Songkran in Bangkok

There were a few items on our 6-month Asian backpacking itinerary that were just unnegotiable. One of them was spending Christmas and New Year's in Thailand. The other was visiting South Korea. We never even considered beginning our trip anywhere else other than Nepal--we wanted to dive right into this magical country headfirst, and we loved it.

Possibly the most unnegotiable item on our list was spending Songkran (Thai New Year) in Thailand.

Songkran is a 3-day party extravaganza of water fights and cheap beer...AND SO MUCH FUN.

Ever since we threw tomatoes at Tomatina in Spain a few years back, we vowed to also make it to Songkran one year.

After a lengthy flight from Tokyo, we were back in Bangkok ::siiiigh:: it felt great to be in a familiar place. We were reunited with our favorite street cafe, our favorite pad thai stand and our favorite fruit stand again. 

Only this time, the walk to these places was like a total warzone! The first morning I ventured out to get coffee. I was worried I would get soaked already but Christian 'assured' me that it was too early for the festivities to begin...and then I walked back 30 min later soaking wet (but with coffee!). 

Oh IT IS ON. Slurp, finish our coffee, change into bathing suit and "get wet" clothes, find some water guns and we were right smack dab in the middle of Thai New Year craziness on Khao San Road.

It was amazing.

I felt like a kid!

I giggled like a kid!

It was too much fun.

And just like that, Songkran became some of our most favorite days of our ENTIRE trip.

Planning on going next year? Songkran is every year from April 13th-15th for complete water fighting madness...get that waterproof camera ready ;)

Pai, Northern Thailand...it really is a hippie heaven!

Back in Chiang Mai, we had plans to head east to Laos for a couple weeks, pick up Burmese visas in Vientiene then hop on a train to Bangkok to catch a flight to Myanmar. 

On our last day in Chiang Mai, our travel buddy Denis had to get some stitches the day so at the last minute we decided not to cross the border and hang out in Northern Thailand until the stitches could come out. 

One night we met crazy nudist Nancy from New York who said Pai in Northern Thailand was amazing. Our Finnish friend Jussi and his brother just got back from motorbiking around Pai too and they said it was awesome. Hmmmmm...interesting...

If traveling in SE Asia has taught me anything, it has been that plans can change fast...really fast...so flexibility really is your friend. One night we were thiiiiis close to booking a flight to Myanmar and the next second we're coming up with Plan B.

We were bummed we couldn't explore Myanmar but we were pleased to see that motorbiking in Pai for a few days (before crossing over to Laos) and lounging on the beaches in Palawan, the Philippines, for 10 days fit into the Myanmar gap verrrrry nicely. So Pai and Palawan it is!!

Thanks to Jussi and crazy nudist Nancy from New York for the Pai recommendation and a very big thank yooooou to Denis for getting a few stitches that sidelined our plans for Myanmar but meant we could motorbike around the lush hills in Northern Thailand for a few more days (and added the beaches of Palawan to our itinerary!).

If you head up to Northern Thailand, keep going north! Pai was one of the highlights of our time in Thailand :)

P.S. It's worth the extra effort to find the Pai hot springs which are a bit farther away (and cheaper entrance fee). And who doesn't love hot springs in the jungle populated with only a handful of other tourists? (And a crazy local Thai guy sipping on some moonshine).

Looking for a cheap central place to sleep? We walked into Pai Walking Street Backpackers Guesthouse and got a cheap room with a front row to the nightly food market.

{Life is more fun in a pod :)}

{Delicious eats at the Pai nightly market}

Motorbikes, Waterfalls and a Cooking Class in Chiang Mai

Our 5-6 days in Chiang Mai were plagued with a bit of bad luck for our travel comrade Denis. After a few setbacks, we ended up staying in Chiang Mai a bit longer than planned and delayed our crossover into Laos (but we did get to spend some time in Pai! Which was awesome. More on that later.).

Chiang Mai was way busier than we expected. Lots of traffic and it really lacked the 'Thai' character we had experienced nearly everywhere else in Thailand. Maybe we set our expectations too high...all I read was how much backpackers loved this place. 

Ok I admit it, I didn't like Chiang Mai that much. There were two great things about it. The first was our highly recommended Thai cooking class at Basil Cookery. The second was hopping on a motorbike and getting the hell out of Chiang Mai. The hills around Chiang Mai are lush and beautiful...and, even though the water is pretty chilly, I swam in a waterfall :).

Oh and how could I forget the skewered garlic cloves I saw at the local market? GENIUS.

North! To Sukhothai

We made a 2 day stop in Sukhothai en route to Chiang Mai last week. We biked in between buddhas...perfect place to stop halfway before heading all the way up north. Check it out!

{These next two pics courtesy of Monsieur Faure-Brac!}

{Like two deer caught in the headlights, no? ;)}