cooking classes, rafting, 4 wheeling and elephant riding oh my!

So I arrived into Chiang Mai around 6am well exhausted after the bus drops us off at their guesthouse which isn’t too bad 300 baht for a room with hot shower... the only thing is it didn’t come with any outlets. After a long nap I woke up and wandered around Chiang Mai, the city itself is moated on all 4 sides which is cool! I grabbed a quick vegan meal at this restaurant with free wifi, always a plus then crashed.

The next morning I woke up to Chef Chan cooking school (Actually, the Best Thai Cookery School) and for 900 baht we learnt to cook around 11 dishes! The cooking schools are all pretty much same same. It started off with a market tour where we went around looked at different fruits and veggies, our teacher/chef was absolutely hysterical! He would make these corny jokes and laugh midway before he finished the joke. I was partnered up with this Aussie girl from Melly who didn’t quite know how to get her burner working. There were people from all over mostly UK, one from Trinidad, Germany and 3 Jess’ from Toronto. After making some pretty lush dishes, pad thai, green curry, coconut soup, hot cashew, spring rolls and a whole lot more we got to eat it all. These dishes aren’t small either its pretty much a regular asian size serving. After eating enough food to feed a small village we headed back. Me and the 3 Jess’ from Toronto decided to meet up to celebrate Canada day with a few brews later on. After we had a few brews we journeyed in search of a bar, we found one but the owner literally kicked us out. Basically we asked if they had food he said no just dessert then one of the Jess’ asked to have just ice cream no cake then he said we were disrespecting him and asked us to leave - hysterical! we had a good laugh on the way to the next place and after some delicious spicy chocolate ice cream we called it a night.

The next morning was the start of my adventure day - it started around 8.30am with a tour of a butterfly and orchid farm (random) Then elephant riding! I contemplated for a bit since the elephants didn’t look too happy but they told us they live ‘happy’ lives there so I got on. It was kinda like a roller coaster on a very very narrow track, I’m surprised the elephant didn’t slip off the ledge! I got paired with an Irish girl who was absolutely scared shitless. Our guide let me ride the elephant which was sweet! Too bad I didn’t exchange info with the Irish girl who now has all the pictures. After elephant riding came ATV-in which was proper fun. Never ridden on one before so after about a 30 second of how to stop and go instruction I was on my way. We went through some muddy patches, mud puddles, dirt roads all surrounded by mountains on both sides! It was just me and the guide which was sick, he would stop and take pictures for me which was a bonus. His ATV broke down so we waited for 30 minutes as he fixed it with a hammer and wrench, very ingenious if you ask me. After the ATV adventure it was lunch time, I was absolutely starving! After lunch we went to a waterfall which was lush but muddy since it had just rained for the most of the day. After the short stint at the waterfall we went to do some rafting, actually waited for an hour for the rafts then went rafting. The rafting was so so, I’ve had better. After a long packed day we headed back around 5.30p. It was a sick day considering it only cost 2100 baht ($70), and considering that some companies charge $80 for ATV-in alone. I would say I’d recommend it to other based on the price I think it was Chin Chook tours or something similar if anyone’s interested. I passed out until the next day.

The next morning I woke up and had breaky at this lush hotel for 150 baht ($5) in total. I switched guesthouses from my 80 baht ($2.67) to a nicer place for 450 baht ($15). The extra $12 or so dollars got me internet which again I said I was going to finish my marketing plan, ended up not even starting, I need to stop jinxing myself, I’ll get it done...eventually... That night I went for dinner at this Jack Astors/Montana’s -esqe place - Chiang Mai Saloon, the food was pretty lush but a bit pricey at $5! The next day I made the pilgrimage to Ko Pha Ngan where the Full Moon Party is held. After 12 hours, 2 flights, 1 bus and 1 ferry I was there. I’ll update ya on the full moon party soon!

xx

kris

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