THAILAND - Chiang Mai - Part 3

The next day was another solo day since Moni had one more day at massage school. I had a whole plan this day to take a secret trail to the top of this hill with a temple. I walked 40 minutes into town so I could catch a red truck ride for a $1 to the cities university where the trail head would start. I found a truck but it was so early that no other tourists were out so I had the car to myself. On the way we picked up an elderly lady that was carrying a bouquet of flowers. I introduced myself because she looked sweet. We both tried to tell each other about our lives. She owned a flower shop and restaurant with her children. Before she got off she gave me a flower from her bouquet which was super cool to have a connection like that with a complete stranger. Will always remember that. I finally arrived at the University/Zoo. Now legend says that there is a secret monk trail behind the school that leads up the mountain and on the way there are lots of waterfalls and shrines. I was super stoked except the gate that I had to go through was locked. I almost considered jumping it but there was someone watching me and told me the trail was closed. It was hard to believe but I didn’t want to cause any trouble. After waiting around at the bottom trying to find a way up the hill and avoiding the crowd of eager truck drivers wanting to give me ride to the top I decided to call my sister. I was very involved with a lot of concerns back home which was getting in the way of my time spent here traveling. I told her this and also was trying to figure out places to live when I got back to the states. One the verge of tears I told my sister that I didn’t exactly want to live in a tent when I got back. Sitting next to me on this call was a nice looking fellow listening in on my call. We both were waiting for more people to come and share a truck ride with us to the top. After I hung up the phone the guy introduced himself and said he felt bad that I had to go live in a tent when I came back from my trip. I told him that I could do it considering I lived in my car for a year. Turns out he is from Israel and just got out of the army and is going to university after his year of travel. He looked like a model. Dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. I couldn’t help but stare. We talked on the windy rode up to the top to the temple Doi Sutep. The road was a crazy incline and I even saw some old timers biking up the thing! Once at the top, me and this guy decided to stick together and wander the temple together while sharing our life stories. It was kind of hard to get around all the crowds of people. Surprisingly lots of them waited for the gondola to the top rather than taking the stairs. There were a lot of stairs but nothing too hard. Bunch of wimps. At the top we paid for our tickets and took our shoes off to go inside. The temple was blinding good shimmering in the sun. So many tourists and locals praying to the shrine. Turns out the Israeli guy was looking for the secret trail to the top as well but couldn’t find it. I was also glad at this point I didn’t hike the mountain since it would have taken 2 hours and it was really hot and muggy that day. Out of the main center temple there was lookout point that had a large carved wooden structure which was beautiful. From here, on a clear day, you could see the entire city of Chiang Mai, today was an okay day. But it would have been cool to see it on a sunset or sunrise. While me and the guy were looking out an old American couple asked if we could take a picture of them, and after they offered a picture of us together. We declined but they insisted that we do because they thought we would get married or something. Instead of denying it we went along with it and pretended to be a couple, just for kicks. Sad thing is that the picture was on his camera, I’ll never had a picture of this beautiful creature. After we were done viewing the city we though it was time to head back down to get out of these crowds. Once at the bottom of the stairs I decided to stay up at the top to look around more while the guy wanted to head down. We said goodbye and that was the end of that. It was nice having to company and to talk to another sole besides Moni.  Once we parted ways I walked around the bottom shops to see what hill tribe crafts were for sale. Many were overpriced and I decided to save my money for the night bazaar instead. Though it was sad to see all the little kids dressed up, sometimes in fake costumes, as hill tribes and try to sell you there products. Most of the crafts here are sometimes fake, but I could almost tell always when it was which was good I guess. But its either to support these poor families in buying shitty stuff or try to find the authentic crafts that support the hill tribe villages and get yourself some quality materials. Tough decision. I bought some fresh strawberries to sit and snack on as I waited for a red truck to take me down the hill. It was a bit of a hassle to get enough people and the correct truck to take me down. The price was double at the top since they knew tourist would have to pay no matter what to get down the  hill. So I was screwed on that part but oh well I was tired. Finally there was enough people to pay the car tight and go to the city. I told them to drop me off at the furthest city gate, but everyone else got off before that, some even argued with the driver because he was ripping us all off, but I just went with the flow. The last one off the truck I was back at square one with still a whole half day to myself. I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t do the big hike since that would have been a day adventure in itself. But I decided to shop a little at a local market. I found a place called Warorot Market and it was a little ways outside the city next to a nice river. Once I stepped inside the complex it was a hug multi story building with things for sale ranging from food to furniture. What a find! I saw clothes that I bought a nice hill tribe shirt and then some dried fruit. I got to try these salt cured plum which I was obsessed with, but I was even more obsessed with these candied tomatoes, CANDIED TOMATOES! I snacked on these and some more fresh strawberries since there was a whole food market next to the clothes. And I finally exited the building after getting lost multiple time and found my way to the riverside where locals ate their lunch and relaxed. Next to it was also a flower market which smelled amazing. As I walked it was very peaceful and I stopped in a few more shops on the way back to the hotel. Once I got back, Moni showed up and we would then head out to go have dinner at a vegan place with one of her massage teachers from the school, who was also from Monterey! We got ready and took an Uber. This restaurant was so nice and had great options for food, very westernized though, but a nice break from Thailand food. We talked a lot about back home and the problems that Thailand faces. Great conversations. A man joined us too who was a common friend, but he left early for a night massage class. The lady we were with also told us about the best massage place in Chiang Mai that we needed to go to the next day. During dinner it was a little frustrating because they all got their food except me. I waited long enough so then I had to go ask them where my food was, which I hate doing. But the food I got was great! After dinner we walked to the ladies apartment down the road. It was really cool because she lived here for 6 months and rented a nice little place all to herself. This put an idea in my head about maybe a future thing to do... In her apartment we talked some more on the rooftop which we had all to ourselves. I looked over at Moni and she looked a little restless so I thought it would be nice to say goodbye. We took an uber home to go to bed early. Tomorrow we would get a new hostel and a whole day together! Also treat ourselves to the best massage...