Thailand - North

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On arrival in Chiang Mai we were greeted by rain, and a lot of it. The North is definitely rainier than the South with at least one downpour per day. We decided to do a one-day trek and fortunately the weather was on our side. After an early wake up we were taken to an orchid and butterfly farm, not exactly the highlight of the day but Dave was in his element. After this we headed up into the mountains to start the trekking, with Tuck our trusty guide. He certainly looked the part with his bamboo hat and machete. The walk through the jungle was fun, with awesome views across the valleys, and Tuck pausing to show us different things like making paper aeroplanes out of grass, bubbles out of plants and cutlery out of bamboo along with some fancy hats for Dave and Angie. As we got towards the waterfall the path got pretty muddy and Tuck lost his route, this meant we had to scramble up an almost vertical verge up the hillside using our hands and knees amongst mud, spiders and other creepy crawlies, literally pulling each other up to the top. Once we reached the top we reached the secluded waterfall so it was all worth it, plus showering underneath it was extremely refreshing considering we were caked in mud. After Dave's brush with death after slipping down the rocks and nearly over the edge of the cliff, we headed back up the trail nervously. Once we reached the end of the trek we headed down to an elephant sanctuary where we were treated to a much needed lunch stop and a ride on the elephants along the river. We next went bamboo rafting, pretty relaxing after such a hectic day, it was pretty hard to steer and definitely not as easy as it looked but we all managed to get to the other end of the river with no catastrophes and pretty dry!
The following day some of our friends from the islands made it up to Chiang Mai, feeling pretty achey from the day before we decided to treat ourselves to our first Thai Massage. A pretty strange experience but really relaxing and much needed. Later that evening we headed to the Reggae Bar, from what we heard and experienced the only real places to go out at night were one of 2 reggae bars in town. One of which looked a bit like a crack house and judging by the people, potentially was. So we decided to move on to the nicer one with a dancefloor and even found Tuck (our guide from the day before and Bond, another guide). The two guides then started the best dance circle we have ever witnessed, bodypopping, limbo and some very innovative moves. For 2 sober girls we danced the night away.
Whilst in Chiang Mai Tiger Kingdom was a must, there are a fair few Tiger parks across Thailand but we had heard that this was a sanctuary which cared for the tigers rather than drugging them! So we decided if we ever wanted to cuddle a tiger nows the time! Sarah got bitten on the waist whilst playing with some 3 month old cubs we then moved up to the slightly bigger ones and avoided any sort of mauling.

Sarah went on to Pai with Chris, Dave and Angie whilst Vicky stayed in Chiang Mai with Bryan and the Denmarks.

Pai was a beautiful small town set in the mountains, where we stayed in a cute wooden hut by the river. We hired out 2 motorbikes with the boys driving us round town, slightly scary but fun at the same time! We spent 2 days chilling out there, it was the only place in Thailand that was not really touristy which was a nice change. Lots of cheap cocktails, food and Connect 4!

Whilst Sarah was in the countryside, Vicky, Bryan, the denmarks and Sabrina went on a cooking course for the afternoon. The cooking course consisted of going to a nice Thai lady called Pui's house, she taught us how to cook a variety of dishes including; Thai Green/red/yellow curries, chicken in oyster sauce, chicken with cashews, sweet and sour, pad thai, spring rolls and noodle garden (which is a fresh uncooked spring roll). After eating this banquet we all needed a nap so went on to sleep in her lounge for an hour ( a bit odd!) Pui then went on to make us Mango Lassi cocktails and Mai Tai so that we left a little bit worse for wear.
The following day with Sarah still in Pai, Vicky and the Denmark girls went to an elephant care centre where we were allocated our own elephant for the day. We then learnt how to get up and down from the elephants, without a step, ( a lot harder than it looks!) and the commands needed to train and steer the elephants. Once we got the hang of it we were set loose into the jungle for an afternoon trek, whilst my elephant decided to take me through a needle bush we still did very well, ending the afternoon with a wash in the river and a bit of a waterfight with the elephants. We didn't win.

On Sarah's return from Pai we planned a big night out to say goodbye to the Denmarks and Chris who were heading home, however in Thailand when there is an election it becomes illegal to serve alcohol after 7pm so early night it was!

We're trying to add the photos at the moment but with facebook illegal in Vietnam (bloody communism) its proving tricky.

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