Day 29: Border Chronicles I

With my visa waiver winding down its last hours, it was time for a trip to the border to renew it. The closest border from Chiang Mai is actually Burma at the town of Mae Sai on the Thai side and Talicheck on the Burmese side.

The day before expiry — which was new years’ eve since my visa waiver expired on the 2nd (or so I thought) — I was deciding between booking a visa run minibus and traveling myself to Chiang Rai then up to Mae Sai. The bus was more convenient and probably more expensive. But it burns a day of sitting in a bus, watching the world go by. Renting a bike and running up the reputedly beautiful ride to Chiang Rai myself sounded like adventure. After Doi Inthanon I both knew it was possible and that it would be tiring.

With this choice before me, I met up with Kristen for coffee. She was a connection from Kris on a similar adventure. Kris, Kristen. I cannot make that up; I suppose the universe enjoys wordplay as much as I do.

Anyway, it turns out that she was interested in the ride too, but lacked riding experience. Happily bowing to fate, we decide to make the trip together. It’s hard to say if these kind of chance encounters happen in everyday life, but it sure seems like they happen all the time on the road.

Getting Up

The plan had one basic uncertainty: securing transportation. This being the top of high season, new year’s eve, no one had any bikes to book. We’d have to show up on new years’ day at the open and see what had been returned the previous afternoon.

Fortunately, this isn’t Thai new year. That happens in April. So although the shops opened sluggishly — the Thais do celebrate western new year (they celebrate basically everything) — they would be open eventually. When they did there were plenty of bikes from which to chose.

After Doi Inthanon I still intended to take a motorbike and not a scooter. I just love the control of changing the gears myself. The rental agent misunderstood and gave me a scooter anyway by mistake. As I was about to get them to change it, a voice in my head whispered how much more comfortable a scooter would be. It’s got a place to put your heavy backpack for all those hundreds of miles. The backpack doesn’t have to slowly weigh down your spine. So I took it as an omen and was happy with the scooter. This was a good decision. A smaller semi-automatic motorcycle would have been less comfortable and marginally less costly. A larger motorcycle would have been more fun but much more expensive. And it turns out I needed the extra cash. The scooter was indeed comfortable and almost as much fun as a bigger bike.

With our newly-rented scooters we were on the road by 9 am. My vast experience led met to council Kristen that we should wear our warmest clothing. This was spot on. It was also utterly insufficient. By about 50 Km in, despite my 3 laters (a merino wool t-shirt, a merino wool long-sleeved ski base layer and a fleece ski midlayer), I was freezing. So was Kristen. 15°C/60°F is very cold at 70 Km/h on a scooter. Worse, with no hand protection my fingers were getting stiff and numb. I thought of my Gore Tex jacket safe at the hostel, the one piece of clothing I’d disparaged since arriving as completely useless and a waste of space. A wind breaking layer would’ve helped immensely.

Water Break

At just about the time when things were getting really uncomfortable it was time to stop for a snack. We happened on a roadside attraction, a hot spring with a dramatic geyser. The sign billed it as the highest hot springs in Thailand (Nampuron Tavieesin, Chiang Rai). The geysers were awesome, jetting high into the crisp bright air. The hot springs were little pools in the ground, good for soaking feet and making eggs (a lá onsen tomago) but not for full body immersion. Here we bought cheap gloves and fortified ourselves with what would be a theme of this trip: coffee. Two travelers from the Bay Area and Seattle had finally found a region in Thailand as obsessed with it as their homelands.

Doi Chaang

The way up to Chiang Rai is indeed beautiful. The roads are lots of fun once it warms up enough to enjoy the ride. They twist and wind their way through the mountains, a bit of farmland, and a few small ramshackle towns. On a scooter you get to smell the air: the perfume of flowers, the damp of the forrest, the burning of fields — you get to inhale the land. It’s a much more connected way to travel than by car, your attention is constantly riveted on the present by the demands of the winding roads and by the freer Thai traffic customs.

After another hour or so of riding, it was time for a break from this fun. Time to stretch and refuel. We stopped at was I’d describe has a flag ship shop for Doi Chaang coffee, which bills itself as world class. In Chiang Rai Doi Chaang shops are everywhere. The brand is also abundant in Chiang Mai, but more hidden amongst other coffeehouses. The coffee is very good and the coffeehouses themselves share more than a few design cues with Starbucks and the hipster coffee bars of the West Coast. What’s unique to this Doi Chang location along highway 118 is that coffee drying going on out back. Whether this is a real factory or a hobby farm for the visitors, it’s hard to tell. Looked real to me though. Tons of coffee everywhere!

So is it world class? Absolutely. Better than the chains back home, if not quite as awesome as the local houses in Seattle. As far as cartoon coffee icons go, the Doi Chaang guy beats Juan Valdez handily

Chiang Rai

After the 170Km run to Chiang Rai, it was time to stop and find a place to stay. This was pretty easy, though I somehow lost my gloves during the search. It seems that particular winter tradition is still celebrated in this part of the world. Luckily I bought another set at the night bazaar. The next day would have been very difficult without them.

The thought of another 120Km round trip to Mae Sai that night didn’t appeal, so we decided to check out the White Temple instead and leave the border run for my very last day of legal status in Thailand. Or what I thought was my last day.