White Temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand

Hi friends! 

I had a surprisingly awesome travel day today. 

As I mentioned, I randomly signed up to take a slow boat along the Mekong River to Luang Prabang in Laos. It was very spur-of-the-moment and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. 

I was picked up at my hostel after breakfast in a white mini van packed full of other people. One of the guys informed me that we were going to be driving towards the border today and then we would have two days floating along the river. I realized I hadn't even looked at the itinerary - it was pure, blind faith in the smiley hostel man's recommendation. 

There were a couple of cool people on the bus, so I think it will be a good group of people to cruise along with down the river :) 

The best surprise today was a stop-over in Chiang Rai to see the white temple. 

It was like nothing I had ever seen before: the front is supposed to symbolize purgatory and you are supposed to walk straight past it and go towards heaven inside (and not loiter around posing for a pic like I did). 

The inside was the most interesting part for me. Cameras weren't allowed, but it was covered in intricate paintings of strange modern images such as Freddie Kreuger, Batman, Spider-Man and gasoline on the back wall and then progressively beautiful images at the from with the Buddha statue. There were even people still painting the walls inside. Very interesting and unexpected. 

There was even a cute little wishing well. I made a wish, obvi. 

We continued on and are staying at a cute little guesthouse in Chiang Kung near the Mekong River. 

I took a walk down and it has a crazy current! I even saw what looked like some dragon boaters Momster! They had to seriously give'r to make it back upstream. 

There was these free public workout equipment along the boardwalk, and a bunch of people were using it. Such a great idea! 

They should do this everywhere! I then heard some music blaring out of a car in the parking lot by the water. 

I assumed it was just hooligans, but it was an impromptu aerobics class - I love this place!! 

I'm excited to see what the boat experience will be like, wish me luck ;)

Chiang Mai, Thailand: Take Two

Initially, I was planning on heading over to Cambodia from Pattaya, but I decided last minute to tag along with the guys that I had been hanging out with back up north to Chiang Mai since they were going over to Laos for their visa run. 

When you arrive in Thailand by flight, you get a 30 day visa. The guys had 60 days since they had applied for it beforehand in Canada, but had to leave the country and come back in order to renew it. Thailand is very strict about overstaying your visa (unlike my experience overstaying my visa in Egypt) and will charge 500 baht ($15) per day that you go over the stamp in your passport. 

We took the overnight bus, which went really well. We had heard horror stories about it, but the driver was good and we got tons of free snacks, drinks and meals along the way. Gotta love Thai VIP buses ;) 

It was like coming home, in a way, when I got to Chiang Mai. I knew the layout of the city a bit already. I wanted to catch a bus to Laos as soon as possible since I was cutting it close to my departure date, but the earliest one was the following morning. Womp womp. 

I checked back into the amazing Rose Guest House, with the lovely smiley guy who works at the counter. He set me up with a dorm for special price ;) 

I reconvened with the guys, who had rented scooters. We headed up the mountain to Wat Doi Sutthep, and found an awesome waterfall along the way. 

We hiked up to the top, which was so much fun! 

A nice Thai man helped us maneuver the trail. I expected him to want a fee at the end, but he just wanted to chat. 

We continued on past Wat Doi Suthep to the palace on the top of the hill. It had some amazing views of the city, and it was so cool to see the sights and jungle from the back of a scooter. We almost ran out of gas at one point - it's quite a ways up the mountain - but thankfully found some just in the knick of time. Those sneaky bike rental places, not giving you enough gas. Sneaky, sneaky. 

When I returned to my hostel, the smiley man asked me what my plan was the next day. I told him I was signed up to take the bus the following morning to Laos, and he said 'No, I think you take the slow boat instead. I take it three nice. So nice' 

It didn't take much convincing ;) 

So, I'm all set up to take a slow boat to Laos! I have absolutely no idea what to expect, but I'm excited to take in the sights along the Mekong River soon!

I guess no plan is the best plan :)

Night Dive in Pattaya, Thailand

It wasn't all partying during my entire stay in Pattaya. I actually managed to sneak in another night dive while I was there. 

