When she returned, my stomach had started to settle, so we started to walk around town in search of a motorbike to rent. Everybody in Southeast Asia gets around on motorbikes. You’d be surprised how much can fit on one of these bikes that are smaller than a motorcycle but larger than a scooter. We saw whole families of five or more, including the pet dog, riding on them. Once, in Cambodia, I even saw someone transporting a slaughtered pig. They were dirt cheap to rent. The first place we stopped denied us because we told them we had never driven a motorbike before, but at the second place, we lied, and rented an old green Yamaha bike for less than $10. To fill the gas tank was less than $5, and the gauge stayed above the “Full” mark all day.
Malone drove us out of the city, forcing me to hold on tight. As we left the city limits, the drive became nicer, and we began to see some of the mountains and vegetation. We drove to Huay Tung Thao, a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and lined with small bamboo huts. We chose one for ourselves, and though the sky was blue and it was a beautiful day, I stayed out of the sun because I was still feeling sick. Malone went swimming and attempted play with two Thai children who were swimming in their clothes. Even though I was too sick to partake, the scenery was beautiful. A young girl sold me watermelon in a plastic bag—the first of many such packets of tropical fruit I would buy. The rural surroundings and Thai families enjoying the day made me truly feel I was in a foreign place.
Later that day, we returned the motorbike by traveling down side streets (driving on the actually city streets wasn’t the easiest venture). We went to a smaller night market, closer to our hostel, where I drooled over the colorful bedspreads for sale (I wish I had bought one) and opted for two pillowcases and a mango-wood dish for my mom for her birthday. I went to an internet café after dinner—the first of many where I would spend at least an hour Skyping with Scott—and went to sleep for our last night in Chiang Mai, praying that the antibiotics would be more effective the next day.
