SEA Adventures | Day 2 - Mountains, Spirituality and Scooters

[chuazm]

Introduction

I'm currently travelling across a few countries in South East Asia - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. With only time, limited money and zero plans made, let's see where this adventure takes me! In my previous post, I talked about my arrival in Chiangmai and how I spent the night with some interesting entertainment.

I plan to write about the majority of my activities, experiences and thoughts throughout this trip not just for my future self but for anyone else interested as well.

Today is my first time renting and riding a scooter and I had the time of my life! I was actually pretty scared about doing this since I've never been allowed to ride a bike ever as a child and my parents would always frown at any mentions of it.

Got myself a nice cool pink bike with some battle-scars on it already

A Morning Like Any Other

My morning started pretty basic. I wokeup early, went to the cafe next door to get some coffee and to get some work done. Chungsoon woke up a bit later and we went to get lunch. Chungsoon offered to let me try riding his scooter around and I actually got the hang of it.

After lunch, we got back to the hostel and I decided to rent another scooter. BEST DECISION EVER!

What was supposed to be an uneventful day of working ended up being a spontaneous trip up the mountain to visit the main temple of Chiangmai where many of the locals are celebrating Wesak.

My first trip on a scooter will be heading up a mountain!

Northern Thai Cuisine - Not My Cup of Chai

Coming back to our hostel, I wanted to spoil myself a bit by going to a good Thai restaurant. With the help of the internet, we found Tong Tem Toh which had double the number of reviews and higher ratings than most of the other restaurants.

We got there and ordered early but had to wait for an hour before getting our seats.

Chiangmai Appetizers (Sausauges, pickled vegetables, pork rind), red curry, fried chicken and omelette with minced pork

Based on the ratings, reviews and amount of people, the food should be pretty legit. So, my only conclusion is that I don't really enjoy the cuisine. It is a lot deep fried food and pickled vegetables. The curry was also dry which I guess is technically not wrong since it did have curry leaves in them. It was interesting, but I probably won't be coming back.

The Rest of the Night on 2 Wheels

With a few more hours left with our scooters, we decided to ride around the whole Old City of Chiangmai. It was Wesak Day, a holy Buddhist holiday, so we couldn't find any bars open and 7-11 doesn't even sell beers.

Got some Mango Sticky Rice - won't be a Thai experience without it

Visited more temples. The entrance of these temples look so small and unassuming but you go in and there's suddenly just giant structures that you wouldn't see from outside

*Much needed foot massage to unwind from the intense holidaying happening

Takeaways

So, what have I learnt about myself or about the trip today?

1. I should get a bike. Riding with the wind in my face through the jungle was one of the most refreshing and amazing experiences I've had.
2. I really need to properly plan my work this month or I'll be hard-pressed to find time to work.