They just keep getting better and better! 

One of my friends, who has been 'wintering' in Pattaya for about 5 years now, did his dive masters with scuba something dive shop in Pattaya. 

Our other friend, who has been going to Pattaya for 2 or 3 years running now, is also an advanced diver like myself, so we all decided to go out for a night dive together. 

The boat was pretty packed, but we were able to have a small group of just the three of us and one of their friends from Holland. 

We went for a drift dive first and saw a turtle(!!). Definitely a highlight for me :) 

After some dinner on the boat, we went out at night and it was amazing. It's crazy how different a dive site look from the daytime to nighttime. 

I actually preferred it to my night dive in Koh Tao since we were the only lights in the water that I could see, whereas there was a solid glow in Koh Tao from other groups nearby. 

Teamo supremo!  

I would def suggest checking out the diving scene in Pattaya. Not as many people dive there compared to the southern Thai islands, so it's a much more personal experience. 

Pattaya, Thailand

 

Pattaya is probably the craziest city I have ever been. 

For serious, it is a crazy party town on the ocean. 

It has beaches, huge weekend night markets, scuba diving, kite boarding, tons of restaurants and bars, amazing (and cheap) massage places, and is one of the biggest areas for prostitution in Thailand. 

After Cyn returned to Canada, I decided to go visit a couple of friends from back home who have been wintering (or at least spending the majority of the Canadian winter months) for the past 5 years in Pattaya. They are both into diving, and have been working and learning through one of the local dive shops. 

I have to admit, I had a ridiculously fun time in Pattaya. 

We did fun daytime activities: we went to the local beach, took the ferry to the nearby island of Koh Larn, which was a chill place to lay by the beach and swim in slightly cooler and clearer water than in Pattaya. 

We did the huge night market and I got one of their Thai friends to help pick out the best Thai food. In her opinion, the mystery meat soups is where it's at. I have to agree ;)

Strangely enough, the highlight of my visit in Pattaya was the nightlife, which isn't usually the case when I'm travelling. Sure, a bit of partying is a fun addition to the daytime activities, but Pattaya partying is a whole other level of craziness. 

We would usually start our night in Jomtien at the 'beer bars', which is an area with a bunch of little open-air bars with pool tables and chairs. We frequented one in particular with cheap drinks, free pool and the most amazing bar cat ever. 

We would then rally the troops and head to walking street aka the craziest street of life. 

It is all lit up and has bar after bar after club after go-go bar all the way down the strip. 

In case you didn't know, a go-go bar is a fancy name for a strip club. Which gives you an idea about the amount of prostitution that happens in Pattaya. 

It was the first time that Thailand's sex industry was really out in the open for me. I had seen my fair share of girls hanging out in the front of restaurants and bars, waiting to chat with foreigners. Pattaya is a bit more obvious. It's wild. 

Yummy deep fried bugs at the market 

Prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand, so one would have to assume that there is a lot of money that is being exchanged to allow the go-go bars to stay open. 

Anywho, we would usually end our night with some pad thai in the wee hours of the morning and then recoup on the beach the next day. After about 5 days, I was exhausted but so glad to have the exclusive tour of Pattaya from my friends! 

Extra bonus: they had bikes. Best way to get around and see a new place! This was the bike area at the movie theatre. Best part about the Thai movie experience is that they play 'the Kings Song' at the beginning and everyone has to stand up and honour him. If you haven't already guessed, he's kind I a big deal here ;)

If only I wasn't so terrified to get on one myself or trusted my sense of balance and general roads skills more than I do...as it stands, I'ma leave the bike riding to the professionals ;) 

Overall, I would actually recommend checking Pattaya out for the crazy nightlife, the markets full of Russian tourists, and the laid back beaches. I in no way support prostitution in any form, but I have to say that Pattaya does have more to offer. 

The best massage place in Pattaya: amazing ladies and only 100baht ($3)!! I would give a 100 baht tip, and it was so worth it! It's located near corner of Soi chaiyapoon and Soi x-zyte. 

 

The best gambling game in the beer bars. Pattaya, I won't be forgetting you any time soon ;)