Thailand

Where should you go after spending a week in Chiang Mai? Should you bid farewell to northern Thailand – been there, done that – or should you dig a little deeper and journey further north into the mountains? We chose the latter. Here's why – and what we experienced. After spending a week in Chiang Mai, we had to decide what to do with the next 3-4 days before heading back to Bangkok and flying home. We were in a dilemma. What could we accomplish, what did we feel like doing, and what did we need? We could backtrack slowly (by train) towards Bangkok, or we could fly to a beautiful beach and have more beach adventures. But we could also travel further north, deeper into the country and into the mountains. The latter appealed to us, but it also challenged us. How would we thrive as a family for several days in the pure nature? Would we get bored? Would Sebastian get restless out of boredom? Would we get on each other's nerves? We simply had to find out. All our experiences have shown us that it is when we venture into nature that the magic happens. It is when we dare to let go of entertainment and conveniences that we find peace and balance. We had to give it a chance. So we headed into the mountains, more specifically Mae Sa Valley. Mae Sa Valley The area completely blew us away. We deliberately chose to stay somewhere where there was nothing around us – except for mountains and jungle The view over the mountains became our daily pleasure in Mae Sa Valley There are plenty of bananas in Mae Sa Valley - you'll never go completely hungry We were surrounded by jungle-clad mountains, where large heavy clouds rolled by, giving us the most beautiful views. It was filled with animal sounds, flowers, and palm trees with bananas, jackfruit trees, and all sorts of exotic plants. It was the rainy season when we were on Koh Chang, and there was rainy weather in Chiang Mai as well. But it was here, in Mae Sa Valley, that we truly experienced how much rain can fall in Thailand. It didn't just rain a little. It rained almost all the time. And we always had an umbrella or our raincoats with us, just in case. But the rain only made the mountains even more beautiful and enchanting. The rain also gave us a kind of limitation that we needed. What did we do to pass the time in Mae Sa Valley? Because it rained so much, we spent a lot of time with audiobooks and watching thunderstorm shows in the evenings on our covered veranda. During the day, we went for walks around the neighborhood. We walked and walked and walked. We walked down to the village, which was behind a mountain we had to cross first. And we walked down to the restaurants, which were along the road that led through the mountains. Here we sit at a restaurant and have ordered local dishes. The food was so spicy that despite our otherwise quite spicy food preferences, we went into a chili shock. Even Sebastian bravely tackled a quite spicy local chili sausage, which he managed to eat most of. The local food in northern Thailand can be very spicy. Here's Sebastian eating spicy Thai food in Mae Sa Valley. Peter and Sebastian at Mae Sa Village, Mae Sa Valley There's plenty of time to relax in Mae Sa Valley Most of the time was spent doing what others in the area did: relaxing, taking our time, eating good local food, playing Yahtzee, taking photos, and talking to the locals we met in the area. The Thai woman holding Sebastian in the picture below owned a small street shop where we could buy water and Chang (beer). Every time we visited, she would get up from her TV diva and hug and cuddle Sebastian. He always came out with a banana, mango, or other fruit she gave him as a gift. On the last day, she wanted us to take a picture of them together. It was always fun and cozy to visit her. We could have easily spent a fortune on visiting the Botanical Garden, attending crocodile, monkey, or snake shows, joining a tour to an elephant camp, seeing the orchid farms, or going on ATV rides. But that wasn't why we had come. Surrounding us was the most fantastic nature, and we saw small waterfalls on our walks. We had already been to an elephant camp... and well... we were fine. We didn't need any entertainment. All our worries fell away while we were there. We didn't get bored, didn't snap at each other, nor were we restless. In fact, we became completely calm. We found ourselves. Each other. Mae Sa Valley... had just what we needed before heading back to bustling Bangkok. Yellow flowers. Mae Sa Valley. Thailand Peter with a flower from a banana palm. Mae Sa Valley Flowers at the pool, Mae Sa Valley The only thing that seems to be in a hurry in Mae Sa Valley must be this bamboo - it's the fastest-growing plant in the world. Mae Sa Valley at nighttime Mae Sa Valley, Thailand

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