Travel Diary - Backpacking through Thailand: The Northern Part

At the age of 13 I already had the idea that one day, I wanted to go backpacking through Thailand. Why? No idea. Sharing a country with many other tourists is normally not my cup of tea. Probably because my then favourite YouTubers also went backpacking in Thailand. And now, 8 years later, it was finally happening. Together with Stef, I hopped on the plane for a long flight (with two layovers, student budget problems) towards Bangkok. Many movies and a day later we arrived. On our way we already experienced a lot, our layover in London coincided with the semi-finals of the world championship England – Croatia, so we enjoyed this match in an English Pub at the airport amid English fans. Luckily, we did not experience the eventual loss because we were already boarding. Furthermore, we got startled because we got called for an ‘extra document check’. The next two flights took care of the entertainment as well, in the shape of turbulence and screaming children. Once arrived in Bangkok, the predetermined route through the airport started: Passport check (yay, another stamp!), waiting for the luggage to arrive (of which half never arrived), change money and buy a Thai sim-card. After this, the adventure could finally really begin. Although, the first night this adventure was limited to the exploration of the Thai McDonald’s…

Bangkok

The first days in Bangkok we took it slow. We visited some gorgeous Buddhist temples (Wat Arun and Wat Pho), strolled over the many markets in which we soon bought the first souvenirs, tasted Thai food from the various different food stands, sailed over the Chao Praya River and biked through China with Co van Kessel. We also spent every night on Khao San Road, the backpacker’s street of Bangkok. Honest opinion? To us it felt more like Lloret de Mar than Bangkok, but hey, that too has its charm and we enjoyed it to the fullest. In Bangkok we stayed at the Rambuttri Village Plaza, around the corner of Khao San Road, but quiet enough for a good night sleep.

Kanchanaburi

After all the hustle and bustle of Bangkok we took a local train towards Kanchanaburi. Kanchanaburi is a little city 3 hours from Bangkok. The city is best known for its Bridge over the River Kwai, on which a section of the enormous Thai-Birma railway is built by among others Dutch prisoners of war of the Japanese in the Second World War. Many of the prisoners of war did not survive this. On our first day in Kanchanaburi we visited the War Cemetery, where many Dutch and British are buried, and the associated impressive museum, the ‘Death Railway Museum’. We also visited the bridge, which is still in use and over which the train crosses the river 4 times a day. The second day in Kanchanaburi we took an early private taxi towards the Erawan Waterfalls, an hour away from the city. Our expectations were significantly exceeded, the falls turned out to be even bigger, and the water even more blue than on the pictures we saw before our visit. And what made it even more fun: we were able to swim in the waterfalls! And that amidst many nibbling fish in the water, we are definitely not in need of a fish spa any day soon…

Ayutthaya

From the quiet Kanchanaburi, we took a local bus and a minivan for a 5-hour trip to the city of Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya used to be the capital of the kingdom of Ayutthaya for over four ages. In the 18^th century the city was completely destroyed, and everything that lasts are the ruins of the ever so impressive temples. We decided to rent a tuk-tuk for the day, which drove us to five of the many temple ruins of the city. The rain that had been predicted did not arrive, and we amused ourselves all day in the burning sun. For the night we did not book a hotel, but a night in the night train towards the Northern city of Chiang Mai. That’s how we saved a night in a hotel, and a full travel day. After the best Pad Thai of the trip at a very simple ‘restaurant’ (read: some plastic tables in a living room) close to the train station we got in the train. The first class was fully booked, so we had a shared compartment. The trip was better than we expected, and we even slept for some hours. And the best of the night train: around six hours later we woke up with the most beautiful green, mountainous, landscape as morning view from our window.

Chiang Mai

After our arrival in Chiang Mai we decided to take it slow and get some rest at the swimming pool first, thereafter we visited a big temple in the middle of the city (Wat Chedi Luang), and we ended the day at a local market in the pouring rain. We thought we were hiding from the rain for a bit, but after 1,5 hours it was still pouring rain, and we had no other choice than putting on our rain poncho’s and defy the rain. This was the first time we really had to deal with the notorious rainy season.

On our first full day in Chiang Mai we visited the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. This is a place where elephants which are rescued from circuses and other places where people ride on them live. We were picked up in the morning and drove towards the mountains and jungle to the camp, where we arrived an hour later, and carsick haha. We were able to feed the elephants and bath with them, which was an amazing experience. However, even though the elephants were much better of than many of their species in Thailand, we did leave with a bad feeling. These elephants are still used for the tourist sector and to earn money with. Furthermore, elephants are not supposed to be fed by humans. Next time I want to see elephants again, it will be in their natural habitat. Although we had a nice day, I would probably not do it again. After the bad experience of driving through mountainous roads in Chiang Mai in combination with being carsick of the day before, we decided to cancel our plans to make a tour to the highest mountain of Thailand. Instead, we spent our day at a farm half an hour from the city and learned how to cook and bake 7 typical Thai Dishes during a cooking class. The ultimate way to get to know and experience the kitchen of a country. Read more about the cooking class here.

On our last day in Chiang Mai we planned something special, the sunrise from Doi Suthep Temple on top of a mountain. The alarm rang at 4 in the morning, we took a quick shower after another warm night, and at 5 the taxi picked us up. The road towards the temple was long and full of hairpin turns. Soon we were accompanied by many cyclists and runners who dared to climb the mountain. After our arrival we immediately got attacked by a group of stray dogs which followed us around the whole visit (bye white dress, hello white dress with black dog paw print). Together with the dogs, we climbed the 309 steps to the top of the mountain and to the temple. It turned out to be gorgeous, and the view breath taking. Although we were not spoiled with a red sunrise, the view was absolutely worth it. We did get spoiled with the chanting of the monks who live at the temple, which made the morning unforgettable. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far, it will have to compete with the Erawan Falls for the first place.

After we spent our last night in Chiang Mai well at the nice Sunday Night Market (if you thought that busy markets are busy, try a busy market in the pouring rain with hundreds of umbrellas…) and at the nice bar Zoe in Yellow, our adventure in the north of Thailand was over. The next morning, we took a plane from Chiang Mai towards the south, off to more adventures!