Recently passing the 10 year anniversary of moving to Thailand you get to thinking. Thinking about all kinds of things. Big, small, things done, lessons learned, places visited.

Chiang Rai province, the northernmost of Thailand’s 76 is my favorite. There’s just no beating it if you like the mountains. It was our first choice for a northern adventure playground when we moved here and all those years ago. I’m still dazzled.

Trails: paved, dirt, double track, single track, shale, mud, sand, I love finding

Riding towards Doi Chang

them. I love riding and exploring them. Nothing gets me jazzed quite like that. Heading just a few km into the country and a few off the regular way and you find it, quickly. Small villages – people doing their thing as they have for ages, gorgeous backdrops and rich smiles. They’re everywhere. Go by, take it in, trade a smile, gesture, word and everyone’s the richer for it. That’s the base of travel. The core, main ingredient – mutual exchange.

Stay where you want, spend a ton doing it, eat at the fanciest restaurants, sleep in a hovel, eat fried race day after day, count every dollar, but the real memories, the real value are the exchanges. They can’t be bought. They can happen, take place, occur, be arranged, but they can’t be bought. Twenty villagers in costume waiting to perform traditional dances upon your arrival is hardly the same as the glow of someone asking your name out of sheer curiosity when meeting, the eyes exchanged while paying for a $0.25 item, the kindness of being handed fresh fruit in the country from farmers while cycling by. These are the real moments of value and something we’ve been fortunate to have experienced and live most days. What a great thing.

Really out there

Dirt biking on small, rugged paths SE of Chiang Rai city, passing fields/huts/houses I’ve seen a good number of times, I’m grinning. I’m still grinning after 10 years of traveling here. I’m still loving these scenes, the experiences, the exchanges. It’s been six months since my last visit, the longest drought during my time in the country. Hosting a couple friends on some favorite mountain trails for a couple days of dirt biking and mountain biking, it’s still a thrill, a treat, I’m still dazzled by this truly remarkable province.

Chiang Rai, often referred to as the Gateway to Indochina, China’s to the

Picking a narrow path at Doi Mae Salong

north, Laos’ to the east and Myanmar to the west. Only modern-day borders define formal lines but this area has always been one of migrants, traders, socializing and transporting. Thai, Ahka, Lisu, Lahu, Tai Yai, Muser, Karen and on it goes – mixed people living together, happily. Mixing, trading, marrying and now you have it, a terrific and diverse bunch of people. The social landscape of one of the friendliest places and still my favorite in Thailand.

What a treat to enjoy something time and time and time again, to the core, for the people who live, work and call it home.