Lost in Chiang Rai - Season 0, Episode 0

A boat docking Station by
the Chiang Rai beach

 The best way to discover a new city is to get lost in it and this is exactly what happened to me on the 13th Sep. My second day at Chiang Rai wasn't quite what I had intended or expected. After my encounter with Mr Maroot, I decided to find out what the city had to offer and so a bicycle rental that cost 80 Baht per day was the most economic and easy solution.

Except - it was pouring like crazy.  The woman at the rental provided me with a city map and suggested I go to the Buddha Caves first and make my way down to the Beach and the whole route was about 7 - 10 km. 

One thing about Chiang Rai - the paper maps and roads are alternate realities and can often coexist. After what seemed to be a whole 4 hours of biking in circles within the city and passing by numerous temples and schools, I found myself in a coffee shop with the owner trying his earnestly to help me. I was pleasantly amused when he said I was very close to the beach which was the exact opposite of the plan that the bike rental woman and I had shook hands to. In the process however, my geography of the city vastly improved and I had a new sense of appreciation for the daily uncertainties of life which when patiently explored has a reward at the end.  There have been many times where being lost was associated with fear. A fear that completely takes away the feeling of being present and enjoying the moment. 

My waiter Alok

View from my Cabana

So my reward - I ended up on what they call the Chiang Rai Beach. The name sounds fancy, but it is in essence a beautiful and extremely simple and cheap riverside dining/ viewing area where Spicy fried morning glory and rice is served along with chilli sauce. My waiter Alok, a very shy young Thai who loves to read magazines in his spare time, took my order and rode off on his bike to fetch the food while I relaxed and took a breathe of my landscape. Every one gets their own Cabana where one watches boats on their way to Tha Ton pass by and just be. 

Catch for the Day

On my way back from the beach, I found a fisherwoman who stopped me to show me her catch for the day. Her satisfactory smile seemed to be linked to the fact that her dinner was now a clear certainty. Many Thai fishermen and fisherwomen really look forward to the monsoon as it brings up the river levels and makes their fishing extremely easy and voluminous.

Simplicity was my word of the day!

I was completely drenched and soaked (with a new understanding of the city and myself) when I got back to the hotel just in time for dinner and further conversation about the local life of Chiang Rai