Lost Connections and New Found Friends of Chiang Mai

by John MichaelJul 30, 2019

We’re from Silicon Valley.
ME TOO!?!?

Mysteries of Traveling tl;dr

Most Random Encounters
Magic of Traveling
Good Friends

You ever get that feeling that you know someone? You don’t quite know what it is about another person but something there just seems all that familiar…
A look…
A voice….

Just something seems familiar?

Remember how I mentioned in the previous post that we went river rafting with another couple??
From the same accommodations…
In the middle of Chiang Mai…
At the same time of the year…

Continuing…

As the story goes, during Chiang Mai’s low / dry season we stayed at several hotels to explore different parts of the area. In the middle of our trip we stayed at the elephant AirBnb Chai Lai Orchid. As apart of our stay they offered us a short river rafting trip. They said that it would be very relaxing considering it being the dry season and that water levels were low and calm.

Chiang Mai Friends

Little did Nadia and I know that the experience would be more than we bargained for. We were guided from the lobby back to the road side for our pickup. Nadia and I hopped into the back of the truck to go up road to come back down by river but the driver was waiting for another couple to join us.

Riding the back of the truck, I couldn’t help notice that there seemed something familiar about the other couple. I couldn’t quite place it but paid no mind since my mind has a penchant for thinking things that don’t pan out. I don’t quite remember how our conversation got started but things got interesting with that first question…

Where are you from?

Turns out that they were from California. And we had replied that we were from Silicon Valley. That’s when we started looking at each other sideways; you could literally see our minds trying to connect the dots.

Reunited

And like lightning…
Things began to click…
Names were being put to faces…
Lightbulbs flashed over our heads!
And that’s when we both realized that we hung out years ago, over 11 years ago to exact!

But before we could get into full blown nostalgic walk down memory lane, our truck came to a halt and we were then directed to the water’s edge. We made our way to the rafts, and then back to Chai Lai Orchid and awareness of the reality of our long lost friendship set into our consciousness.

Chiang Mai Friends Dinner 02

What Are the Odds

We randomly found friends in the middle of nowhere during the low season while on an obscure water activity!

Crazy things happen all the time! And if I were to say that something like this hasn’t happened before, I’d be lying! I suppose this not so uncommon occurrence has made me less prone to not believing the unbelievable till it happens and run with things as they happen…

Or I’m incredibly dense. Either which way, you decide.

For the few remaining days our schedules matched while both staying at Chai Lai, we randomly ran into each other during seperate excursions. We’d join each other for meals talking about our plans for Chiang Mai and for the future. There’s something magical about running into friends in the least likely of places.

Hopefully we’ll them again during our travels…
Hopefully we’ll see you during our travels!