guides were bogus, that the hike was completely doable by yourself, that a scooter was perfectly fine and that all of these regulations were an unofficial attempt to capitalize on tourism econcomy. In other words, with some research, a good map, and a slip-through-the-back-door, can-do attitude, we could do it ourselves.
And we did. No one questioned us the entire time. We drove our scooter up the incredibly steep National Park road, found the trail and conquered the peak. Our scooter wasn’t stolen like they said t would be. We didn’t get eaten by the jungle rats like they said we would (ok, maybe they didn’t say that). The whole ordeal took 7 hours and surprisingly, wasn’t as difficult as everyone made it out to be. It was a blast and was easily one of the most memorable treks we’ve done so far.
[Banana Roti, ’nuff said]
(2): The local food, ah the local food. As previously mentioned, having access to quick transportation makes it easy to get far away from, well, you know… white people. Even though we stayed in incredible, honeymoon-worthy bungalows, it was nice to avoid overpriced western food and to dive deep into the local, inexpensive and ridicuously tasty, food scene. Chiang Dao had the most incredible pork noodle soup we’ve had in Thailand and the most incredible green-tea soy milk we’ve had in Thailand.
It was so easy to just fall completely in love with Chiang Dao, everything worked out perfectly.
FANG
I mentioned our feelings about visiting overdeveloped tourism centers. We also learned an important lesson that applies in the opposite direction: the need for balance between something that’s overdeveloped and something that’s totally undeveloped. Having no tourism structure whatsoever means that it’s ridiculously difficult to rent a scooter, find a tour, find milk tea, do anything…
We visited the incredibly small town of Fang with high hopes. We read about an epic hike to Thailand’s second tallest peak, deemed as one of the most epic journeys in the country. We didn’t realize that Fang was more of a vacation destination spot for Thais (aka local-language-speaking vacationers equipped with personal transportation) than a spot for Western tourists. Our hotel, although very nice, was located far outside of the city center. We realized that the hike was far outside of our planning and timing capabilities, that scooter rental and public transportation were non-existent, and that we were stuck.
And so we sat in the hotel room, planned and drank beer. That was Fang.
CHIANG RAI
All you need to know about Chaing Rai is that we visited the architecturally-beautiful, yet traditionally-controversial White Temple.
And that we woke up at 3am for this sunrise view: Phu Chi Fah, an epic vista overlooking a cloudly Laos.
[Emily and I smiling, but secretly still asleep on the inside]
Our time in Northern Thailand taught us valuable lessons about finding the right balance between overdeveloped and non-existent tourism infrastructure. Don’t get me wrong, we still definitely had fun.
NORTHERN THAILAND > LAOS