Flying into a Flood

Katie and I were planning on leaving Mai Sai for Chaing Mai on the Sunday after our outing to the village. However, we loved Mai Sai so much that we decided to postpone our trip for one more day. We spent our unexpected extra day lounging around town, exploring the market, eating street food, and talking. We wandered into a Burmese restaurant for lunch, and I had one of the best dishes I have ever eaten! The name escapes me now, but I know it had something to do with pickled tea leaves. I know, it sounds disgusting, but trust me, it’s awesome! Our hostel was about two kilometers outside of town. It was a beautiful hostel, and very reasonably priced. Unfortunately, getting into town once public transportation ceased (about dark), presented a bit of a problem. That night we found ourselves in just that debacle. To make a long story short, we ended up borrowing a stranger’s motorcycle to get into town for dinner. In retrospect, it wasn’t the wisest decision I have ever made, but it sure was fun!!!

 

The following day our trip to Chaing Mai was uneventful. The scenery was beautiful so our driver’s painfully slow navigation of mountain roads wasn’t too frustrating. We caught a tuk-tuk to our hostel and settled in. The next four days were spent wandering the city. We got massages, ate lots of delicious food, met interesting people, got lost, saw lots of cool temples, laughed a lot, and became great friends. We both decided that Chaing Mai was lovely and we’d love to stay there for a long time.

The only cloud over our free-wheeling week was the perpetual news of the flooding in Bangkok. Everywhere we went and everyone we talked to reminded us of the situation, but the facts were questionable. Everyone had different opinions about what was happening and whose fault it was. I contacted my friends still in Bangkok, and they helped me decide to go back there earlier than I originally planned. The bus system was already paralyzed and there was some concern that the airport in Bangkok would be closed. After talking to my parents, I decided to fly back to Bangkok on Thursday. I wanted to be there if we were going to be stranded. To this day I don’t think I can explain my reasoning for leaving beautiful, safe Chaing Mai to go back to the middle of the crisis, but I did it. And I’m glad I did it. Although I never claimed to love that city, I felt a certain sense of loyalty to it. I wanted to stand in solidarity with my friends there and be available if there was anything I could do to help.

 

So, after a sad goodbye to Katie, I flew back to Bangkok by myself and, in a streak of independence, negotiated a fair price with a taxi driver despite his attempt to take advantage of me and my apparent naivety. The airport and the roads to our area were completely dry. In fact, I didn’t actually see the flood for another couple weeks. I returned to Brittany’s apartment to find it safe and sound. The refrigerator was still plugged in, and there were no bugs in the toilet. I soon found out that there was a cockroach infestation in my absence, but it that just gave me an opportunity to practice my shoe-slapping-ninja skills. Although I was sad to leave Katie and the beauty of the North, I was glad to be back.