Goodbye to Mae Sot

What a strange and wonderful trip. A week ago, I was just starting to think about making my exit out of Mae-why-am-I-still-here?-Sot. My room being rented out already forced me to commit to a departure date, which, from my San Diego experience, proved to be necessary. I'll admit, I had mixed feelings about leaving and heading onwards. I really wanted to get out, but, like San Diego, there was a comfort in being there. But, no, I really wanted to get outta town, I just didn't know where I was headed.
Doug, a friend I made in Mae Sot, told me to trust my intuition. Right on. As the week panned out, I ended up making some new friends and got invited to head to Chiang Mai with them for the weekend. What a great idea that turned out to be. It has been a perfect transition from my Mae Sot life to the travelling life I had a few months ago.
Chiang Mai is a touristy town in northern Thailand because it was once the capital of one of the kingdoms in Thailand. It has loads of temples, but not the overwhelming urban congestion of Bangkok. The city center is surrounded by a moat and the remains of the walled city and lies at the foot of a mountain. There are loads of good restaurants and street vendors and tons of shopping for souvenirs (at awesome prices).
Peter and Alex, a couple of the guys in the group, lived here for a few years ago and speak Thai, so it was great having them to show us some cool places and to meet their Thai friends. We went to some clubs and bars and listened to some awesome classic rock. We rented motorcycles and cruised around in heavy traffic (wow, what a difference from that one-horse town of Mae Sot!). This place is so good that their two-night trip turned into three nights for some and four nights for a couple others. To think, I might not have made it up here if it wasn't for this group (and I certainly would not have had as good of a time). Serendipity.