Manic Musings

Last winter, I decided to visit a friend living in Bangkok Thailand. Exactly 24 hours after landing at Suvarnabhumi Int’l Airport, she and I boarded an overnight bus to head up to northern destinations Pai and Chiang Mai to enjoy cooler temperatures and Loi Krathong, Thailand’s Festival of Lights. What I expected for that first week of travel was a bit of jet lag, a lot of eating and one of the most beautiful night skies I have ever seen (seriously, Google it for now and put it on your bucket list for later).

I did not expect to rent a Vespa-style scooter for the first time to visit Wat Phra That, a Theravada Buddhist temple on a mountain called Doi Suthep. But two days after Loi Krathong, myself, my friend, one of her coworkers from Bangkok and a new friend from our hostel that we met by chance at breakfast that morning, departed from Chiang Mai one morning on rented scooters for the most exhilarating 20 kilometres of my 23 years.

Now I’m not much of an experienced driver and I don’t recommend renting a scooter in Thailand just because you can, if you don’t know how. That being said, this is a position I developed after doing just that. I will never, ever, for as long as I live, forget the look of dubiousness on the face of the woman I rented my bike from, as she handed me the keys and I fumbled with the ignition. Or, seconds later, revving up and pulling out into Thai traffic after my more experienced friend. It remains the single most terrifying, dangerous and thrilling things I have ever done.

Some time later, our foursome were flying up Doi Suthep’s one snaking, high incline road. The reward for the journey was a killer view of Chiang Mai, introducing two of our number to sugarcane and a 30 baht (less than $1 USD) visit to the beautiful temple complex of Wat Phra That.

After exploring and admiring the gold, the marble and the detail of temple’s structure and receiving a blessing and Sai Sin bracelet from temple monks, we decided to explore Doi Suthep past the temple and rode up until the path became too narrow and terrifying for us to continue, at which point we started our return journey past the temple and back to Chiang Mai. The 309 steps to the temple and busy mountain road were both a lot better on the way down.

By nightfall we were giddily enjoying Tom Kha Gai (coconut chicken soup) and stir fried Phak bung (morning glory) at the food area of a market on the outer edges of the city and still soaring from the adrenaline of our journey.