"We just hold on and hope we don't die." Those were Emmett's words as we headed from the Chiang Rai airport to Bamboo Nest, our accommodations about an hour's drive north of the city. In-country flights in Thailand are often equal to (or cheaper than) long-distance train tickets, so we took a break from overland travel and instead flew to Chiang Rai from Bangkok.
The owner of Bamboo Nest picked us in her songthaew, which is a truck with bench seats in the truckbed. This ride was our first experience with a songthaew, but we're quickly becoming accustomed to bouncing along in the back of a truck, Thai style.
The owner had told us that taxis can't get to her property, and we could see why...this was the road through a small village that we passed through on our way to Bamboo Nest.
We were excited to stay at Bamboo Nest because of its scenic location and minimalist amenities. No wifi, no cell service, no electricity during the day....but lots of calm and beauty to enjoy, such as this fantastic view from where we ate our meals.
The entire area was enveloped in a thick fog in the morning. After it burned off, you could see the fields and hills surrounding us, as well as some beautiful plants at the property itself.
On our first full day, we decided to hike in the jungle hills surrounding Bamboo Nest. We set off with a roughly-drawn paper map on what (we estimated) would be about a 2 hour hike.
After passing through fields, a small village, and jungle terrain, we made it to a beautiful waterfall.
After the waterfall, we all felt good enough that we amended our plans. Rather than return directly to Bamboo Nest, our new plan was to hike 7 more kilometers (4.3 miles) to a hot springs resort, where we could eat lunch and soak. According to that roughly drawn map, the path looked rather easy to follow and like it would circle us towards the hot springs and then back to Bamboo Nest.
We kept hiking..........and hiking.........and hiking.......going ever away from the direction of the hot springs and Bamboo Nest and never finding the turnoff on our map. The views were pretty spectacular, though.
After about 1 1/2 hours of hiking further and further into the jungle without finding the turnoff we needed, we decided it was time to call it and turn around. Then the path that appeared to lead back to the small village led, in fact, to someplace completely different. So eventually we decided to make our way back to the waterfall since we knew the route home from there. With our original 2 hour hike now a 6 hour one, we finally returned to Bamboo Nest tired and hungry. And, after talking with a couple of other guests, we think some "artistic liberties" might have been taken with that map because we were not the only ones to get semi-lost in the jungle that day.
The next day, we decided to take a walk to the hot springs we'd been shooting for. They turned out to be kind of gross (basically an inadequately cleaned swimming pool with a "warm but not hot" water...bacteria bath, anyone?), so the walk was more of the highlight of the day.
We all really like staying at places like Bamboo Nest (and Yangshuo Outside Inn in China, and Phong Nha Farmstay in Vietnam) for a couple of reasons. First, the scenery is usually really beautiful, and being outside a city gives us all a chance to breathe and relax more. Second, these types of places always have a communal area where guests tend to congregate, particularly in the evenings. This gives us a chance to talk with other travelers, share stories, tips, and suggestions, and enjoy each other's company. We have met some really interesting people and made new friends this way!
After 3 nights at Bamboo Nest, though, it was time for us to move on to a homestay closer to the city of Chiang Rai. We wanted to see the city, and we also needed wifi to continue making our travel plans. We only have our logistics planned out about a week ahead, at this point, so it's a constant process of researching transport, accommodations, and making arrangements.
The city of Chiang Rai does not have a ton of tourist sites, but we did take in the Night Market, where we watched this lady weaving beautiful scarves.
We also watched the clock tower change colors in a "performance" that featured salsa music....felt a bit out of place, but whatever.
The next day we rented bikes from our homestay (these were the nicest and best maintained bikes we've used so far...not surprising, though, since one of the owners is Dutch) and did a 23 KM (14 mile) bike ride. In contrast to the not-so-accurate jungle hiking map, the bike route map included precise measurements and directions, so it was easy to follow and stay on the intended route. Colin read the directions as the rest of us pedaled.
The halfway point on the route was Chiang Rai's Wat Rong Khun (or White Temple), a completely different temple from the others we've seen so far. Inside the main temple, the artwork on the walls includes such pop culture references as Minions, Superman, Neo from The Matrix movie, Michael Jackson, the World Trade Centers on 9/11, and Kung Fu Pandas.
This is the bridge into the main temple, with hands reaching up from hell on either side.
Wat Rong Khun's architecture and decorations were really unique.
The bathrooms were the most elaborately decorated, ornate public bathrooms I've ever seen.
We purchased this hanging ornament (I'm sure there's a proper name for it, but I don't know it), which brings good things to its owner(s). We'll take all the good luck and divine benevolence we can get this year, for sure.
Though we were glad to have a short stay closer to Chiang Rai, the real draw of the area for us was staying outside the city, where we could appreciate the beauty and calm of the mountains of Northern Thailand. We really enjoyed it and would definitely go back!
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