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Published: April 12th 2009
We have now been in Chiang Mai for 4 days and LOTS has happened.... This blog is going to cover the first two days... with another blog to follow.. maybe today, maybe tomorrow!
Settling In To Chiang Mai
Day 1 of Chiang Mai was spent settling in after a long train ride.. after arriving at CM Blue House we both had showers and decided to head out for some food and sightseeing... we headed straight to my favourite little restaurant just around the corner that sells 'Suckling Pork'.. I was so craving it! Settled in to order and realised that their menu had changed and there was NO suckling pork anymore! I was devastated!! We ordered other noodle dishes (which were equally as yummy) as well as fruit shakes and the whole meal cost us about 90 baht (less that $4aud).
After our meal we went for a walk around the old Moat area of the city where our guesthouse is located and did some sightseeing.. it was so hot so we hailed a tuktuk and paid him 100 baht to drive us around the city for an hour.. He took us to see some of
the local sights including Wat Chedi Luang (a 14th Century temple located in the heart of the city... very beautiful), the womens Prison (Amelia's choice of site!) and then we decided we needed drinks!
He dropped us to the Riverside Restaurant and got 100 baht in the end for about half an hours work. I think he thought we were crazy!! LOL We had one drink at the Riverside (expensive at 160 baht per cocktail) and so we hailed another tuktuk and went in search of 'Gekkos'.. a bar that my friend Chelle had recommended from her last trip!
GOOD FIND Chelle! Wow cheapest cocktails in the world... 249 baht a JUG (about $10AUD). We decided to stick with cocktails by the glass since it was only about 3pm! We were drinking 99 baht ($4aud) Long Island Ice Teas (with about 5 shots of alcohol in them!!!) - they were huge and sooooo yummy!! After about 3 or 4 (lost count) we tried a few other 80 baht cocktails (Mojitos, Cranberry Daquiris) and then I decided it was time for me to leave!
We have met a guy from Switzerland while drinking (Joel pronounced YO-ELLE) and Amelia
decided to stay and drink with him.. I needed food and money from the Exchange (and to sober up!!). We were due to go to a Muay Thai boxing match at 8pm so decided to meet back at the guesthouse then.
FAKE Muay Thai
I arrived back at the guesthouse to find Amelia with Joel in tow, and off we set for the Muay Thai.. we sat down, ordered drinks and waited for the action to start.... The first match started and went for about 2 rounds.... then all of a sudden alot of commotion and one competitor was 'knocked unconscious'. The 2nd match started not long after and in about round 2... yep you guessed it..... alot of commotion and one competitor knocked unconscious!! It was just too much for me and I decided to call it a night. I headed home leaving Amelia and Joel to the Muay Thai....
After leaving the Muay Thai I went for a much needed oil massage.... probably the worst one I have ever encountered! LOL The girl lathered me up in so much oil I felt like I was being deep fried... I fell asleep while her
hands slipped and slided over my legs.... barely remembering turning over, but coming to with her telling me it was finished! LOL
I wandered back to the guesthouse, stopping in at a little pizza house where I got a MASSIVE slice of Pepperoni pizza (with three tiny pieces of pepperoni on it) and went to bed... I woke to Amelia coming through the door at 7am! Big night for Milly!!
Patara Elephant Farm
At about 11am we were picked up by our driver to go to the
Patara Elephant Farm . We were booked in to do a 'elephant owner for the day' tour. We got our own personal elephant for the day - my Ellie was a 14yo male called Dodo. We were taught how to check that they are healthy, how to make friends with them and see they are in a good/bad mood. We got to feed them, learn how to wash them properly then learnt how to climb up the elephant.. once up, we rode them bareback through the jungle to a waterfall, directing them with thai commands for go, stop, dont, good etc!! The mahout that usually works with the elephant walked along
The deadly Long Island Ice Teas
Only 99 baht at Gekkos! This one is for you Chelleside the whole time, but we were the 'owners'.... It was amazing how steady the elephants are.. we were on the narrowest steepest paths and I was thinking "oh my god I am so gonna fall off or the elephant is gonna slip and roll on me as we roll down the hill!!!!". Every now and then they would try to wander away from the trail to eat and you had to try get them to stay on track... they also do really really big farts and poos... all the time! LOL
Once at the waterfall we had a yummy lunch and then fed the leftovers (including our leaf tablemat) to the elephants before climbing back on them and going in to the waterfall pool to swim with them while they played... mine went underwater while I was on its neck and kept rolling to the side... I was struggling to stay on and upright! It would occassionally put its trunk up and blow out air/water! Hilarious!
I stayed on it as it stood up again and climbed out of the water, before heading back to the Farm. It was a FANTASTIC workout for the butts/thighs! My legs
were hurting so much trying to stay in the same position for that long! Once back at the farm we got to feed them more fruit and say goodbye!
Such a great day... a little expensive by Thai standards but really a once in a lifetime experience. There was a guy that followed us around all day taking photos/video which we were given at the end... photos below! My legs and lower back were killing though!!
Once back in Chiang Mai, Amelia wasnt feeling very well so she stayed in for the night and I did the 'solo' traveller thing. I went out for dinner to a Mexican place called Miguels and had really yummy Beef Ranchero Enchiladas, a side serve of Jalepenos and Mojitos!! The Enchiladas were really small so I went back for seconds! Afterwards I went for a 2 hour massage, getting an hour foot massage followed by an hour oil massage!! Heaven!!
Anyway thats enough for another blog... next blog will be all about our "Songkran" celebrations from the past few days! There are officially 3 pages of photos this time around! The Elephant photos are amazing! I have also included a few
extra photos from Milly's camera that I didnt have access to in the last few blogs at the end!!!
Love to all
Reet and Milly
xxx
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Chelle
non-member comment
tasty cheap cocktails... yay!!
glad you finally found gekkos hun... those cocktails always taste better when they are sooo cheap! tho the walk to the toilet along the klong edge is a little freaky! Long island ice tea... i can almost taste it... The Ellies looks amazing... lovin the pics... enjoy the markets tonight... best way to finish hours of walking around the markets??? hmmm think that would be beer... massage and banana pancakes on the way home!! :)