Two days in beautiful Chiang Mai

Additional to Ko Phayam:
How could I forget! The most beautiful and incredible moment on the island was when we went swimming at night and the water suddenly fluoresced. It was completely dark and apart from the starry sky, there were hardly any other lights to be seen. With every movement, every kick and paddle, the water lit up brightly with lots of small, dot-like lights. It felt like swimming through a sky of thousands of twinkling stars. The stars danced with us. They responded to us, our impulses and movements, and in turn, we responded to the lights.

Ever since I heard about this natural spectacle, I wished to experience it once.

So this dream came true that evening!

At some point, we were bitten too much by some water fleas and had to leave the water. I believe otherwise we would have stayed in the water all night.


From Ko Phayam, we made our way to Phuket. Because from there we went to the airport- our next destination was Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand.
It would have taken too long to travel back up to the north by bus.

The flight and the arrival in Chiang Mai went smoothly.
Unfortunately, Merle had a strong cold the next morning and had to take a day's rest.

So I borrowed a bike and quickly realized that Chiang Mai, contrary to all my fears of Bangkok's big-city bustle, turned out to be a cozy, relaxed, and super open-minded city.
I cycled through the narrow lanes of the old town, surrounded by a river in a square shape, sat in a cafe, let my thoughts wander, and read my book. I practiced a bit, imagining what it would soon be like when Merle and I separate on the journey and from there on we travel alone.

In the evening, the two of us went out to eat, Merle went back to the hostel afterwards and I went alone to the famous night market. I was a bit overwhelmed and exhausted by the mass of people and market stalls, which often sold the same small and large bags, clothes with elephant prints, shoes, jewelry, and all sorts of other stuff.
I strolled through the many rows of market stalls and realized that I didn't actually need or find any of these things appealing. Good for my wallet!
Later, I came across a nice place where there was live music. I sat down, ordered a beer, and listened to the music. Afterwards, I sat in a rustic reggae bar for a short while before eventually making my way back to Merle. Somehow, I felt a bit relieved because it was a bit strange to be alone in Chiang Mai's nightlife without Merle.

The next day, she was fortunately feeling better and we could finally explore the old town together.
Here we discovered the tastiest bakery in Chiang Mai where we could buy Danish pastries. Of course, we had breakfast there for three consecutive days :D
In the evening, we met three wonderful Italians, a sibling pair and their cousin. We went out with them and made plans to do a scooter tour the next day.
Said and done. The next day, we rented our scooters at noon and drove together to the Sticky Waterfall, which was 50 km away from the city.

The ride was very adventurous. It was the first city traffic I drove through and quite a different story than the small and deserted paths of an island. In the end, it was 100 km, a distance I had never driven myself with a vehicle before, especially not with a Thai rickety scooter.

Looking back, I would say that Merle and I were a great scooter team. She told me the way, put her hand out when we wanted to turn, and was responsible for the music as well as occasionally calming me down during my little nervous breakdowns. And I took care of the rest.

The waterfall was really cool too!
Some natural phenomenon allows the stones of the waterfall to not be slippery, so you can climb up and down it completely.
The day was fantastic and we felt very comfortable in our scooter gang. (Well, a little cool too.)
In the evening, we had dinner together and then watched a reggae band. (@Emily, at the bar where you also were!!)
The next day, at 5 o'clock in the morning, before we would leave Chiang Mai and take a minibus to Pai, we grabbed our scooters again and rode up the neighboring mountainous landscape of Chiang Mai with our Italian friends.
The partially mist-covered sunrise, the view of the city just waking up, and the calm, morning atmosphere of the temple complex, which was also the viewpoint, were very special and another beautiful experience in Chiang Mai.
On the way back, we had to drive incredibly slowly because the winding serpentine roads were wet and the road was dangerously slippery. Luckily, we made it down safely.