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An overnight 'rapid' train to Chiang Mai was the chosen method of transport from Bangkok. There was nothing 'rapid' about the train, it took about 14 hours. We were in a sleeper train though so were able to sleep for most of the journey, it was pretty entertaining especially when the train breaks suddenly and your whole body slides down the bed.
A few days were spent chilling in Chiang Mai and sampling the cuisines, including delicious Mangoes with Sticky Rice and Coconut Cream - truely a taste sensation. One night we were perusing the night market and from no where fire crackers started going off and drums banging, it felt like World War 3 had started. Then we saw the chinese dragon, some local folk told us that it was to welcome a spirit into someones home. Either way it was pretty cool. Hannah stuck some money in the dragons mouth (everybody else seemed to be doing it) - an interesting and unexpected experience.
Three hours north of Chiang Mai took us to Pai, one of our favourite places so far, a small 'hippy' town set in the lush green mountains of northern Thailand. It was here we
decided to do an Elephant Trek. Except it wasn't exactly a trek - It started off as a peaceful stroll on the back of the elephant which was fine, we made our way to the river. At the river we were asked by our guide if we had any valuables which seemed like an odd request - a few moments later we realised why... the elephant was hot and wanted to have some fun. We were taken into the water before we had a choice and repeatedly dunked by the elephant. We then played 'bucking bronco' style games with the elephant which it inevitably won every time! - Who were we to argue with three tonnes of elephant. Although we got wet it was a truely awesome experience and amazing to be so close to such a spectacular and gigantic creature.
We hired a scooter for the rest of our time in Pai which was entertaining as Kev had never driven a motorbike before. Once we had paid we casually asked the guy "how do you drive this thing?". The roads were quiet though and we saw plenty of the surrounding countryside.
Krabi was our next destination and
a minibus, overnight train, bus, aeroplane later we were there. Krabi is a fishing town with an awesome food night market where we sampled some local delights. After one night we made our way to the beach area of Railay. We found some awesome beaches and spent our time chilling by the sea and exploring by kayak.
Krabi is famous for rock climbing and many of the beaches are surrounded by cliffs. We saw a sign for a viewpoint and decided to go for it, quickly glancing at the sign that said " Danger several deadly drops which can become worse with rain!". We climbed our way through rocks and tree roots to the view point over the island which was brilliant. We decided to head next to the lagoon, several people passed us saying "hope you like climbing" but we just smiled and thought nothing of it as we followed the ropes and started to descend. We then reached the rocks and realised what they meant. The sides were vertical rocks which you had to scale down yourself of course without any equipment - but there was an old looking frayed rope at some points. Han got down
half way and realised she was no spiderman and didn't want to die today! Kev ploughed on doing his Indiana Jones routine and got down to the lagoon and managed a quick swim to cool down. Then suddenly the rain started! Kev thought he would never get back up and when I saw him crawl back up over the cliff edge I was very relieved! At which point Kev said "That was the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life!".
After a few days in Krabi we got a longtail boat to Ao Nang which is much more resort like than Railay. Here we experienced a Thai massage - which at some points involved taking a pumelling. My limbs were bend in directions I didn't even know they could go! But it was an extremely relaxing experience. We had discussed with some fellow travellers about travelling in Malaysia and the one thing they all said was that beer is expensive becasue the country is predominantly Muslim. So.... we decided to make the most of it and promptly ordered a 'bucket' (Thai rum - Sam Song, Coke and Red Bull) and polished it off with a few cocktails.
We also spent a day on a snorkelling trip around the Phi Phi Islands which was amazing. We saw many varieties of fish - parrot fish, angel fish, leopard spotted fish, tube fish, stripey fish and ..... clown fishes - yes we found Nemo! One stop on the trip was the site where the beach was filmed which was beautiful but extremely busy, with rows of tour speedboats lining the beach. The journey back through the rain, wind and waves with the speedboat on full throttle was entertaining especially as someone was going round with a tray of fruit. An awesome day!
In the evening it was nice to be by the sea and experience fresh seafood including king prawns the length of my hand.
After Ao Nang we made our way to Malaysia - we were herded into and out of buses and never really knew what was happening or what time anything was leaving - but after 11 uncomfortable hours we made it to Penang!
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