Monday Night (Chiang Mai):
We landed in Chiang Mai, walked outside and easily found a cab who took us to the guest house where we were booked for the next few days. I had never stayed at a guest house before and really didn’t know how it was different from a hostel or a hotel. A guest house is traditionally a small homestead that is smaller than a hotel where you can rent rooms for a daily rate, but doesn’t have large shared rooms like a hostel. Our accommodations, and most in the area, provided breakfast with the rental of a room and came with a super friendly staff of young, college-age girls who were very helpful and spoke decent English. After checking in and checking out our room, we went across the river at the recommendation of the girl working at the front desk to The Goodview. There is a little strip of restaurants and bars along the river each of which seemed to have a live band playing and a seizure-inducing light show happening. The Goodview had a bunch of outdoor seating so we moved away from the “eclectic” music selections of the dance party djs into a less claustrophobic space that was still lively but less intense with the sound. I should also mention that we ended up in Chiang Mai during the festival of Loi Krathong, so the city was absolutely jam packed!
Anyway, we sat down at the table, ordered a bottle of SangSom, a few cokes, and a bucket of ice. This was another new concept to me; you basically have bottle service at your table like you would in a night club. They bring the whole bottle of booze and you mix the drinks at your table. From here we walked our way back to the guesthouse noticing the sound of small fireworks going off here and there, a tiny preview of what was to come.
Guesthouse: Rustic Guesthouse http://www.rusticday.com/
Bar: The Goodview http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293917-d2696471-Reviews-The_Good_View_Bar_Restaurant_Chiang_Mai-Chiang_Mai.html
Tuesday (Chiang Mai) and Motor Bikes!
On Tuesday we got up, had breakfast at the hotel and decided to wander into the old city which was a short walk from our guesthouse. The old city appeared to be an area with a fair amount of backpackers and hostels but not much of what you would expect to go along with that: shopping, restaurants, bars, etc. At this point we weren’t really sure what Chiang Mai was all about. After looking around for a bit we decided to grab a beer and talk about what we want to do with the rest of our day. Tillman had heard about the Samoeng Loop, a winding loop about 100km long that is great to see by motorbike offering a fun ride, beautiful views and a break from the crowded city.
The only problem was I had never been on a motorbike, not even as a passenger. Not to mention they drive on the left side of the road. I was going to have to learn at some point though, and T and I both knew we were ready to get out of town for a couple hours so we walked back to the guesthouse to change into tennis shoes and see if we could rent bikes. Because of the craziness and amount of people for Loy Krathong, the guesthouse was all out of motorbikes. I had a flash of maybe-we-should-wait nervousness, quickly followed by a wave of T’s hand and a walk back to the old city to find a place to rent. On the way we stop by a parked bike and Tillman shows me the throttle, the brake, how to turn the thing on and off. After the visual lesson I’m basically an experience rider, right? We quickly found a spot that we had walked by earlier who had the bikes we wanted and would rent to us for the week at a slightly discounted price (300B/day for each bike or $16/day total.)
Tillman fills out paper work and then go to a wall of helmets, many of which appear to be very well used for their intended purpose with streaks of paint peeled off by what I can imagine was asphalt. At this point, I look at T and mention that “I think I’m having a panic attack.” We go back to the bikes to turn them on and check them out. Also, so Tillman can show me where to start the thing and how the throttle works. At this point the renters have taken notice of my wide eyes and the fact that most of the color had drained from my face. “Your friend, she can drive a bike?” they ask Tillman. “Oh yeah, she can drive one, it’s just been a little while.” He responds. Looking at me, he’s asks if I think I’ve got it and suggesting we should probably go before this guy changes his mind about renting me a bike.
We both hop on, I turn the thing on, Tillman takes off and I follow. I would like to point out that Tillman was ahead and not looking so he missed the part where I revved a little too hard the first time and then slammed on the breaks. Jerking along like a 15 year old with a permit. We pulled out onto the “wrong” side of the road and went for it! Right into the middle of holiday Thailand city traffic. They rent the bikes practically devoid of gas, so we rode about a mile through town to a gas station where we stopped and I exhaled for the first time in 20 minutes. The gas attendant then showed me how to use my turn signal, and I became a pro for real. I would like to mention this entire time Tillman was incredibly supportive and encouraging, he did everything he could within the limits provided to show me what to do. The fact that he had unwavering courage in me gave me the extra boost I needed to be brave and go for it!