Thailand O
ur adventure started the moment we stepped off the plane in Bangkok. We made it our mission to get out of Bangkok as quickly as possible with plans to return later in our trip once we grew more accustomed to traveling in Thailand. For the moment, we focused on making our way north to Chiang Mai, home to the country’s best whitewater. There’s a direct train that takes passengers across the 750-kilometer stretch of jungle and countryside to Chiang Mai but our group of four hired a rental car. We craved the free- dom to explore the rivers and falls along the road north.
Finding a quality rental car in Bangkok was easy; the hard part was getting it out of the city. Traffic signs are written in Thai and we shared the road intimately with thousands of bicycles, mopeds and tuk-tuks—moped taxis. I felt confident navigating my way through Bangkok’s narrow, congested side streets, my passengers with their heads out the windows making sure I didn’t run anyone over. Then I merged onto the highway. The congestion didn’t disperse. Instead, still more cars and mopeds packed even closer togeth- er and moved at a much quicker pace. The blood finally returned to my fingertips when I loosened my white-knuckle grip 20 kilome- ters outside the city.
ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK AND THE WORLD’S YOUR OYSTER. PHOTO: TYLER FOX
white namtok—the Thai term for waterfall. With the motivation to get off the beaten path and a penchant for mischief, it wasn’t hard to get sidetracked for a couple of days. We quickly developed a love-hate rela- tionship with the signs the Thai people have erected to celebrate their beloved falls. A road sign marks almost every drop in the country. After passing a handful, we finally decided to turn off the highway in search of a runnable waterfall.
A
s we made our way north, our time and budget allowed us to chase the great
“There’s a train that takes passengers 750 kilometers to Chiang Mai but our group of four hired a rental car. We craved the freedom to explore the rivers and falls along the road north.”
TELL ME MORE. PHOTO: LOUISE URWIN
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