Damn, It Feels Good to be a Changsta

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The weekend in Chiang Mai could not have been a more entertaining, adventurous, or relaxing weekend to cap off the long week of TESOL classes. I only wish all of my weekends could be so adventurous and memorable in Thailand.
To start the weekend, we decided to effectively give our group a proper name. After all, we have been doing some serious business in Chiang Mai, so it is surely time to out a name to all this excitement and debauchery. Since we all frequently meet up on our 5th story balcony to slug back a few well-timed yet low-key Chang beers; them name “Changsters” seemed to be an appropriate title. Our 1st hip-hop album “Chillin on the B” should be out sometime next month.
With our group named, classes done, and a plan set in motion by our Thai travel agent in the city, the Changsters were ready to pop off the weekend in style. We rounded up the troops, put on our freshest t-shirts, and departed for the 1st tri-annual “Almost Full Moon Pub Crawl.”
To begin, we told the Song Tau driver to take us to Taipei Gate. This is pretty mush the center of a lot of touristy places in Chiang Mai. As I have stated in a few previous posts, the center of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a moat. Taipei Gate is the East Side gate to this moat and boasts many bars, restaurants, and hostels that lure in backpackers and tourists worldwide. The large stone gate also makes for a nice attraction and illustrates Chiang Mai’s rich, historical past.
After getting off the Song Tau (which is always a fun adventure in itself; drinking and laughing with friends as the wind whips through my hair and I get a first rate tour of the city), we began hunting down our first bar. The chase didn’t last but a minute before the Changster’s looked up and saw it: a rooftop bar overlooking Taipei Gate and the city of Chiang Mai. The loud trance music and sporadically flashing lights sealed the deal for us as we were ensnared into our first bar.
The bar was amazing, cheap drinks (2 dollar gin and tonics on special!!!!), good music, and wild artwork all over the walls that were made even more interesting with black lights as the main source of the bars lighting. You had to take off your shoes before they let you get in (isn’t that in a Shania Twain song…. Man I feel like a Thai-man… dun dun dun dun daa dun dun), and instead of chairs there were small mats on the floor that we sat on around our foot high table. It was a blast hanging out and drinking at the bar that overlooked the beautiful city below.
Unfortunately, we decided it was time to leave. I mean, it was a bar crawl after all and if we just stayed there all night, we would have been a bunch of Changster hypocrites, and Changster’s don’t put up with that. So, we moved back downstairs and out the door to walk towards another bar.
Up the street a bit north of Taipei Gate, we ran into yet another rooftop venue called “Johns Place.” We crowded around a table on the roof, ordered up a couple of cocktails and some delicious Thai cuisine, and chilled out overlooking the city once again. I had one of my personal favorite Thai dishes: grilled chicken with rice and cashew nuts. That and my Chang beer made for a fantastic, luxurious dinning experience I won’t soon forget, especially since there was a random black out during our meal that left us in the dark for a bit.
Barnabus then met up with us at John’s and not long after, we were back at the 711 purchasing a magnificent, “good to the last drop,” bottle of Thailand’s finest gin: Gilby’s. The night then took a turn as we explored some of the more “sketchy” areas around Lo Kroi road. However, soon after, the group was back at one of our favorite musical hangouts near Taipei Gate: Inter-Music. The same band we were used to by now was finishing up a set, but not before we were able to get a few well placed requests in. Included in these requested was a Changsters Original favorite: “Killing in the Name Of,” by Rage Against the Machine. By the time the song was over, we had the whole bar jumping up along with us as we belted out the lyrics into the late night sky.
Soon though, it was time to head out. For our final destination, we took refuge at Van Bar. The bar is literally a van that someone must have “once upon a time” parked in the middle of a courtyard and decided to sell drinks out of. We found a table near the van and got back to our in-depth conversations which are now lost to the air of Chiang Mai. However, I am sure we discussed something in between politics and what color the sky is. True intellectual business without a doubt. What is a night outside a Thai bar without some tropical visitors? Well, its not a night in a Thai bar I will tell you that much. After a few drinks, a 2 ton 10 foot high elephant decided to cross the party path. Easy Dumbo… im trying to get my drink on here! What a country.
