Day 105! Today might have started with another slow start… but it ended up being a nice jam packed day of adventure! I finally got to see a Muay Thai fight this trip and it was much better than the ones I saw my last time in Thailand!

(Sorry for the late post… I had it done, but some pictures wouldn’t upload sadly)

Another late night led to another slow start to the day. But at least now that Songkran was over, I’d be able to walk to breakfast without getting drenched!

Sam and I were the only two awake for our 11am breakfast. Almost all the restaurants around us were still closed for Songkran, so we tried a new restaurant. The food was decent but the price was double what I would’ve liked to pay for it.

Luckily, later in the day I scored some very cheap meals!

After breakfast I had a quick nap and then had plans to meet up with my friend Elise to go on a hike outside the city.

My friend Dan wanted to join as well, which then turned into me finding the hostel’s guitar as I waited for him to get ready.

I serenaded my friends while they enjoyed their breakfasts and Elise ended up walking to our hostel within that time.

Our friends were heading to do a spa day, Elise, Dan, and I had other plans! We walked down the street and rented 2 motorbikes for 200 Baht each. This time, my motorbike was an automatic! It had been a while since I had ridden one, but I picked it up again seamlessly.

It was odd riding an automatic scooter. Not only did it feel weird not having to shift gears (made the bike feel a lot more like a toy than a motor vehicle), but last time I was in Chiang Mai I couldn’t ride a motorbike! It was a cool feeling knowing that I had fully overcome a fear that I had in August of last year.

The ride was nice and easy. We rode through the streets of the old city and made our way out of town. 15 minutes later we were pulling into the entrance of the Wat Pha Lat hike (Monk’s Trail).

Elise was the one that found this hike and I’m glad she did! It was nice to get back out and in nature for a bit.

This trail led us through a part of Doi Suthep, one of the national parks around Chiang Mai. The reason the trail is called monks trail is because the hike leads you to multiple temples that are scattered throughout the national park.

It was HOT out… not the best day for a hike, but it was still a nice activity for the day. We snaked our way through rocky terrain and a dense forest, that when it opened up led to a beautiful (but smoky) view of Chiang Mai.

The main path of the hike leads you to a temple on top of the hill. We decided to go there first and then potentially take the longer path to another temple after.

After making it to the top, we were met with beautiful architecture, a nice view, and some very cute dogs.

I hadn’t done my daily meditation yet and neither had Elise. So the three of us found a nice spot to meditate at the temple. It was a very nice and solid 15 minutes of meditating and afterwards it led to a nice chat about meditation and the meditation retreat.

We decided on the way back down to skip the rest of the trail this time around since it was already getting pretty late in the day. And we had one more stop to go before heading back to the city.

A quick drive from the trail was a little village called Baan Kang Wat. This was a very artsy crafts village that was very picturesque. A lot of the shops were closed, probably for Songkran, but there were a number of cute shops still open. Everything from stained glass to crocheted figurines was in this little area.

There was also a cheap ice cream stand. So for 40 Baht I got a Plango sorbet. I had never heard of this fruit before… so I looked it up and it’s a mix of a plum and mango! It was super tasty and I’m going to keep my eye out for them in markets now so I can try a real one.

Dan and I were getting hungry. We had seen a restaurant on the way from the hike to the village that looked delicious. So we backtracked our ride and found the restaurant that had been on both of our minds.

This restaurant was exactly like the Com restaurants in Vietnam and Laos! For 50 Baht (less than $1.50) we got two meat dishes and rice. It was just as good as we both hoped and we devoured our plates before heading back to our hostels.

When I got back to the hostel it was time for another nap. But when I woke up, I remembered I needed to get a form filled out by my hostel.

It only took about 5 minutes, but I am planning on going to the immigration office tomorrow to extend my visa since it will expire before I want to leave (and I thought why not get it out of the way now, before I forget or don’t have time). The form is called a TM30 (no not from Pokémon) and it is one of the steps needed to be taken to extend a Thai visa.

I believe the form tells the immigration office you’ve been staying at this hostel/home and the owner vouches for you to stay… but I’m not entirely sure.

I had seen online that there was a Tuesday night market, actually near where we went motorbiking earlier. So I hopped back on my motorbike and set off on a solo adventure to the Chiang Mai University Night Marker.

I said earlier that I was glad to not be getting soaked anymore… well… on this ride, I drove through a mega celebration for the end of Songkran! There were thousands of people dancing and water fighting to loud DJs. And of course plenty of buckets flying into the street as motorbikers flew by.

Luckily, I was only semi drenched while I was waiting at a stoplight. I dried out relatively quickly between the heat and the wind while I drove.

The night market wasn’t very busy, I’m assuming because of the festival down the road, but there were still plenty of stalls open! This night market was geared more towards clothes and had a lot of thrifted items which was cool to see! I ended up getting a new shirt for 190 Baht, a new cheap chain for my necklace that broke in Laos, a cheap smoothie, and the best part of it all… a 35 Baht meal for dinner!

There was also a store selling cassette tapes, which I thought was quite interesting and crazy to see! I hope it means people are listening to cassettes more in Thailand.

It felt really nice to have a solo adventure. As much as I love my crew, it’s getting time to get back to being solo before my cousins come and join me for a few weeks!

I hurried back home, threw on my new shirt, and met up with my friends because it was time for the main event of the day… a Muay Thai fight!

We went on a 25 minute walk to the north side of Chiang Mai where there’s a Muay Thai stadium with fights every night, except Sunday!

The ticket was 600 Baht, which was totally worth it for the night that was about to unfold.

Three of the fights ended in knock outs, one of which happened within the first 30 seconds of the fight! The first fight ended after 5 intense and exhausting rounds and the final fight ended in a technical knockout (which was deemed by the ref).

This man was walking around each fight trying to get travelers to bet with him… and Dan decided to the round before the main fight. Unfortunately, this was our first rodeo and not this old man’s, and Dan quickly lost 100 Baht to him.

For whatever reason, I thought I could beat this old timer. So for the main fight I pulled out my 100 Baht (less than $3) and said I take the blue side. The blue side had lost every fight thus far… they couldn’t lose again, right?

Well, the fight started great and the blue fighter was definitely winning. Until, he got kicked in the crotch. It went downhill fast after that but I was still confident… and then he got knocked out. My hopes of winning Dan back his 100 Baht were slashed, but it was a fun way to make the fight a bit more exhilarating.

In the end, the blue side FINALLY won a fight, but it took the whole night for it to happen.

Amped up after watching the fights, we walked back to our hostel. But before making it back, we walked into a food night market just outside the north old city wall.

I finished off my night how I started my day, with a plate of chicken, basil, and rice. This time it was half the price, 40 Baht!

We walked back to the hostel after we finished eating and I called it a night.

Tomorrow I’ll be waking up nice and early to hopefully be the first one in and out of the immigration office! I guess we’ll see! I’m also slowly starting to plan my next steps in Thailand as I wait for my cousins to arrive. I have some cool ideas in the works and I hope they all work out.

See you tomorrow!

– Elie