To the far North! Reggae Festival in Chiang Mai

A normal 2-day weekend does not give you much time to travel far, but last weekend that didn’t stop me. I had wanted to go up north to Chiang Mai even before I came to Thailand, and hearing that there would be a reggae festival made me want to just go for it. I was planning on making it a solo trip, but after I posted my plans on Facebook, a girl from my program decided to come with me. Her school had given her the next week off (so lucky) and she could stay a few extra days.

On Friday all afternoon classes were cancelled and I went to the doctor because I have been having weird stomach pains sometimes and I wanted to get it checked out. The doctor spoke decent English, but instead of doing any tests they just loaded me up with antibiotics and medicine, told me to eat bland food (not possible for me), try not to stress (when 3^rd graders are throwing chairs at each other?) and get lots of rest (so I keep traveling). I hate taking antibiotics, especially when your mother is into Homeopathy, you know all about how bad it can be for your body. But since I can’t remember the last time I took them, I decided that maybe it is a good time and if it makes me feel better then great. The fact that I’ve been taking probiotics everyday for the last 2 months should help too! The appointment ended just after 1pm and I decided to go back to my apartment instead of school to pack. I forgot to mention my toe. The previous morning Lizzie and I were walking on our route to work on the side of the freeway and there are these big grates in the ground for runoff. I was wearing flip-flops and my toe when into one, ripping of a chunk of the skin. I wanted to cry. It was so painful I could hardly sand it, but we had to keep walking so that we wouldn’t be late for work. I went directly to the nurse who cleaned it, then took out a huge tweezers and scissors and cut off the piece that was hanging off. I think a few nerve ending went with it. The rest of the day I had to explain to the students why I had a bandage on my big toe. They were very sympathetic.

I waited till 4 to head into Bangkok. I took a van to Mochit, the big bus station and waited for Elana. She wanted to pay with her card so we didn’t purchase our tickets until later so we got stuck with terrible seats (here they have VIP busses that have much more room and they serve snacks, first class and second class where your knees are against the seat in front of you. For a 10 hour trip you pay about $20 for regular busses and $27 for VIP—totally worth the extra money). 

VIP bus

They ended up not even taking credit cards, go figure! I feel like I’m getting to be an expert sleeper on ever-night busses, but the combo of the cramped quarters and that fact that my toe would not stop throbbing made it a very long night.

Some funky shoes for about $5 (I didn't buy these ones though)

We made it to Chiang Mai at about 6 am Saturday morning. I booked a VIP bus back so that I didn’t have to deal with it later and we got a truck to take us to our hostel. I was freeeeezing on the ride! It was such a difference from central Thailand, but very refreshing. Our hostel let us check into our room when we arrived so we went and crashed for a few hours. 

The hostel was called MD House and 

had a pool shaped like a penis in the front! At first

we were like, “did they do that on purpose?” but c’mon, how could you do that and NOT be aware? Our room had two beds, a hot shower and air conditioning and breakfast was included. It cost about $13 a night.

During the day we walked around, had lunch and some mango and sticky rice. I love the city, it is much smaller than I imagined for being the second largest in Thailand and there are no big buildings. It is very walk able; there are great restaurants, markets, art galleries and parks. It was a beautiful sunny day, but not humid. At 4 we met up with two other girls from our program. One lives in Chiang Mai and the other about an hour away. This was the first time we’d seen each other since orientation so I was really excited. We found this young tuktuk driver who was super nice and spoke great English. He agreed to take us out to the grounds where the reggae festival was, so we all crammed in the back and took off. The grounds were set around a lake and there were mountains all around. A big stage was set up and there were lots of vendors selling crafts, drinks and food. They had spread straw out everywhere and banners of red, yellow and green blew in the wind.

The festival didn’t really get going till after sunset so we sat in a little bamboo structure and had a few beers. Our friend Zach came to meet us because he had been in Chiang Mai with his school for a conference and they let him come.

The rest of the night we danced to reggae, ate, and hung out by bond fires. One of the bands, Easy Star All Stars just blew me away; they were amazing and even threw in some great renditions of The Beatles. We left late and took a free songtaw back to the center, just a short walk from our hostel. The concert was definitely worth making the trip. 

After breakfast on Sunday we checked out China Town and the flower market. There was a big market inside with lots of herbs, tea, and dried fruits, along with countless things I didn’t recognize. There was one temple that was different for many that I've seen here in Thailand since it was all Chinese. Very different style than the Thai temples, but very important to the city of Chiang Mai all the same. The flower market was beautiful and smelled amazing as you walked by, I wish I could have brought some back to put in my apartment.

Later we sat down to an Indian lunch and rested our feet. On Sunday evenings there is a walking street set up with all kinds of artist and vendors. This is the kind of thing I’ve been looking for since I got here! I bought a necklace and a little Buddha, a bag and some other things. I ate the best Pad Thai for dinner before I went back to the hostel, grabbed my bad and took a tuktuk to the bus station for my 9:00 bus. This ride was much better, but I ended up getting back about half an hour before I had to walk to school! I took a nap at my desk and ended up making it to the gym after work. I think I need to catch up on my sleep! (Sorry this post is kind of long, not much to do today at work! Hope you all enjoy!)

Sunday walking street