Chiang Mai

---

We flew in to Chiang mai on Thursday 3rd October and arrived to a hotel filled with a mental amount of Asian furniture, statues, and random trinkets.. Not expecting that kind of decor for a tenner a night! Room big, air con working and free WiFi - immediately booked to stay there the next 2 nights! Happy days.

Chiang mai brought - more delicious food, countless temples, Thai massages (owww but so good!), markets I had to be dragged away from (although bankrupting ourselves in Thailand would be a mission!), chats with ridiculously friendly locals on the street and more funky bike/side bike inventions. It's crazy how quickly you become used to the sights, and the way of life - casually dodging mopeds with a family on and bartering when buying anything. Even getting kinda used to the cheapness - bad news for when we head to aus! Wouldn't consider ordering a meal more than 250 baht (5 quid) did pay 200 for a glass of red 1 night though, was more than my main and not worth it!

We did a trip up soi duthep to be amazed by the attention to detail of buddah statues and the temple in general. We climbed up the mountain in 1 of the local taxis - basically a van with no back, 2 benches on each side nailed down, long sliding windows also each side and a bar above your head to hold on.. The breeze was ace! Although 1 girl threw up as soon as we got off. Great view from the top and watching the monks and the people on their pilgrimages was fascinating.

Whales had 1 interesting morning when he took his doxycycline tablet on an empty stomache. We rushed out of the hotel and in to the nearest place for food to try and settle the situation. Mark ordered a ham sandwich of which somehow the main ingredients were lashings of cheap Mayo and spray on cheese (a sin for any Whales to commit) - I wish I'd taken a pic of his face! He managed less than a bite, sticking to the local cuisine is definitely recommended!

We did a day trip out of Chiang mai and rode elephants, trekked through the jungle, went to a tribal village, swam in a waterfall, did some white water rafting and generally loved life more than ever. I may be becoming a little obsessed with elephants! They are so adorable and I couldn't believe how smart they are, I neeeed 1! Ours was cheeky and really friendly, plus it splashed mud all up Mark's back which was hilarious.

We spent the day with 7 others, particularly a lovely couple from Hampshire, and had a great laugh. Nicola did white water rafting at uni, so I was all set for becoming an expert. The 4 of us got in with the guide who then just pushed us off with all the force he could, and no aim - we hit a rock almost instantly, spun 360, went headfirst down the first then sideaways down the second steepest parts of the river and were absolutely drenched! My favourite moment was watching a wall of brown water head straight for/over Jonathan and Nicola while we hopelessly ducked behind them. Always love being on or in water and I could of done that 10 times over! This all didn't last long then the river became very calm. Floating through the jungle, spotting the occasional elephant and taking in the vast amounts of greenery is a memory we will treasure.

As I write (Sun 6th october) we left Chiang Mai 5 hrs a go on our 12 hr coach to Bangkok and last night dared to book a flight from there to Vietnam for tomorrow afternoon - hoping all goes to plan with this journey! Coach is amazing, treble the leg room of a flight and the seats go almost horizontal. Air con and a blanket and all. Not bad for 9 quid each haha! When the local taxi (described above) turned up to take us to the coach for the longest minute of my life I thought we were in the taxi for the whole journey. Mark did a good impression of also being horrified as he offered to buy a flight while loading our rucksacks on to the taxi roof and climbing in. To be fair no 1 explained! We've learnt that when something is booked it is simply written down with a friendly nod, no computer systems, no forms and no 1 speaks good English. And yet somehow no matter what we've booked or whatever dodgy looking place we've booked it in, it all works, on time, good on ya guys.

I've rambled for ages! I blame the boy for falling asleep..

Thanks Thailand and see you in a few weeks!

Vicky and Mark xxx

---