The fantastic mountains and scenery of Chang Mai shame about the cold nights


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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai
January 22nd 2007
Published: January 22nd 2007
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Noodles and bambooNoodles and bambooNoodles and bamboo

It actually added to the flavour
After an exhausting 7 hour train journey to Chang Mai (Remember the wooden school changing room seats we talked about). We finally arrived in Chang Mai. We managed an exhausting few hours lounging around for a few hours and headed to the night market. Which is famous in Thailand for its sheer size and bargains you can get. They do sell a lot of authentically fake items you can pick up a pair of Diesel jeans for about six pounds and you cannot tell the difference. The area is very big and is heaving with people. On the outsize it is packed with market stalls containing everything you ever wanted from brand new DVD’s to Buddha statues to meat on a stick. When you go inside there are a lot more artistic items to purchase you can hand a person a picture and they will replicate it for about 30 pounds a person. Some of the pictures are truly amazing if we weren’t traveling we would of defiantly of bought some to take home. The market is also famous for bartering the prices for items can start at 700 baht and you can sometimes get them down to as much as
Our elephant trek 2Our elephant trek 2Our elephant trek 2

No jokes about Owen breaking the elephants back
250 depending on the person. But we did manage to find a McDonalds right in the middle which did kind of spoil the effect.

The evening was then spent drinking after out seven day detox and Charlie was desperately in need of a beer by this time Owen still thinks he’s a border line alcoholic. We ended up going to a cracking place where we ended up placing foosball and pool with a bunch of Aussies who thrashed us at pool. Much to Charles distaste as he was not on form at that time. By the end of the night we were all exhausted and pretty hammered so we staggered back to the guest house after a well deserved burger to line our stomachs. Owen kept Charlie and Matt up with his snoring but he didn’t care as he was the one asleep.

The following days were spent just relaxing and having nights out and sampling the local beers we even wandered into a go-go bar and made a Sharpe exit once the girls started to attach themselves to us. Charlie had bought a T-shirt saying position wanted with various sexual positions on the front which drew a lot of attention from all the girls and was grabbed as he went past Owen just laughed and found it quite amusing as this was not the attention Charlie was expecting. Owen lost Charlie for a while and found him the following morning running down the street trying to get away from some girl who would not leave him alone.

The next day we spent the next day walking around Chang Mai and guess what we saw more temples, Buddha’s and ruins but they were different from the previous ones we had seen. As we had little sleep the night before we decided that enough was enough applied for our Vietnam Visa’s and booked a three day trek up a mountain.

The next morning we had to get up early to get the bus to the mountain. True to form the Thai time keeping was excellent we were told to arrive at 9am so we could catch the bus and it did not turn up until 10. We jumped on and the bus was already full. It was a tight squeeze and then we picked up two more people. We had about 6 people on each side of
The Chang Mai sceneryThe Chang Mai sceneryThe Chang Mai scenery

The only city that does not have skyscrapers that we have seen
the converted pick up truck and were wedged in. We even stopped and picked up a spare tire where the back on the truck was left open and Owen was at the back. Because of his track record of being clumsy and a bit unbalanced he held on for dear life as he was terrified he was going to fall off the back of the truck.

We arrived in one piece and we got straight into elephant trekking this was a lot more organized and the elephants were a lot better trained. There was no-one sitting on the elephants head hitting it on the head with a stick if it didn’t do what the trainer wanted. We were truly amazed at the scenery around us it was truly breathtaking especially when the elephant sprayed us with water and snot when he found a nearby river if that wasn’t enough about 5 minutes later he sprayed us with dirt but we were enjoying ourselves so much we just laughed. We had been taking a lot about different types of traveling we had done, and we were about to experience another….. A cage that would not have looked out of place in a 1500’s London dungeon or an Indian Jones movie. We were literally thrown across the river in the thing and as soon as Owen got in it and it dropped by about three foot he wasn’t bothered but the Korean girl in the cage with him did look a bit worried.

