March 15th - March 25th: The Road to Inevitability

Modes of transportation: Bike, bus, train, moto, taxi, skytrain, metro, minivan, airplane.

Places visited: Lampang, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Lopburi, Ayutthaya, Bangkok, Tokyo, Detroit, Ottawa.

Costs of things: Beer ($1.25 - Damn we're back in the West), Meals ($1 - Crazy Western Prices), hotel ($12 - $32)

The ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok was supposed to be an 8 day affair, but after spending as much time as we did in the North, we had to take a bus, a train and ride for four days. We contemplated riding even less and heading to a different part of Thailand before the end of our trip (like a beach or to see the actual bridge over the river Kwai), but stuck to the plan and saw some very interesting places.

Lampang: The approximately 100km ride from Chiang Mai to Lampang, the third largest city in northern Thailand, was not very interesting and had us pining for the mountains of northern Vietnam and Laos. A couple of interesting tidbits about Lampang include it's use of the horse drawn carriage as transportation within the town and the fact that the chicken is the symbol of the city. The carriages are mainly used for tourists these days and we didn't see many chickens around, save for ones on our plates. We spent the evening enjoying the eclectic night market.

Sukhothai: We took the bus about 240km from Lampang to Sukhothai('Rising of Happiness'), Thailand's first capital, whose reign lasted from 1238 until 1438, before which it was part of the Khmer empire. Considered the 'golden age'of Thai civilisation, the Sukhothai style of art and architecture is thought to be the most 'classic' of Thai styles. 'Sukhothai' style Buddha statues, for example, are the ones most commonly recognisable as 'Thai' and are generally the ones you see on the tourist brochures. We spent an extra day here, touring the amazing ruins and splashing about in a rather nice public swimming pool. Oh yeah, by this point in the trip, the hot season had started (it actually began when we returned to Chiang Mai for our wedding) and it was getting really hot in the afternoons, so we were doing our best to have any real riding done by noon.

Phitsanulok: About a 60km ride from Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, one of the oldest cities in Thailand, founded over 600 years ago. It is probably best known as the birthplace of King Naresuan, who freed the country from Burmese domination in the late 16th Century, and his brother and successor King Ekathosarot (Sanpet III). We didn't spend much time here, but the best part of the town was seeing the flying vegetable restaurant. They have a crazy ritual where the stir fry some morning glory (water spinach; we loved it stir fried) then have a customer go up on a platform wearing a crazy outfit while a band plays tribal music. After cooking the morning the glory in a huge ball of flame, they fling the vegetable from their wok up to the patron on the platform, who has to catch it in a garbage can lid. I kid you not. We also managed to scam some free use of a pool at a really nice hotel.

Lopburi: From Phitsanulok we hopped on a train to go about 300km to Lopburi. Unfortunately, we had to put our bikes on a different train, arriving two hours after us, so we were quite concerned, but luckily they arrived as scheduled. Originally known as Lavo about 1000 years ago, the city was incorporated into the Khmer empire, who destroyed all the former buildings, so the oldest standing ruins are Khmer temples. It was made a second capital of the Thai kingdom with the rise of Ayutthaya reign in the mid-17th century. Today it is known as the home to hundreds of monkeys (macaques), who hang out mainly around a couple of the temples and like to jump people and take their stuff. We climbed up a rather old looking part of one temple and were surrounded by hordes of monkeys. It felt like being in a zombie movie, except it was monkeys, not zombies. As we decided to make a break for it, because if they were zombies, they would have been close to getting some fresh brains, one of the monkeys jumped on Michelle's back! I was not so heroic in my rescue attempt and also did not succeed in getting a picture of the offending primate on her back. At another temple, which was populated by pregnant and nursing females, we were given a long stick by the attendant. The stick was supposed to be used to fend off any overly-curious monkeys, instead one of them stole the stick right out of Michelle's hand. When I went to take it back, it threatened me with the stick. Little buggers. Apparently I did not gain any monkey karma from the grooming I had received in Laos. There was also this hilarious old guy working in one of the temples where people come to pray. He used a big slingshot to fend off monkeys he got too close to the altar and the offerings. We didn't find a pool in Lopburi.

