Chang Mai/Rai Adventures

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Im getting very sad that my trip is winding down, however..it will be very great to see everyone at home! Okay, so the last week has once again been action-packed with new experiences and beautiful scenery. Hopefully, I'll remember the highlights enough so you can get the basic idea.
After returning from the south, we had enough time to meet the new KEI students that just arrived here and take them out in the city then sleep for a few hours before catching a very early flight to Chang Rai, one of Thailand's northmost cities. From there we went to the Queen's palace which was not all that impressive, but she had a HUGE garden with millions of beautiful plants and flowers. All of this with gorgeous mountains in the backdrop. Then we went to have lunch of the Thailand/Myanmar border, then off to the Chang Rai night market (always shopping!) There were soo many kids begging for money and food. At one point, this little kid kept trying to grab the coke I was drinking so I finally just gave it to her. It was very depressing and I didn't like being around there for too long. I hardly ever see that many beggars in Bangkok.
The next day we'were off early to see the Opium Museum. Opium and other drugs played a huge part in Southeast Asia's history and the museum was extremely interesting. I was impressed. I learned quite a bit about the governments role in drugs in Thailand and other parts of the world. For example, how they punish possesion and selling, etc. The U.S. had the most confusing system by far. Go figure...
After the Opium history lesson, we took our tour van to a river, which would then transport us by boat to Laos. There is a section of Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar that all connect to form the "Golden Triangle" We then went bargain hunting in Laos and had lunch. Then back on the boat, then van, and off to Chang Mai. We definately covered a lot of ground on this trip in a short amount of time.
The next day we started off early once again but not before eating an awesome continental breakfast in our very fancy hotel. Then off to ride elephants in a jungle/ river safari type surrounding. Lots of fun. Elephants are so fun to watch and play with. Then came one of my favorite parts of the trip, Bamboo rafting down a small river. We had groups of three on a small bamboo raft in which we stood and tried to stay on down a fast moving shallow river. At one point we got to jump off and climb up to some rocks and dive in. We saw a snake which sorta freaked me out for the rest of the time though, haha. Then lunch and off to the highest point in Thailand and the national park that surrounds it. This point is apart of the Himalayan Mountain range that touches into Thailand. It is a very popular bird watching area and our guide pointed out a few cool birds that i forgot the names of. Nonetheless, very nice. Then back to the city to go the the HUGE night bazaar. All cities have so many small markets and then one main attraction market usually only on certain days of the week. In Bangkok, its JJ weekend market. In Chang Rai, its the Sunday Night Market. So by this point in my Thailand travels, Im pretty much sick of shopping. One of our KEI trip guides loves food and can eat for days so we just went around for quite a while tasting tons of food specific to the Northern region. So yummy. Also very cheap. You can try ten different types of dishes and get ridiculously stuffed for under a dollar a two. Incredible! After this we tried to explore Chang Mai's night life but didn't last long, waaay too tired.
The next day we went on a quick boat tour and visited a fruit vineyard then off to get massages and relax. Just what I needed. The next day we left Chang Mai but went to the Thai Silk Factory first and saw how they made the beautiful cloth. The less complicated ones looked simple to make and could be made quite quickly. However, the intricate ones could take months. It looked so hard. Then off to the umbrella factory which was fun because the artists hanging around the store would paint on anything we wanted for a dollar.
Then off to leave for an overnight train ride back to Bangkok. At first, we were very bored and it had only been an hour or two, still 10 more to go! But just when I was about to give up and go to sleep in my little pulldown bed/cart one of the new KEI guys announced one cart was having a party. We didn't really belive him, because..well, we'd never heard of a train party. So we decided check it out and started down the many carts. Sure enough, as we approached one cart, strobe lights were shinging bright and people were up and dancing. We walked in and I immediately felt like I was in a time warp. So confused. The cart was full of crazy, hilarious Dutch tourists. I decided at that point that definately one thing I've loved about my trip to Thailand is the randomness of it. One moment I'm about to go to sleep because thats all there is to do on a long train ride, the next moment I'm dancing away with people from Holland and singing along to Dutch songs. So anyways, this was the perfect way to end our little adventure to the north. And advice to people on trains...go searching for the party cart. Way more fun that sleep.
And friends from home..I'll be home on Saturday night!

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