Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai has only been a bit of a short trip as I intend to go back there but even with a short trip I have still managed to meet some cool people and have a few mini adventures.

Getting to Chiang Mai on the night train ended up being a much more enjoyable experience than I could have imagined. I had thought that my second class, £15 bunk bed ticket would be hot and cramped and not a fun way to spend a day but certainly the cheapest. As it turns out it was actually a pretty spacious bed that was made for me when I got there and had air conditioning cold enough to leave you reaching for a jumper. I was just as comfy on the train as any hostel that I’ve been in so it was certainly a good plan to travel that distance during the night as I also didn’t need an extra night in a hostel so extra savings (My mum would be so proud!).

On the train to Chiang Mai I met a German girl who was also travelling alone and got chatting. She was going to meet someone else she knew in Chiang Mai already. We chatted for a while before we went to bed and in the morning when we got up we were also joined by another 3 people who had got on the train later in the night at another stop and also heading to Chiang Mai. It was pretty cool to get chatting to them and since no one had any accommodation sorted yet we all headed to my hostel to drop my bags off before we went in search of somewhere for them.

After finally finding them all places to stay somehow our group had lost a few but gained others and so the new group of 9 need a mission and a way to waste the day. One of the girls had heard about a cool old abandoned quarry that had been flooded and now had a restaurant next to it. Loads of people go down to the quarry to swim and dive off of the rocks and so we dived in a van and headed down there.

The quarry turned out to be pretty awesome with great water and crazy high cliffs for diving off of. One of the american guys decided to go first and set a bar that could not be beaten by doing a back flip off of the top with some massive extension that we luckily managed to capture. I have the photos of it but one of the other guys managed to get a slomo video of it which I have to get off of him since it was seriously impressive.
The next day I met up with Tomas, a Czech guy from the day before and we hired mopeds again to do a 100km loop into the mountains and back into Chiang Mai. The ride was awesome and luckily the weather held out as there was a moment there when it looked like we might have got rained on which would not have been fun as when it comes down here it does in a serious way. Not a bad way to waste away a few hours before chilling out then heading to the flower festival at the local temple with a load more people I had met in my hostel.

Turns out it really is a small world too as one of the girls I met in Chiang Mai spent some time in New Zealand and on her 1 day in Wanaka played volleyball with Jay and the other people that I was friends with when I was there. Seems that the more I travel the more I realise that everyone is connected.