Ayutthaya: We took a bit of a scenic route on our bikes from Lopburi to Ayutthaya, adding about 15km extra for an approximate 95km ride. Ayutthaya was founded in 1350 by King U-Thong as the capital of his kindom. It was sacked by the Burmese army in 1767 and the old part of the city is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site (as was the historical park in Sukhothai). It is estimated that nearly 1000000 people lived there in 1700, making it one of the world's largest cities at the time. We were kind of ruin-ed out by this point, so found a pool and relaxed there for the afternoon. However we decided to ride around the town after dinner and saw some impressive ruins. We even snuck into one site and were in awe at the immensity of it.

Bangkok: After an 80km ride on a major highway, at some points 8-10 lanes wide, complete with overpasses and often very narrow shoulders near on and off ramps, we arrived back in Bangkok. We attempted to take smaller roads, but kept getting rerouted back to the main highway. Basically imagine riding on the 401 and then taking the Don Valley Parkway into downtown Toronto, multiply the size and intensity by about 5.7 times and that's where we riding. Well, we arrived safe and sound and quickly remember how much more expensive Bangkok is than the rest of the country. I won't go into any major details about Bangkok, as I'm sure we did in our first blog, so I'll just mention a few interesting things we did this time around. We went to see some Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing), but not at the standard tourist oriented place. We found out about a place that only locals go and found our way there. Man, the crowd was intense and the fights were pretty impressive to see. After being told all about the red-light district we decided to check that out. It was an interesting mix of family-oriented street market and standard red-light district fare. One day we did some shopping at the huge MBK mall again went to see a movie in a VIP theatre. We were treated to complimentary drinks in the VIP lounge before the movie, then went to our seats, which were comfy recliners, complete with pillow and blanket. Other than that, we spent our last few days preparing for our departure as well as contemplating staying an extra two months, which we almost did, but in the end we decided to stick with the original plan.

On March 25th, 2008 at 5:30am, we boarded our first flight bound of Tokyo, prior to another stop in Detroit for 6 hours until we reached our final destination of Ottawa. We volunteered to be bumped in Detroit in order to get another free flight anywhere in North America, but unfortunately, they put us on the plane at the last minute (they did however forget to put our bikes back on the plane, but we got them a couple of days later). We finally left baggage claim about midnight and were greeted by my brother and Michelle's Mother and niece. That adventure had come to a close, but we're already planning the next one.....

March 12th - 14th: Is it Still Considered Eloping if Everyone Knows About it?

Modes of transportation: Bike, pick-up (songthaew).

Places visited: Chiang Mai

Costs of things: Beer ($1.25-$2.50), Meals ($1 to $5), hotel ($12 - $80)


After our brief respite from the big city, we left Chiang Dao for Chiang Mai and our upcoming wedding. The nice room at Spicythai wasn't available so we stayed in a slightly overpriced guesthouse nearby, as it was simply easier to be close. I'll give a rundown of all the events leading up to and following the wedding, along with the associated pics:

1. First thing we had to do was go back to the translation office that had translated sent our affidavits to Bangkok and the department of foreign affairs for certification. Luckily all of the super sleuths in Thailand could not dig up enough dirt on us to deny our application.



2. First hiccup of the day. We had visited a costume rental shop the previous week for the traditional Thai wedding outfits that we wanted to wear. (S)he told us that it would no problem to drop by on the 12th to get things for our wedding on the 13th. Well, (s)he wasn't there and after causing enough of a commotion, the neighbor came out and told us (s)he would be back later in the day. It was about 1:00, so we figured we would come back in a few hours.

3. Personal grooming time! Good thing about Southeast Asia is how cheap certain services are. We both got pedicures and Michelle had a manicure and eyebrow shaping. We both had haircuts and Adam got a nice single blade razor shave. All of this cost us about $10 total. Oh yeah, we also went to buy an offering basket for the monks.

4. Second hiccup of the day. Hit the costume shop again around 4:30, but guess what? Still closed. Boooooo. Panic is starting to set in, but we hold it together and head back to the hostel to meet up with Rob who came over from Australia to be at our wedding. We also had one of the staff of Spicythai call the costume shop person and make sure that (s)he will be there at 7:00. Well, a lot later than we wanted to be doing stuff like that, but at least we'd be getting our costumes.

