If you asked me on December 31, 2019 what I thought 2020 was going to look like, I would of told you that it would have been a year for worldly endeavors. Having finally being in a place where I reached balance in my life with a great job, partner, and city to thrive, the only way to elevate it was venturing to more unseen territory. If we fast forward a couple of months, everyone and their hoarded stacks of toilet paper could see how crazy everything was. To see how my calculated ambition for the year completely vanished was utmost disheartening. Although the lockdown for most has freed up time to take on other hobbies, for myself, blogging had completely landed in the back burner. How could I blog about my most recent trip to Asia when the world was restricting its airspace, and discouraging every facet of possible travel? My head was no longer in the clouds but deep into gaming pixels and patterns. I didn’t realize then that I was already transforming for not the worst but not the ideal. One of the most amazing things about the Memory Capsule series is that not only do I get to revisit where I have been and what I have done, but I get to properly acknowledge and process untapped emotions of the time. Taking these memories and talking about them now helps to revitalize my aspirations for new cultured experiences.
It’s worth mentioning that I took hundreds of photos during my trip to Asia and almost all of them never left the archive. This is finally my greatest opportunity to bring them to the forefront. For this particular post, I’ll start with what I did on my trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Here’s what I did!
Arrived in Chiang Mai and explored the local area for amazing market food before watching the dazzling infinity pool rooftop sunset views
Wandered the streets in and around The Phae Gate grabbing food and drinks before participating in the tradition of lantern lighting to ring in the new year!
And most definitely fulfilled my Tangled fantasy
Celebrated the new year with Thailand’s national animal of vigor, loyalty, and luck at Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary and rescue site for elephants
Reached a 1000 meters above sea level by climbing 309 steps on The Naga stairway for the must-see golden Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
Drove to the nearby Hmong Doi Pui Village for coffee, flowery views and local markets before grabbing some more delicious Thai food
And the story continues in memories of Vietnam..
For the lost in love, let lantern lights lead the way
Artemio Rimando 