Thoughts on Northern Thailand

Leaving Sukhothai for Chiang Mai, a definite change starts to take place. The earth begins to roll, the vegetation more lush. Mountains begin to frame the landscape and it feels more inviting, more familiar in a sense. Evidence of the lack of rain is still visible, but there is definitely a feeling of greater abundance.

It strikes me that it hasn’t rained since I’ve gotten here. I would love to experience Thailand in the wet season. Living in Vancouver for 16 years gave me an appreciation for wet weather. Not that my appreciation came easy. I think I was depressed for the first four years, but then something happened. Every fall when the grey skies, the mist, the darkness rolled in, it brought with it a slow calm. I grew to love the endless, hair-frizzing drizzle. My son was born in Vancouver. Five years after moving, he still goes for walks when it rains. Rains in Ontario aren’t like rains in Vancouver, however, and he often comes back drenched to the bone.

But I digress. Thailand. The light in northern Thailand is enchanting. The closest I can compare it to is when a heavy storm is about to roll in and the sky turns black, but it is daytime and still light out. That light. That light that has a mysterious, charged air to it. I first noticed it outside Chiang Mai at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. I thought it might be just the luck of the day. But coming to Chiang Rai, here it is again, that light that would normally forewarn a storm, even a tornado. But it’s clear out, bouncy clouds fill the sky. And that light endures. It’s beautiful.

I left Chaing Mai after three days because I didn’t love it. I so wanted to love it. I left before I disliked it, despite not feeling well enough to travel. The plan was to go to Pai, but my body was not in shape for those twisty roads, so to Chiang Rai I came. Things happen for a reason. Nothing revolutionary has happened here, other than I am finally starting to feel healthy again, but Chiang Rai has set me right again. Gone is the disappointment of having something not live up to expectations. The excitement that comes with discovering the new has returned.

Chiang Mai after Lopburi and Sukhothai was a bit of a shock to my system. I had been experiencing less English as I travelled north. Of course I knew Chiang Mai would be different– its size, its popularity with expats made that clear enough– but the amount of English in the old town was disconcerting. I felt upended, like I had been in Thailand and now I was somewhere else. I was also sick, unable to eat, and celebrating my birthday away from my sweet boy. It combined to make me feel displaced, not right somehow.

I will head back to Chaing Mai tomorrow, though, feeling well again. I will approach it with an open mind and fresh eyes.