5. Third strike. We arrived at the costume rental place at 7:00 and it was still locked up tight. Suffice it to say, of all the stresses and complications that occurred over the past week of planning, this was the one that actually almost killed the whole thing. My bride-to-be was not a happy camper and it was her ummmm.....calm, collected way of handling the situation that brought the neighbor out again. Turned out her parents rent the space to the costume shop person and she was able to contact him for us. (S)he said that (s)he would be there in 45 minutes and the extremely nice and helpful neighbor stayed with us to make sure (s)he stuck to her word. We had to clear it up, so we asked straight up this person was a man or a woman and sure enough he was one of Thailand's famed ladyboys, just not how we were used to seeing them.

Sure enough, 45 minutes later he arrived with his posse in tow. The three rather flamboyant guys were a blast and made the costume choosing fast and fun. It felt like we were on a sitcom, or at the very least on Candid Camera. The fitting was filled with comments like "Ooooooh! So beautiful!" and "Oooooooh! So handsome. Just like a Thai Prince". The whole thing happened failry quickly and we were off for a very brief rest before the next part of the night.



6. About 10:00pm and Michelle headed back to the hostel, as our new friend Jenny had promised to do henna on her hands and feet. I joined her an hour or so later, as the next part of our big event would begin soon.







7. Michelle, Jenny, Alex, Rob, Andrew and I hopped in Pong's songthaew and off we went for a midnight shopping spree at the flower market. It was amazing to see the night bazaar that late and how busy it still was even at this time of night. Andrew, Jenny, Alex and Michelle took care of the flower shopping, including picking some fine bunches straight from the trash, while the rest of us picked up some more offerings for the monks. I also bought some bugs for everyone to try (I liked the crickets better than the silk worm larvae).

8. 2:00am and we were back at the hostel decorating Pong's pickup with flowers for the next morning. Roses are pointy. This left us with time for about three hours of sleep before we had to get ready to for the wedding.



9. 6:45 pickup and we're off to Wat Prathat Doi Suthep: the most famous temple in the area, standing on a hill to the north-west of the city. This temple dates from 1383. Its builders allegedly chose its site by placing a relic of the Lord Buddha on an elephant's back and letting the elephant roam until it came across a place where it trumpeted and circled before lying down. We performed a number of Buddhist rituals, including giving offerings to nine monks (nine being a lucky number in Buddhism) and then walked up the stairs to the temple itself. Pong's wedding gift to us was a full guided tour of the temple, along with a history lesson in Buddhism. He was a novice monk for six years and then a tour guide, so we definitely got the best! We were then given blessings by two separate higher ranking monks, who were by Pong that we were getting marries, so their blessings were specific for us to have a long and happy life together. After looking around some more and taking more photos, we headed down the mountain and off to our next stop.






10. In order to make the whole thing legal, we had to the Amphoe (city hall) to get the official marriage certificate. It was pretty funny when the whole group of us walked in and disrupted the days of the civil servants. Oh yeah, another hiccup. We needed both our passports, but mine was with the costume guy, as he asked for something for collateral (by the way, his name means "Fat" in Thai). Luckily, Michelle remembered his phone number and 15 minutes later he was there with my passport and we went back into the office to get it all finished up. After signing the papers and having Rob and Jenny act as our witnesses, it was official!

11. Michelle and I split off from the rest of the group and went back to the translation office to get the marriage certificate translated into English and then went to our awesome 5 star hotel to relax for the afternoon.

12. Party time! We met back up with Pong and a much bigger group than we had in the morning for a night out at the Warm Up bar down the street. Before leaving the staff of Spicythai made beautiful heart of candles for us stand in and then lit fireworks behind us. It was quite romantic. We were exhausted, but had a fun night nonetheless.



13. We spent a nice relaxing morning at our hotel, indulging in the top-notch breakfast buffet and lounging by the pool (they even brought us Honeymoon cake t our room!). Checkout was 2:00pm, so after we left, we spent the rest of the day hanging with Rob and finished it off at the Thai BBQ. The following day we left Chiang Mai to start our trip back to Bangkok.

