Each weekend I experienced something completely new and different in Thailand. I’ve been to the most northern parts of Thailand in Chiang Rai to down south in Phuket to islands like Koh Chang and Koh Samet as well as a couple different national parks. There’s endless things to experience here in Thailand, there’s no such thing as being bored here.
I think one of my favorite trips was the spontaneity of my Chiang Rai trip. Randomly my three other friends and I decided to go up to Chiang Rai because we kept here amazing things about it. It’s extremely north of Bangkok, so from where our school was based it took about 15 hours via overnight bus to get there. Seems like a lot, but it’s not so bad when you sleep through the night on the bus. But once we made it we stayed at a cute little homestay a little bit out of the city center. The hosts were so gracious and kind. We showed up at 6 AM since our bus arrived early and they let us fall asleep on their cabana chairs until we could have breakfast at 8:30 AM. After breakfast we had a day exploring the city.
I think I talked a little bit about Chiang Rai in a previous blog post, but to reiterate on Friday we saw three things—the white temple, a beautiful waterfall, and a little park. The white temple is a beautiful crystal like palace on the side of the street. It was probably my most favorite temple out of every one I’ve seen. The waterfall ended up being a trek to get to, but it was really nice since the path was covered in large bamboo trees that shaded us the entire way there. And then the park was just something to be seen, a beautiful expanse of green as well as a garden of flowers of many different colors.
But the best part of this trip was heading up a little farther north to Phu Chi Fa. It’s a small town that not many tourists go to, but they do go for one specific reason. And that’s to watch the sun rise over the cliffs. And let me tell you, I’ve never experienced anything like that before in my life. We woke up at 5:30 in the morning to have a taxi take us up to Phu Chi Fa Forest Park. It was the first time we all had to wear fleece jackets in Thailand because it was freezing. We loaded into the trunk of a car (since the inside was already taken) and headed up the hill. It was pitch black out still and everything was silent. We all laid down in the trunk and watched the stars light up the sky as we made our way up. Once we got to the top we were directed to a path that would lead us to the peak where we could watch the sunrise. It took about 15 minutes to walk up and we had to use our phone flashlights to guide us. Once we go to the top, around 6 AM, we waited for sunrise at 6:30. We sat down all in silence watching the stars until the sun started peaking up over the horizon. Pictures don’t even do the view justice. It was absolutely stunning. That by far was one of my most unforgettable experiences here.