We were given a snack and then told to follow the guide up the slight incline now in our experience that mean a big blood hill but Owen was not counting on a 45 degree angle slope and he was waiting for his sense of humor to fail like it does in the situations when exhaustion and dehydration start to set in. Imagine the scene Charlie at the front steaming ahead with the guide and Owen at the back actually about 5 minutes behind the last person. He was slowly getting irate by the fact that the people at the front were getting a five minute rest waiting for him and when he got there they would go straight away does the unfit fat boy deserve a rest?.

The trek was approximately 3 hours long and 90 percent of this was uphill but we did walk
This is the river we bamboo rafted downThis is the river we bamboo rafted downThis is the river we bamboo rafted down

Charlie could not stop taking pictures as he again fell in love with the place
though some dense jungle and seen some magnificent landscapes which would not have looked out of place in Platoon or Predator. Because on the next day were we going to be in the middle of the jungle and we would not of had any plates to eat our dinner off the guide cut some bamboo trees down cut them in half and made straight bowls out of them see the picture for a proper idea of what they looked like. The guide stopped at the first waterfall and was making the trekking group catapults for us this gave us a great chance to show our British skills at hitting things with stones well Charlie did anyway Owen missed almost every target by about a mile and was quite happy he did not hit anybody. We finally got the hilltop tribe just before dust to see our accommodation the luxurious bamboo hotel which we described as a hunt on bamboo stilts. But we didn’t complain it was really cozy and friendly there we spent the evening sitting around a campfire drinking and eating. Then the guide and another man he called jungle boy brought a guitar out and started playing Beatles songs, bob Marley songs and a few other choice songs while we ate dinner. After this we sat down and were given a sip of their moonshine which was rice whiskey which is about 35 percent and tasted of petrol soup. The amazing thing was because we were so high up the stars were unbelievable it was so clear and we saw thousands and thousands including Orion’s belt and a lot of satellites. Charlie was really excited as he saw his first shooting star.

The next morning we were told we were going to have a small walk to the next place and see the next village. Even though we were on the top of the mountain they still managed to find a hill to climb for an hour and guess what Owen’s dismay quickly turned into sense of humor failure. But all was redeemed when we spent the next 5 hours walking down hill. We saw a lot of amazing things through the forest it changed at almost hourly intervals. From dense jungle to huge banana trees to bamboo forests. Because the trip was a lot easier on Owen he was having a lot more fun. We crossed rocks and had to cross rivers on trees what do you think happened when you give men long bamboo stick each yes they play Star Wars while crossing large fallen tree. Charlie even demanded that “thou shall not pass” spinning around and nearly falling off the tree on to the very sharp rocks below. There was many times where a good sense of balance was needed where you cross a river on two pieces of bamboo and had to travel down a 50 degree slope. Owen fell no more then 10 times trying to get down it. We stopped for lunch and utilized our bamboo bowls with chopsticks Owen getting most of it over himself and his bag while Charlie was close behind him. Firing rounds from his catapult just behind Owen’s head.

We trek for a couple of more hours and saw a few waterfalls Charlie decided to go in but was forced back by the heavy waterfall little time was spent there and we made our way to the next village one thing to mention though is Charlie still managed to sunbath for 5 minutes no matter how tight for time we were Owen was so close
One of the many river crossing we didOne of the many river crossing we didOne of the many river crossing we did

As we went lower the river got an awful lot faster and wider but Charlie did not want to lose his camera
to shooting the catapult at him given the chance sunbathing would be all Charlie would do.