March 1st - 11th: Thailand is not Bangkok

Modes of transportation: Bike, bus, moto, pick-up (songthaew).

Places visited: Warin Chamrap, Ubon Ratchathani, Chiang Mai, Chiang Dao.

Costs of things: Beer ($1.25-$2.50), Meals ($1 to $5), hotel ($4 - $23)


As we sadly left Laos for Thailand on what our map showed as a 110km ride from Pakse to the first major town after the border, Ubon Ratchathani, we slowly realized that our map was not so precise and that we were in for a 140km day. At the border we met the same guy that we had befriended in Paksong (see the blog entry for February 25th to March 1st) who told us about a cool place to stay in a town a few kilometers outside of Ubon called Warin Chamrap. Upon leaving the border station, we realized a couple of things: we would have to get used to riding on the wrong side of the road again and the economic level of Thailand was far beyond that of Laos, made obvious by the quality of the roads and the groomed gardens on the medians.

Our opinion of Thai people was also upgraded quite a bit compared to the feeling we got from many of the people in Bangkok when we first arrived in Thailand back in December. Not knowing where to find the guesthouse that was recommended to us, we rode around town a bit until a kind man noticed us a couple of times and actually led us to the guest house on his own bicycle. He was so generous that he even offered to give us some money when we offered to compensate him for his time! After our experiences in Bangkok, we were expecting there to be some strings attached, but it turned out that he was just being genuinely helpful. We would go on to learn that Thais are generally very kind, friendly and giving.

The next day we rode into Ubon Ratchathani and secured passage on an overnight bus ride to Chiang Mai. With a few hours to kill, we went to a fitness park, where they had set up a whole array of exercise stations including a basic free weight gym. The following morning we arrived in Chiang Mai , the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It was founded as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom in 1296 by King Menrai, who constructed a moat and a wall around the city to protect it from Burmese raids. While the city has expanded well beyond those walls and the moat, they still exist, making riding around in Chiang Mai a challenge until one gets a handle of which one-way streets go which way.

The best decision we made was to spend a little extra to stay at the Spicythai Backpackers hostel (http://www.spicythaibackpackers.com/). If you ever plan on traveling to northern Thailand, do yourself a favor and book a bed there, you'll be happy you did! The guy who runs it is named Pong and he has done an amazing job in giving this place the best atmosphere possible. He organizes many group outings, including going to an incredibly huge Thai BBQ buffet, hotsprings and to amazing bars. We were able to get three nights in the only private room in the hostel, but wanted to stay one more night before heading north, so we actually pitched a tent on the roof of the hostel!

Aside from enjoying our time and new friends at Spicythai, we spent a good deal of time in Chiang Mai getting our wedding plans underway, with the first step being to get affidavits signed at the Canadian Consulate. As we spoke with other travelers at the hostel, we got some good ideas of what we could do to make the day special and ended up enlisting Pong to help out as our pseudo wedding coordinator. Due to having a week long delay for the paperwork to get down to Bangkok and back for certification, we decided to go for a hike up a mountain about 75kms north of Chiang Mai, in a place called Chiang Dao.

It was nice to get out of the city after a few stressful days of wedding planning. The ride into a more mountainous region felt great, as we were missing the beautiful rides we had experienced in Vietnam and Laos. It turned out that planning an inexpensive overnight hike up Doi Chiang Dao (one of the three highest peaks in Thailand at 2285m) was not such an easy task, but with the help of a couple who own a restaurant and guesthouse in town (Mon, a local and Kurt a German-Canadian), we were able to get things done. The planning took a little longer than we expected so we had an extra day that we spent at a local hotspring (yeah, we like natural hotsprings).

Borrowing a tent and some blankets, we rented a couple of motos and headed up to the starting point to meet our porter. It was a long and difficult ride on the moto, bringing back memories of our ride in Cambodia up to Bokor (see blog entry for December 22nd to January 6th). While the hike was not as long as we had hoped, it did provide for some incredible scenery, including sunset and sunrise on different peaks. Sharing some local whisky and attempting to make conversation over dinner with our Thai-speaking porter was a lot of fun and we also got to introduce him to some good western indie music. Turned out that we didn't quite do the big hike that Kurt had described to us, but it was a cool experience nonetheless.