Blogs from San Kamphaeng, Chiang Mai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 5

Reaching Chiang Mai After a boat, 2 minibuses, an overnight bus to Bangkok, a taxi and a 4 pm flight and another taxi, we finally arrive in Chiang Mai. The 36 hour journey was well worth it! But it was a painful, painful journey.... You see, traveling is a mysterious set of spur of the moment decisions, like that day in Bali that Chris suddenly decided he wanted to rekindle his love of Body-boarding. Whilst doing so he met Ashley and Rachael, who have been very helpful whilst we have been away. The spur of the moment decisions also affect the way and time we travel - they determine which dingy backstreet restaurant you are forced to wait for a bus at, which bus you take, and even - whether your on the bus that ... read more

Egg and toast was for breakfast, a pretty good start to the day. Then we head to met our new found friend the Tuk Tuk lady (her actual name) and her little boy had come for todays adventure! We were off to Mae sa elephant camp. It was up in the mountains so the journey on the Tuk Tuk was pretty exciting. When we arrived we bought some banana's and began our ride through the jungle. The journey was a bit bumpy on the back of MAE MOO II, our 30 year old young lady! She was pretty friendly and loved the banana's but her Mahout who was sat on her head was a little crazy, and kept laughing and singing, all added to the fun of the journey. The best bit was bumbling through the ... read more

After hearing lots of banging and people talking it was clear that it was morning and time to get up. Laura read her book and I just took in the scenery, all sorts of unusual things. We finally arrived in Chiang mai late by a few hours at around 11:30, we jumped in a red tuk tuk taxi, with all our stuff piled in along with many others all of us like sardines, within minutes we were at Centre place, our new home for six days. We threw our bags in the room and went for an explore, both of us starving by now. We found a nice little place near the city walls then had a look around the maze of small streets and lanes, the heat was a little unbearable after a while so ... read more

Whew! I was pretty busy my first day in Thailand. To wit:--after a leisurely breakfast overlooking the Chao Praya river (I am still working on the photo upload part) in downtown Bangkok Thursday, I walked (one of the smells I was referring to when I last wrote was the smell of raw sewage-not as bad as it used to be some years ago-but memorable) to the train station to buy my ticket for the trip to Chiang Mai. The trip is a twelve hour affair and cost around $20.00 I was a man with a mission-I needed to get myself a SIM card so I could keep in touch with people I meet here;and to call a friend who has retired here, and buy some CDs. It can be a real challenge finding the services you ... read more

We left Bangkok by train which took us, very comfortably, overnight to Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand. We'd signed up to volunteer for a week at ENP, near Chiang Mai. The park was setup 13 years ago by a Thai woman called Lek. It is a sanctuary for elephants of all ages and backgrounds. A majority of them are residents of the park because they have been victims of abuse and cruelty in one way or another. Lek owns a majority of the elephants, although some are on lease. The Asian Elephant is fast becoming an endangered species with their numbers dwindling due to their services becoming surplus. They were originally used in the logging industry, which was made illegal in 1989. Since then many have become redundant, either working in trekking camps, begging ... read more