Well we say village a hut a large hut and a very large hut where we slept. Charlie came over to Owen in a really excited way and demanded that he come with Owen ran across the village and stopped in horror as Charlie had found the biggest spider we had ever seen. If you want Owen to squeal like a little girl show him a big spider this thing could have had King Kong for breakfast. The best thing was there was a big open fire which was really necessary as up in the mountains we cannot emphasize how cold it can get. We had another small meal and sang at the campfire again chatting to the other couples and singles in the group. We had another really late night going to bed at 10.30. We jumped into our luxury beds which consisted of a small thin mattress on the floor with two blankets and it was still cold. Through the night Owen put a pain of trousers on, two T-shirts and a vest on and was still cold. He was even
Our MansionOur MansionOur Mansion

The fantastic Bamboo hotel with a unique shower a bucket!!!!!!!!!!
kept up by Charlie’s teeth chattering together, when we got up the next morning everyone got up blue shivering and standing around the fire. Owen’s piece of advice for everyone is don’t get dressed in the dark as he had put all this clothes on inside out and back to front. What also doesn’t help is the showers in these camps as were are so high up the water even has icicles in them so it does not help to bring your body temperature up.

This day was the one Charlie was looking forward to a small trek and then White Water rafting. We arrived at the camp and were given quick instructions on their commands and we had to cross another bamboo bridge to get into the rafts. The other guide was known as Mr. Stuck on rock or Mr. Flip over so we were happy with our guide as he seemed to know what he was doing. It was a great laugh going down the white water rapids and Charlie was thrown out of the boat Owen moved across and sat on his legs to stop him from being thrown out completely and we pulled a giggling Charlie back into the boat minus a paddle which we had to chase and rescue. When we got to the end Charlie could not contain himself any longer and jumped into the water which was only about 2 and a half foot deep but he really enjoyed it. The guide through out the trip had told us that we do not do anything unless he told us to but Charlie as usually kept saying faster faster. Owen thinks that the water must of got in his ears as the guide said the people on the left were paddling properly which was were Owen was sitting and the people on the right were doing baby strokes Charlie turned to Owen and said “yeah” and Owen pointed out that he was referring to his side Charlie looked blankly at Owen and said he was sure the guide meant him. The rock and drops were such that we were being thrown about a lot going backwards side ways to be honest everyway we shouldn’t be going. We all got soaked through and because we were having such a fantastic time we didn’t care.

Next on our agenda was bamboo rafting which we realized was about 8 bamboo poles tied together. Owen stood on one and it sank so it was Christened Bamboo submarine. After the speed and excitement of the white water rafting a slow meander on a sinking bamboo raft was a totally different experiance Charlie got bored and tried to capsize his one and ended up falling into the water about 3 times. But successfully managed to get the guide in twice. His raft was 45 degrees one way and then 45 degrees the other way all the trip.

We finally finished our rafting and sat down to eat and play with our catapults well Owen did. We think they play a game in Thailand see how many people you can fit into a small converted truck and then drive along the bumpiest roads possible and see how many of the survive. It was very funny when people started to fall asleep especially when they started to fall onto other people it did look quite cozy.

After the exhausting 3 days we decided that we needed to have a proper oil massage. Owen did not realize that you have to get butt naked and lie under a towel
Charlie VS. the waterfallCharlie VS. the waterfallCharlie VS. the waterfall

Charlie 0 Waterfall 1
when the man in the next cubical told us to stop being silly and strip off. Owen looked at Charlie and grinned. However when you are getting a massage and you turn you head and see part of your mates bare WHITE ass staring back at you it takes the fun out of it a little but we felt so much better afterwards you would not believe it. Let’s clarify a few things the massage parlors out here are not like the ones you get at home where the girls can give you a little something extra for your money this is a legitimate place where they are trained massagers and there is one every ten shops.

With Chang Mai done and awaiting our Visa’s we have had a chilled out day just ready and relaxing but because our calves are still aching we have not ventured out much. We pick up out Vietnam Visa’s tomorrow and we head to Chang Rai for our final destination in Thailand before we head to Laos.

The next few travelblogs will become less frequent as there are less internet facilities in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and are on a very tight schedule but we will do it when we can.



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Accomidation night 2Accomidation night 2
Accomidation night 2

So cold co very cold.
Itsy Bitsy spiderItsy Bitsy spider
Itsy Bitsy spider

crawled up the water spout and scared the hell out of Owen. This was almost the size of your hand


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