HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhaaaa
NO
We've all had enough of that, yes? Good.
From now on we'll just stick to STARWARS YEAH
...
Well~ as excited as I am for the film (THAT'S LIKE OUT RIGHT NOW AHHHHHH AND I JUST WATCHED LAST WEEK AHHHH I HAVE TO SEE IT AGAIN AND AGAIN “I like the part where Keira Knightley battles the Harry Potter villain in the Narnia forest.”).
... and as you can tell from this post's title... this post isn't about Star Wars. Sorry. I truly am.
Sing a song and let's move on.
Let's travel way wayyy back to last winter break. Almost a year ago now!
Wait. Why, Gabby? You already haven't posted for a month.. Don't you have stories from Korea?
Oh yes, I do indeed. But now that the school year is winding down, I've got lots more desk time plus winter vacation, so you can expect even more blogging soon!
But as for my winter SE Asia travels~ I never got through all of those adventures here and have some fun anecdotes for you. So settle down and read ;)
First, like this title says, I traveled in Thailand alone.
Oh my. Really, Gabby? Is that safe?
Yes, now really, shut up.
Ahem, I did a lot of research, because no matter how fearless and confident you are, it's just plain stupid to go to a foreign country, not knowing anything about the culture, and expect everything to go hunky dory. You can offend people. Even if you don't have your national flag patched all over, tourist-heavy places have dealt with foreigners so much they are sharp. They can tell. Therefore, intention or not, you are representing your home country and you can seriously tarnish the already not-so-hot reputation of tourists from your country (honestly no matter where you're from, I bet tourists don't have a sparkling rep).
That being said, to those who say you'd never ever travel alone or that it's dangerous, I tell thee, NAY! If you prepare yourself it can actually be really rewarding and fun!
So let's get on with Gabby's Solo Adventures in Thailand!
Except, with more confidence! Yeah!
That sure wasn't all that I did in Chiang Mai. I was on a pretty tight schedule the day I left, because I had to catch a train to Bangkok in the early evening. But instead of going straight to the station I really wanted to see Wat Doi Suthep on the top of the mountain that my temple stay, Wat Umong, was at the base of.
I started out after returning my white temple stay clothes to the head monk, who asked if I needed a ride to town. I answered no, and that I would be going on a hike. As I had read from blogs claiming Thai people are not big on hiking, the monk immediately became distressed, saying I cannot hike this mountain. It's dangerous, it's difficult, etc.
Thanks for the concern, but I'm good. Later dude!
*cough* foreshadowing
I had two vague maps I screenshot-ed in preparation and headed to where I hoped the Chaing Mai University was (since that's where my map to the hiking trail starts as well).
I took quite a few wrong turns (hey these streets aren't even labeled) but eventually made it to where I needed to be. It was still late morning and cool enough to wear my light jacket and pants (covering up skin isn't the law or anything, but I still didn't want to offend anyone). I started the trek following the first few roads (with the help of this post saved onto my phone). Unfortunately even those instructions weren't the clearest. A young local-looking guy was walking in front of me, so I thought he might also be on his way to the trail and followed him.
That was my first mistake. I should have remembered if the monk was so blown away by the idea of hiking, this guy wouldn't be going either if he was a local...
Well I followed him. We continued on this road leading up the mountain, zig-zagging for quite a bit longer than my web instructions implied and I was getting warm with my backpack starting to weigh me down a bit.
My fearless leader was surely freaked out by me following him for so long, and suddenly turned off at a restaurant that appeared out of nowhere (this street was a lot of trees and trees and trees) but it sure had a good view. At that point my doubts were kinda confirmed, but not wanting to admit my mistake, I continued on. Shortly, I saw the TV tower that was "right near the entrance of the hiking trail" in the distance. I sort-of thought that the road was heading in that direction so I kept going...
And the road turned away, and turned away even further...
Admitting defeat, I took off my now stifling jacket, rolled up my pants, layered on the OFF Deep Forest, and power-walked back the way I came. Following Mr. Deceiving-Local-Hiker I did take a wrong turn, and quickly found the real entrance to the hiking trail.
It was pretty easy going, and like my guide said, eventually trees with orange or very faded cream/brown sashes wrapped around them appeared to guide the way. Enjoy some very un-artistic photos:
Eventually I made it to this AMAZING INCREDIBLE BEAUTIFUL AHHHHHH Temple.
