Let's Go, Jane!

I love Thailand. The food, the people, the lush and beautiful landscape. I started out in the city of Chiang Mai in the northern part of the country. The second largest city in Thailand, Chiang Mai has a population of about 1.2 million people, compared with 11 million in Bangkok. Like Diocletians’s Palace in Split, Croatia, the old city is roughly a square mile, literally square, surrounded by a moat and remnants of the old city walls. I stayed in a hostel just outside of the old city, having found that most places were already booked because of the Lantern Festival that started on my last day there.

On my first day I went on a walking tour of the old city. It was actually a hybrid bike/walk tour, which turned out to be amazing. We met near a rental place and for less than $2 each we rented a 6-speed bicycle with a helmet. Our guide, Santi, then led us all over the city. We would pedal to one area, park the bikes, and walk around. The bicycles allowed us to cover so much more ground than your standard tour. The astounding thing was that on each stop we just parked the bikes and left them wherever we were. Santi explained that there is very little theft in Thailand because of the Buddhist belief that stealing is bad karma (more on that later).

One of my favorite places we visited was the farmer’s market, a covered market filled with pickup trucks piled high with vegetables. After harvesting whatever is ready, the farmers will load up a truck and head to the market. They rent a parking space and then stay there until they’ve sold everything. Since the market is open 24 hours, husbands and wives will take turns selling and sleeping in shifts. Most trucks had a makeshift hammock strung up above the produce.

Thailand is a majority Buddhist country. When we got to the first temple, we removed our shoes and went inside (no need for women to cover their heads, just shoulders and knees). Santi explained a little bit about Buddhist philosophy, which I understand to be as follows: in life there is suffering which comes from attachment. If we can let go of greed, anger, and desire, we can reach enlightenment and the end of suffering. Buddhists believe in reincarnation, that one can come back as a human or animal or god, and that we continue to come back until we reach enlightenment. What determines whether you come back as a higher or lower life form is your actions during this life. Positive actions (kindness, generosity, compassion) create good karma. The simplicity of that worldview, that our choices ripple forward, has stayed with me all week.

It was an interesting lesson in contrast, coming from Singapore. Both countries are extremely safe. In both places there is no litter in the streets and very little theft. But one is controlled by strict punishments and fines, the other is controlled by karma. Same outcome, very different approach.

Motorbikes and scooters are big in southeast Asia. It was in Kuala Lumpur (pictured above) where I first watched riders at a traffic light weaving their way to the front of the line, and I understood why—in heavy traffic, it’s the only way to get anywhere on time. I was intrigued enough to look up scooter rentals but quickly talked myself out of it after reading about the need for a motorcycle license, an international driver’s permit, and the risks of riding in city traffic or being stopped by police. Then, a conversation with another hostel guest in Chiang Mai changed my mind. I don’t think I’d rent one in a big city, but Chiang Mai is smaller, and the traffic is calmer. Having just biked around, I’d noticed how generous and careful the drivers are. My bunkmate explained that if I got stopped at a checkpoint, the fine would only be 500 Baht—about $15. Besides, sometimes when something scares you, that’s exactly why you should do it.

Santi recommended a reputable place to rent a scooter. I went there first thing in the morning and got my little Honda. It wasn’t a motorcycle, more like a moped or Vespa, and riding it was absolutely thrilling. My big outing was to a waterfall I’d heard about an hour outside the city. Called “Sticky Waterfall,” it is made of limestone. There’s a long set of stairs down to the bottom, and then you can walk all the way to the top. It was the coolest thing, I got to the top and immediately went all the way back to the bottom to do it again.

It took me an hour and a half to get to the waterfall, since I wasn’t comfortable going more than 70 km per hour (about 43 MPH). It took me over two hours to get back, because it rained so the roads were wet and I had to stop twice to wait out the heaviest showers. The first time I stopped I decided to eat lunch while I was waiting. It was one of those surreal travel moments, where I found myself eating a bowl of who-knows-what at this small roadside noodle shack while waiting out the rain so I could continue to ride my scooter back from a waterfall. As one does.

I rented the scooter for three days, since it was only about $8 a day, but I didn’t ride it much after the waterfall outing. I had gone through two police checkpoints on the way, riding through them straight faced like I had nothing to hide, meanwhile my heart was pounding. The second day I picked a restaurant on the far side of the old city and rode there, taking a very long route back. On my return, I made an informal tour of the city, making mostly left turns because that’s what I was more comfortable with. The last day I just rode it back to the rental place. I may never do it again, but renting that scooter was empowering and confidence-building. There’s something about doing the thing that scares you that rewires your sense of what’s possible.

I can’t believe I’ve gotten this far into a post about Thailand without talking about the food. Everything I’ve eaten here has been absolutely delicious. One night I wandered through the Sunday market and must have eaten my weight in street food. It has become my favorite dinner. There is a lot less English spoken in Thailand than other countries I’ve been to, and sometimes you just have to order based on a photo. This has resulted in a few surprises, including a spicy soup with dark red glossy cubes that turned out to be coagulated chicken blood, and stir fried squid eggs. The most unusual thing I’ve eaten was insects. If you’d asked me whether I would willingly pop a deep fried grasshopper into my mouth I would have said no way. But I did, and it was delicious. In fact, I ate several handfuls of insects. I found the key was to not look at them first. Every country has asked something new of me; Thailand has simply asked me to say yes—to the food, the fear, and the unfamiliar—and I have!