That was about all that happened that night, or at least all that I am freely choosing to write about without going further, so I will now move on to talk about Sunday, a day of days.
Sunday, we awoke at the crack of 8am to hitch a ride about an hour north of Chiang Mai. Along the way we met, and became acquainted with X our tour guide. Literally, the dudes name was X. He enjoys long walks on the beach, dancing to Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies” (quite well too I might add) and taking unsuspecting tourists on amazing adventures in the jungle.
Our first adventure involved dirt bikes. I know exactly what your thinking “Andrew, didn’t you just get into an accident due to high speed motoring activities.” I know, I know, but isn’t there a saying about that.. something like “If you fall off the horse, you need to get back on?” Sorry guys, but I’m not a gymnast. However, I did hop right up onto my ATV and followed the guides into the Thai jungle. The mountain views, wild turning trails, and small villages, were all I needed to make the day totally worth the low price of 2,000 baht. It was a perfect day to be freely riding through the dense, lush jungle and I had a blast doing so. Besides a minor issue involving my buddy Rob and a broken bike chain, the adventure went off without a hitch and I got some great pics to illustrate the beauty of rural Thailand.
We then had some lunch, and got prepped for the next leg of the journey: white water rafting down the Maetang River. Following a brief instructional class in broken Thiaglish (mix of Thai and English… I just made that up and think its brilliant) we were ready to go. Who cares if a few of the commands were a little bit hazy, no one ever died white water rafting… right?
We through our lifejackets on, picked out a suitable paddle, and marched down to the riverbed. There, we met our captain, our fearless leader to take us through the jungle, the one, the only… Kip. I would have personally went with something more “piratey” such as Admiral Terror, or Captain Hook… but I suppose Kip would just have to do.
The white water rafting was amazing. We went through a range of quiet, easy going sections where we had ample time to breath in the natural beauty surrounding us, and terrifying moments lunging down class 3 rapids holding on for dear life while praying Kip would hold us together. On more than one occasion, we got stuck sideways in the middle of a section of rapids and had to pray that the boat wouldn’t fill with water and tip us to certain doom. Yet, we live to see another day. The most embarrassing part was surely a time we got stuck right in front of a village who’s people were all settling down for lunch. Im sure we looked really cool in our helmets and bright yellow raft, absolutely motionless, as we lay stranded on the rocks. To make matters worse, the village kids were playing in the water all around us, splashing at us while they laughed in our face. I splashed them back though…. That’ll show em!
During a few of the more easy patches of river, Kip was having a blast messing with us. He frequently would point up to the trees and yell “ooo look.. monkey” only to await an opertune moment when we unhitched ourselves from the raft so he could smack us off the side with his paddle. I thought the Thais were a non-violent people? His personal favorite game that always managed to dunk us beneath the waters surface was cleverly titled “helicopter.” In the Kip style rafting game, we all gathered at the back of the boat while Kip held a rope that brought the front end high above our heads. We then paddled back and forth on opposite sides so that the raft wildly spun around in circles, practically causing us all to vomit everywhere before he let go and we flew out of the makeshift chopper. Great guys that Kip, really knows how to take it easy and keep us in the boat.
As all great things do, the adventure came to an end, as we sadly had to dock the raft and bring it ashore. Not long after, we were back in the van with X and heading back to Chiang Mai for some much needed rest (well back to Chiang Mai at least, most of us spent the evening rummaging about the bust “Sunday Night Market,” but rest fits better here I think). It was an fantastic adventure in rural Thailand and I recommend anyone who ever has the chance to go to do it as well. That’s all for now, back to school this week to learn how to become a teacher. Carpe Vita!!!!

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