This message brought to you by, Wat Pha Lat.
Now let me describe this in a more eloquent way: As much as I truly enjoy immersing myself in nature, to hike beneath a forest canopy for an extended period of time, when suddenly the sky opens up, the sound of rushing water fills the air, and the sunlight illuminates long white dragons that seem to fly with the water as it cascades down the mountain, well that is a magical moment.
Almost as magical as SHINee's Onew peeking through plants to smile at you.
This temple was really just a small halfway or two-thirds marker to the big kahuna finish point, Wat Doi Suthep, but it was amazing. I explored a bit. With only a handful of locals and tourists, it was still very peaceful. I bowed at the main shrines with my newfound temple-stay knowledge of showing respect to the Buddha. Then continued on my way.
You can see Chiang Mai city from this temple too!
Even though the trail wasn't always marked with the tree sashes, or there were multiple tree sash turn options, I didn't make any wrong turns, and finished the hike rather quickly. (Funny how I got more lost on real roads and easily traveled through the forest...)
When I finally made it to the top I did try to take a victorious selfie... but as I'm sure you know, I'm really bad at that. (Seriously, how do you get everything you want in the background while making yourself look good at the same time??? Even my 셀카봉 stick didn't help)
VICTORIOUS!!!
There were many many many many many tourists at this temple. Many of them were in huge groups with a guide. They were all loud and obnoxious despite the signs clearly asking for silence in this active place of worship.
One especially humorous and ironic interaction between tour groups was a bunch of Chinese tourists talking excitedly about a photo they just took, when a German lady tapped them on the shoulder and started condemning them loudly. Honestly both the tour groups were too loud, and now that perturbed woman was making even more noise than the Chinese were. (It's a common, sad misconception to view foreigners as loud just because of this whole, languages one doesn't understand = noise) News flash for those who complain Chinese are noisy, it's a tonal language. They're not angry and screaming, they are just talking. And if they are excited, like many human beings, their voices raise.
Chel has the best expressions.
I grabbed a waffle like my web guide recommended, which was sweet and appreciated after my earlier physical exertion. Yet I was also kinda on temple-stay appetite-level, and quickly became full with over half of it leftover. I was seated in a nice quiet-ish area outside of the main OOOH AHHH GOLD PRETTY central attraction of the temple, but still had a nice view.
My view.
My waffle.
We sat quietly for a moment, then they started chatting a bit amongst each other (not expecting me to understand I'm sure). One of the young women observed how good my waffle looked. I listened for a bit as she asked her companion if he wanted to share a waffle, he didn't, and she continued to eye mine.
After over 24 hours of quiet contemplation at the temple stay, I felt much more bold and social than normal Gabby levels are set at. So I thoroughly shocked the tourists when I offered them my waffle and explained I was too full to finish, but it does taste really good. In Chinese.
The woman took the plate in her hands but didn't make any move to eat it. To avoid pressuring them, I decided I should leave.
I found a red taxi truck to bring me back to town, but then had to wait for another to take me to the train station. Despite getting lost in the morning and waiting for a taxi (that made multiple stops around town to drop off others before going to the train station) I made it to the station with plenty of time to spare.
I took this awesome sleeper train to Bangkok.
There was a view of the country for the first bit before it got dark. As we left Chiang Mai, there was this adorable little boy and his father waiting for the train to pass. The little boy was in a batman costume and waved at me. Cute overdose. I felt bubbly for the rest of the trip.
The first half of the way I didn't even have anyone on the seat in front of me, then eventually a really friendly couple of brothers took their seats in front and across from me. They were visiting their parents in their hometown for New Years holiday and now had to head back to work in Bangkok. We talked a lot (Gabby social mode still set high) then when all the beds were pulled out, and we were the last people talking, stopped and got a few hours of sleep. It wasn't extremely comfortable for a night's sleep, but it was fun and cheap and got me to my next location.
Nobody there, so might as well stretch out a bit...
The same car with the beds pulled out. I had a top bunk (much narrower than the bottom)
Whew, this went on for quite a bit! I'll stop here for now~ (If you want to see more photos, since I really only take a few bad ones... check out this blog too!)
Bed time! Sleep well my dear readers~~~
Gaba Gaba Bang Bang (ding dong ding dang)
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