Saturday, March 12, 2022
6:02 a.m. Chan and Cees
Chiang Dao, Thailand
I believe that I will be going to the cave this morning. I was thinking about combining my cave visit with a short hike up to a temple at a scenic viewpoint. In fact, I was going to leave soon and be up at this temple for sunrise. However, in terms of any YouTube video I might make about this experience, it will probably be better to focus on just the cave. Combining the trip to the temple with the cave might result in a too-lengthy video. My video about the cave will likely include the trip to get there and some sights along the road, so that is probably more than enough.
The cave is just a few kilometers beyond Pronto Coffee, where I was yesterday morning. After my coffee and breakfast there, I rode to the cave just to become familiar with where it is located and what the place looks like. I always like to do a bit of reconnaissance before I visit a place for real. And after that, I rode my scooter along the road until I reached the place where you begin the climb up to the temple on the mountain.
When I got there, I noticed two foreigners on bicycles. They were a typical couple, clearly backpacking around Thailand or around the world. And I noticed that the guy was holding a GoPro and talking into it. That piqued my interest, and I kept my eye on them, and I calculated an appropriate time to stop near them and have a chat. We ended up having a nice long chat. I really enjoyed that encounter. They were very nice people. I believe he was from Romania and she was from Poland.
My first question was whether they uploaded videos to YouTube, and I was quite happy to learn that they did. That’s what he was doing with the GoPro. Their channel is called “TheretoExplore.” Considering that they were YouTubers, used a GoPro Hero 9, rode bicycles, and were in Thailand, we had a lot of topics to talk about. They’ve been making videos in a casual fashion for the last five months, it seems. And it looks like their trip in Asia just started. Their first few videos are in Romania and then they went to Poland. And then they went to Sri Lanka. And from Sri Lanka, they came here to Thailand.
A few things about them surprised me. The biggest surprise was how reluctant the guy was to ride a scooter. Having your own transportation completely transforms your experiences in Thailand. It makes everything so much better. But he said that he doesn’t want to be stopped by the police and fined. He doesn’t have a license or anything like that. And that was his reason for not renting a scooter. I try not to be obnoxious when I have these conversations with other foreigners. I dislike the habit of many people who try to tell you how to do everything. It’s often in the guise of helping you and giving you advice, but it can come across in a negative way. So I generally accept what people tell me and accept without question what they do. However, the topic came up so many times that I did (gently) insert my experience of riding a scooter and never being stopped by the police. I never see any police. The chances of being stopped are remote. The chances of being fined are remoter still. And I made a small case for how much a scooter can bring in the way of positive experiences, especially on the Mae Hong Son Loop.
To be honest, I really wanted to dive into the topic. They talked a little bit about their plans, and I thought they were going to miss so much and could do so much more. For example, they had no plans to go to Mae Hong Son at all. They were so insistent on renting and riding bicycles that they dismissed the town of Mae Hong Son. They concluded that any attractions in Mae Hong Son were so far outside of town that it wasn’t possible to see them by bicycle. So they were just going to go to Pai and then turn around and return to Chiang Mai. That seemed insane to me. The best part of the Mae Hong Son Loop is the section between Pai and Mae Hong Son. And it’s only 107 kilometers. And there is so much to see and do. It would be the easiest thing in the world to rent a scooter in Pai and then zip over to Mae Hong Son and then zip back again. And that scooter would give them so much freedom to go to so many interesting places. I wanted to take over their lives and do it all for them. What they were planning on doing seemed like such a shame. But being aware of how annoying it is for people to talk too much about such things, I held my peace for the most part. They’re having their own experience, and they will enjoy whatever they do and however they do it. I think it’s a huge mistake NOT to rent a scooter, but I didn’t want to be THAT guy, and I held my tongue.
It’s almost 7 a.m. now, and I’ve been feeling antsy. I really wanted to get on my scooter and go. But I looked outside, and the skies have been very gloomy. Very hazy. There is no reason to rush anywhere for early morning light. There won’t be any. And I don’t know if the cave will be open this early anyway. I think I’m just going to hang back and let the world wake up a bit and let the sun rise in the sky a bit. And then I’ll go to the cave. There is no rush to go there.
One thing this couple told me is how uncomfortable Sri Lanka was for them in terms of how men treat and view women. I guess it is similar to India, which makes sense. I think the woman’s name was Magda, and she said that men in Sri Lanka would just stop and stare at her all the time. Groups of men would gather around her and then just stand there and stare. She felt uncomfortable all the time. Men would pat Magda on the butt as she walked by and stuff like that. It’s so odd that an entire culture – shared by Sri Lanka and India – would have this attitude and behavior towards women. How does this behavior and attitude get into the personality of every man there as they are growing up? Where does it come from?