Little did I know that I arrived to Chiang Mai in the very middle of Songkran celebration – water festival. If you do not have waterproof cases, pouches, jackets, and a water gun – boy, you are doomed 😊 Nature had its own plans on Songkran, so as we came out into a 7-11 to get a toastie and vitamin C drink, we almost immediately got baptized by the heavy rainfall. Unable to book Grab or Bolt (apparently everyone was celebrating out on the streets), Dani managed to get a random stranger from 7-11 to give us a lift at Grab price. Sketchy? Oh yeah, totally. But either that, or 5 kilometers of walk with heavy suitcases and tropical rainfall.

My hosts were one of the nicest hosts I have had, comparable to probably only the couple from Da Lat. Immediately me and Dani booked a tour to the elephant sanctuary, which also covered climbing up to the highest mountain in Thailand (Doi Inthanon) with its two twin temples, and hiking through its national park with stunning waterfalls (spoiler – waterfalls in Da Lat were better!).

Chapter 2. Wet chickens

When I met Dani in Hanoi, it was cold, and windy, and rainy. When me and Dani went to see the elephants, IT WAS ALSO COLD, AND WINDY, AND RAINY. Makes me think it’s a “me problem”. The rain did not prevent the elephants, specifically the oldest, 60-year-old, half-blind Mei-Lee, from stealing the bananas and sugar canes right from my bag in the most innocent yet assertive way possible. As our guide said: “No food, no friend”. Poor Mei-Lee, she stumbled across the banana field many years ago, and the farmer tried to scare her off with a slingshot, which got into her eye… and that’s how she appeared to be in the elephant sanctuary.

People are trying to fight and make the government stop elephant shows and riding elephants, which hurts their health and well being. Those were truly majestic creatures, although their size could scare away quite easily. Funny enough, the elephants are afraid of buffalos, which are smaller, but probably know some secret that we don’t.

All this time it was raining like crazy, and we were not even able to go elephant bathing down the river. We got all wet, our clothes, our bags, and our souls. Our good mood was draining down to the ground, where the chewing elephants would mix it together with mud.

Yet, watching the elephants bath was probably one of the best experiences of my life.

We also went – as I mentioned – to the Doi Inthanon. It was a beautiful trip, but not much to tell. Just enjoy the pictures.

All this was happening concurrently with Songkran. It appeared that not only I managed to arrive in the middle of one of the coolest festivals in Asia, but also was in the heart of it – Chiang Mai was the biggest in celebrating the water fights. The final night was marked by a concert, bubble show, loud music everywhere. We got the water guns and were bombarding everyone, accompanied by Opa Gangnam Style and Summertime Sadness Party Remix.

The traffic stopped; people in pick up trucks with gallons of water were pouring it over the heads of the pedestrians, and the pedestrians were truing to take revenge by shooting from their water guns. The faces (mine as well) were covered in white clay (still no clue what it signified, but def something fun). Had an amazing night, then went to bed at 2am just to wake up at 5:25 am to write my App Dev exam (did perfect by the way)

Chapter 4, where I lack basic common sense

Dani was gone, and I really wanted to see the Land of Angels, Dantewada. Man-created park with stunning waterfalls, misty paths, and lagoon blue waters; this miracle of landscaping and design was 47 kilometres away, and would cost me 550 baht one way. That was a bit too much, but driving 50 km one way on a bike, with no license or health insurance? Lalit, my friend from Da Nang, was also in Chiang Mai and hang out with us. I invited him to go together on 2 bikes, but he said 47 km was a bit too many for him. I tried again, offering the dinner to be on me, which almost – almost – did the trick.

Nothing could scare me after that. I think we live in a simulation, and my player decided I am ready to try a higher difficulty level. 15 minutes before I reached my final destination, a pouring rain started again. I adjusted the brightness of my simulation by putting up the face shield, but it did not help much. Respectfully, while some people walk on water, I rode on it. I did not see the ground or anything further 5 meters, because it was one solid wall of water; but, everybody around kept driving, and so did I. Should there have been a hole in the road, I would never notice it and that is how it would end.

After my guardian angel once again started looking for a new job, I arrived to the Land of Angels (I would like to emphasize, I arrived there alive, kahem). I hope my 360 camera could capture at least part of the beauty that I saw, helplessly trying to keep my jaw closed. It looked like a mysterious forest from a fairy tale, and I almost expected to see an elf or a gnome behind the tree.

360 deg. vids here, and here.

Since I was already flexible and mobile on my bike, I drove another 50 kilometers to see the Wat Prathat Doi Kham Temple, with gigantic golden-white Buddha on the mountains. Because I almost killed my bike on the way up (the road was kinda steep, and I do not have much experience driving uphill, too), I decided to go to the most famous temple, Doi Suthep, the next morning.

Chapter 5. The Goodbye

Me and Lalit signed up for a bus to Doi Suthep the next day (previously having a brunch at the Payod Shan Food restaurant, taro tofu soup (Shan are the people who came to Thailand from Myanmar many years ago, and although they have had new roots in Thailand, still preserve their culture, and dialect). The bus would take 6 people minimum, 160 bhat each, and I saw the lady getting anxious as we were waiting and the remaining 4 people just would not magically appear from thin air.

We decided to leave, when the driver, in an attempt to still get his income, offered us a deal for 200 bhat each two ways. We agreed and were taken up the mountain, to see a gorgeous golden temple looking down on the city of Chiang Mai. For a small gratitude, the smiley monk in orange robe and glasses read a mantra for luck and happiness over me, dripping the holy water from a wooden brush. He then tied a white thread over my left hand.