Story / 06 Oct 2016 / 0 COMMENTS

With the Scooter to Chiang Dao

As I walked around the old town of Chiang Mai, I noticed the blue Honda Zoomer X scooter parked in front of a jewelry shop with a big red ‘For Rent’ sign hanging across its handlebars.

“You it is” I thought to myself and went inside the shop to ask for the price. My choice to go with this scooter might have had something to do with the fact that it was exactly the same model as the one I drove through Laos nearly two years earlier.

After paying the rental and having secured my backpack, using a pair of old bungee cords the shopkeeper lent me, it was time to set off and leave Chiang Mai.

Thanks to a recommendation from Ee, I had a rough goal in mind and headed north towards Chiang Dao. The first stretch consisted mainly of highways that I had to share with big trucks and lorries.

About an hour or so into the journey, the clouds came rolling in and the sky started to open up. As the road got wetter and the rain drops thicker I was in dire need of a shelter before the rain became too strong.

Thankfully I came across a small roadside coffee shop and turned into the little courtyard. At first there was no one there, but the coffee shop owner must have heard me drive up and emerged out of her home.

The rain got noticeably stronger as I sat down, while she prepared my ice coffee.

“It’s good timing that you arrived here” she said to me, pointing towards the stream of water gushing down the roof.

“Where are you heading?” She asked me shortly thereafter. “I’m going up to Chiang Dao, do you know how long it will take?” I replied back.

“Maybe an hour or two” she replied hesitantly. “But that depends on the rain.”

As we continued our conversation about food and my trip, I asked her about some places to visit close by.

“Yeah there are lots of things to see” she answered with a smile. “There is a temple about an hour up the road and another one just up the hill.”

Thirty minutes later and still recounting her directions, I made it up the hill and arrived at the temple she was talking about. I didn’t stay too long though, but long enough to take in the beautiful view and the fresh mountain breeze.

The drive from here onwards was a complete contrast to the previous stretch. I was alone on the road for most of the time and instead of highways it was all country roads with beautiful views of rice paddies and farms dotting the landscape.

After a quick stop for dinner I made it to the second temple. It was a massive complex clearly built to accommodate hundreds even thousands of people, but it was completely empty, with the exception of some construction workers, a nun and one monk. I only had about an hour to explore the huge temple before I had to leave once again.

At one point the rain caught up with me again and I had to find another place to escape the coming downpour. And there it was; A little hut in the middle of the field inviting me to take a break.

As I waited out the rain the sky once again cleared to reveal the most stunning rainbow I had seen for a very long time. I just couldn’t believe the beauty of the moment; Me out here alone taking in this spectacle of nature.

Still in awe I remembered to check the time and realised that I had to continue if I wanted to make it to Chiang Dao in time. So I braved the last bit of rain and sped off on my little scooter.