Chang Mai

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After one day in Bangkok I was ready to escape (after purchasing a few things from the market of course!) I took the overnight train to Chang Mai and got a tuk tuk to my hotel not expecting much after paying seven pounds a night for it. But soon arrived in paradise! Okay, well this is a slight exaggeration but it really was gorgeous.. beautiful gardens and a huge pool. I had a private room which was not only spacious but with clean white sheets, and after three and a half weeks of staying in dorms this felt like bliss! I spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool although you can't sunbathe for long as the weather is baking hot, and even the pool water is warm not that I should complain!

The next morning at breakfast I met a 25 year old English girl called Sophie which was great as I didn't expect to meet many travellers in this resort. She had left for Thailand in January but stayed in Chang Mai since as she loves it so much. She offered to take me to see some temples so I let her be my tour guide for the day! The only downside she wanted to show me round via bike and I'd not been on a bike since I was about twelve years old! At first I was absolutely terrified on the Thai roads with all the other traffic and thought I was going to die, but soon got into the swing of it! Mum - I can almost see the look of terror on your face upon reading this but it was actually quite fun. Sophie took me to 7 different temples, all were stunning and upon stepping inside them you feel a sense of peace as cheesy as it sounds. I loved them all but my favourites were the silver temple and another grand temple which had signs containing proverbs in the gardens. After temple worshipping for several hours Sophie took me to an outdoor organic restaurant where I had the best pad thai I've ever tasted as well as a delicious bannana and passionfruit smoothie (very healthy for me I know!) It was a great day but I was so happy to jump into the pool when back as the heat here really is sweltering, and I am not at all used to exercise!

The following day however it was pouring with rain! I didn't want to spend the day doing nothing and really wanted to see Tiger Kingdom so got the taxi there and Sophie came with me. I got to go in a room with a couple of small tigers for twenty minutes which was really cool, at first I was a bit scared but they are really well trained. I was told not to touch their head though or they could bite so I made sure I just stroked them on the back! And got some pictures with them 😊 We then went to the airport plaza shopping mall as I needed to get some trainers for my trek the following day.. plus when it's raining what else is there to do but shop?! Any excuse I know. We also had a massive binge.. had noodles for lunch then a rotee which is a thai pancake (cooked a bit differently and cut into pieces, I had bananna inside and jam on top it was possibly the most delicious thing I've ever tasted!) THEN we went to Mcdonalds and got icecreams.. and before leaving the shopping centre we got doughnuts! The food is just so cheap here you can't help but eat a lot of it. I hope I don't come home a different dress size!

I then went on a 3 day tour that I'd booked before coming here with STA. It included trekking so I was a bit dubious to begin with but had a great time. Our group was very small, it was just me and 2 Scottish girls but it was fine because they were really nice. The first day of the tour our Thai guide took us to a huge waterfall where we had a little dip but didn't go all the way in because yet again it was pouring with rain (why I decided to come to Thailand during rainy season i do not know!) We then had lunch before doing an hour and a half trek to a village in the mountains. This was really interesting, the people live in wooden/bamboo huts with no electricity, it was like going back in time. At first I could not understand how they cope but then i guess you don't miss what you don't have, and the simple life was actually quite peaceful for a couple of days. Our guide cooked us a thai curry and we just sat round a wooden table chatting by candle light because there isn't really much else to do there! We then went to 'bed', I say bed but it was really an incredibly thin mattress on the floor of the wooden hut with blankets that were probably hardly ever washed, but we had to grin and bear it, and luckily I can sleep pretty much anywhere!

On the 2nd day of our tour we were woken up at 7am, had pancakes and jam for breakfast (so yummy) before embarking on a FOUR HOUR TREK. I'd love to say it was easy but it really wasn't, and was probably the hardest thing I've ever physically done! The sun had now decided to come out, and the heat made it even more unbearable to walk up some of the hills. On the upside walking through a jungle was definitely an experience, and the scenery was stunning. We eventually got to another village which was similar to the last one but bigger and had farm animals roaming around. From there we walked to the nearby elephant camp which I loved, and fed them lots of pineapple pieces! We then got a ride back to the village on the elephants which was cool, but one of the Scottish girls found it terrifying!

On the final day of the tour we floated down the river on a hand made bamboo raft. At first it was a nice, smooth ride and we could all stand up but later on we were told it was best to sit down as the current got a lot faster. Needless to say we got absolutely soaked but it was good fun! and again, the scenery was amazing, with the jungle either side of the river it was definitely picturesque. Afterwards we had lunch in a local restaurant on the side of the river which was pad thai, my favourite! (I feel I'm talking a lot about food but it's so good over here!) Back at the hotel I felt like I was living in luxury, and have never been so happy to have a hot shower and lie on an actual bed!

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