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We arrived in Chiang Mai on Saturday morning after catching the sleeper train overnight from Bangkok and found ourselves in a very chilled out little guesthouse by the name of Julie's. After getting settled we formed a plan of what we wanted to see and do, with a three day jungle trek starting the following day. Our time in Chang Mai was going to busy and we couldn’t wait to get started.
Morning dawned on the first day of our jungle trek and we were picked up early, our first stop was to a local market where our guide stocked up on all the food we would need. The market was held in a big industrial opened sided unit, and it sold everything, we found it amazing as we wondered and took in the sights and smells (some good, some very bad), we kept thinking how it was so different from home, no part of an animal is left to waste.. Fried chickens feet anyone?
The next stop was into the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai and up to the Elephant camp. This was awesome! We had an hour trek on the elephants and typically as we started
Elephant trek
How gay does Ste look with his umbrella???? the heavens opened and we got soaked. We actually brought Ponchos to wear but we thought, 'Nah, it won’t rain', and we were wrong. Our elephant mahout had an umbrella though which he kindly offered us. Half way around our seat kept sliding to the left. Our driver kept trying to fix it but it still kept sliding so we swapped seats, he sat on the seat and we sat behind on the elephant right behind his ears which was a once in a lifetime experience for us.
After lunch we started our three hour hike to the hill tribe village of the Lahu people, this was hard going but worth it as once we got to the top we stayed in a family's home, ate dinner with them and spent the evening listening to them singing the traditional songs of the Lahu People. The head of the family came originally from a village near the Great Wall of China and he treated us to a couple of traditional Chinese songs, he stood up and did the actions as well. We had a great evening talking to our guide; it was fascinating learning all about the customs and
Lahu people
Looks like the little fella is having the best sleep ever!! ways of the villagers.
The next morning after breakfast we left the village and made our way down the mountain stopping at a couple of waterfalls here and there before ending up at our second overnight stop, the jungle camp. Here we spent the afternoon relaxing, playing cards, and drinking a few beers. All too son thought it was lights out and we bedded down and attempted to get a good night’s sleep on the hard floor but at least this camp didn't have any roosters that started crowing at 4am!
Our final day was different all together with white water rafting and Bamboo rafting organised. A first for both of us and it was great, really enjoyed it. We finally arrived back at our guesthouse at about 5pm, and after dinner, a nice lone shower it was to bed and a good night’s sleep.
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Lorraine Lynders
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Jealous :)
Hi Guys, Im just having a good look at your pic's and they look amazing.. You's are doing me proud.. cant wait til you put up your nxt entry.. Chat soon xx