We had spent just about a week in Bangkok before heading to Chiang Mai.
Our time in Bangkok was a fever dream, really. A haze of paying strangers to suck down helium from balloons, chugging buckets of suspicious rum, sharing towers of Chang beer, and noshing on jumbo lump stir fried crab rice on Khao San Road.
There were also heaven-splitting thunderstorms some afternoons, a constant blistering heat starting in the mornings, late night Muay Thai fights, even later night ‘ping pong shows,’ the constant honking of car horns around the clock, and that one incident in which I slid half way out of our tuk-tuk into oncoming traffic.
As an avid urban enthusiast, I was enthralled with every moment of the new and unique chaos. I don’t think I slept at all in Bangkok. I didn’t need sleep — who needs sleep in a city like that?
But, eventually, all good things come to an end. And Bangkok is a good thing.
Leaving Bangkok for Chiang Mai.
I didn’t know how I felt about leaving Bangkok. I only knew that in my short time there, I had grown especially accustomed to the hectic place and its people and even felt at home. This is certainly not the case for most people who only seem to find the city overwhelming, cacophonous, and intimidating.
With my heart burning with love for Bangkok, our group boarded what would be an overnight train to Chiang Mai in the jungle-y northern section of Thailand. I’d never been on an overnight train before.
It remains one of the coolest accommodation experiences of my life.
The evening of our train ride, it was raining harshly. I enjoyed peering out from the joint in between train cars to see a small glimpse of life in each stop. The look of new passengers shaking themselves dry and looking longingly into the cozy train was something out of a Wes Anderson scene. Each one looked down the corridors of the train tenderly. We were all fond of that train.
Even the less-than-sanitary cold metal toilet had its charms. I only visited it upward of fifteen times, after chugging water during the sweltering day. Out of our group of twenty-something people, I was one of the first to go to sleep. Partly because I was eager to see how our seats would become beds. Spoiler alert — it was cool as hell!
I so loved snuggling into that small space with my boyfriend behind the curtain as we were rocked to sleep by the train’s soothing motion. Even the occasional screeching of its brakes and wheels on the tracks was tranquil. I comfortably closed my eyes and drifted off to dreamland.
An Incredible Way to Arrive in Chiang Mai.
After a restful night’s sleep, we awoke to a sight that I’ll never forget as long as I live. My boyfriend and I sat up excitedly and rubbed the lingering sleep from our eyes. And before us, in the picture window of our compartment, stretched fields of rice as far as our eyes could see.
The sun’s warm hues of pink, orange, and yellow rose just barely in the sky, creating a scene that looked like a turn-of-the-century watercolor painting. I had never seen such vastness as I did in those fields — only, perhaps, on television. Those fields seemed to stretch on forever, the horizon away and beyond us. It was almost as if the rice fields lead directly to heaven at their end.
Little did I know just how divine Chiang Mai would actually turn out to be.
It Felt Like Paradise.
There is a paradisiacal element to the place. The entire time that you’re there, it feels as though your feet never touch the ground. It’s as though your head is in the clouds and the experience there is entirely ethereal. I had to keep asking myself on our journey, “Are these things real? Or are the hallucinogenic side effects from these malaria tablets finally kicking in?”
One of my first full-fledged dives into the diaphanous nature of Chiang Mai was visiting an elephant sanctuary. It was an experience I’d only ever dreamed about in childhood. Getting to visit was very much like the real live version of being whisked off by Peter Pan. Opportunities like this weren’t supposed to happen for ordinary people like me. And yet, there I undoubtedly was — hugging, kissing, feeding, and bathing Asian elephants.
There was a moment in which I was totally present (something that RARELY happens). I sat at a picnic table amid nothing but green trees and vast land. A Thai couple cooked home-made pad thai for us. As we ate the best pad thai I’ve ever had, one of our new elephant friends walked right past us — like within reaching distance. Now, considering we’d had so much hands-on time with them this doesn’t seem all that interesting, but where else can you literally eat lunch with elephants in such a small, intimate, setting? It was surreal!
Thai Cooking Class.
Another day, we attended a Thai cooking class in an open-air kitchen. With my hair tied atop my head, a long apron tied around my waist, and unlimited Chang beer at my disposal, I whipped up tom yum soup, pad thai, and panang curry alongside my boyfriend and our tour group while surrounded by open fields of rice paddies.
We used ingredients that we bought with our lead chef at the market — an actual Thai market! Every few moments, between pinching myself and laughing at myself for trying to be a Top Chef, I felt the need to just look around and take a deep breath.
Chiang Mai Nightlife.
The evenings, while not as edgy as those in Bangkok, were still memorable as hell. I remember the electric colors of the Chiang Mai night market and the glittery silver tinsel of the curtains at the nearby Chiang Mai Ladyboy Cabaret.
I love the LGBTQ+ community, but this? This showmanship? This carefully crafted display of entertainment? I had to pick my jaw up off of the floor several times. These performers were not the campy artists of the New York City drag scene. No, it was downright criminal how much these dancers looked the part of singers like Lady Gaga and Rihanna.
Not to mention their sinfully toned bodies, flawless attention to detail in makeup, and all of the glitter. I think the Chiang Mai “ladyboy” performers had all of us women feeling jealous. Except when one…particular star of the show came out…with a rose tucked between her ass cheeks? It’s a long story.
That evening ended with a dance party on stage and a trip to the Riverside bar with some impeccable views of, well, a river. My mind is still vivid with the memories of the dark night air full of stars, the feeling of laughter from all that we had seen releasing from my ribs, the booming sound of Justin Bieber from our Bluetooth speaker as we rode back to our hotel in a tuk-tuk that evening.
While moving on to Chiang Mai meant leaving my newfound beloved Bangkok, it also meant growth. It meant inspiration in nature and finding creativity in sunsets. It meant becoming closer to my new friends, my boyfriend, myself. Onward and upward!
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