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Published: February 27th 2013
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We are writing to you from our hostel in very hot Chiang Rai, where we arrived yesterday. Since our last update we've been relaxing and sight-seeing in Chiang Mai, Pai and Chiang Rai.
We decided against going to the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai as it was super expensive and we felt sorry for the tigers being exploited for the amusment of tourists. So, we went to the Zoo, where we saw some very lazy hippos, various lazy big cats, and some lazy pandas and bears. Overall, we established that all animals are lazy in this zoo (probably due to the heat...). The zoo also had some 'sheep' (definitely goats), some dribbling giraffes and men selling meat on sticks that you supposedly put into the tiger cage to feed them.....Thailand loves health and safety...
That evening we celebrated Hannah's birthday by drinking lots of cocktails, playing cards and jamming to some jazz at the North Gate Jazz Co-op - obviously we weren't contributing to making the music (nobody wants to hear that) but it was rather enjoyable. We had a first tuk-tuk experience and went for some street food at about 2am which was spicy and yummy. The next
day we had a relaxing pamper day for Hannah's actual birthday - this entailed massages (during which Taz's massuse discovered her webbies and had to leave the room to compose herself, and after which Hannah strolled around for the rest of the day with back-to-front AND indside out shorts having got dressed in the dark...can't take her anywhere), manicures from a very nice but not particularly manicure-talented lady, swimming, shopping and reading. In the evening we went out for a 'quiet' birthday meal with Samart, that turned into cocktails and moonshine at a roadside Tuk-Tuk bar.
The next day we managed to hitch a lift to Pai with Samart as he fancied a holiday. The journey to Pai was rather bendy and twisty with lots of 'sharp curves'.....apparently there are 1600 corners between Chiang Mai and Pai. We were proud to make the journey vomit-free (which probably wouldn't have been the case had we got the public bus). Pai is a really laid-back small town with lots of hippies and we felt slightly out of place due to the general lack of dreadlocks, tattoos and dirt. All of which we now have (joke...ish). Our guesthouse had views over paddy
fields, a lovely pool, and pretty bamboo bungalows. There was a large selection of cats (most of which were missing all or part of their tails) who enjoyed sleeping on our veranda, and an obese pug called Fay who sounded like he was having a heart attack after any movement.
During our stay we mainly relaxed next to the pool, played cards and chatted in bars and attempted to play pool. We did take a break from our hectic schedule to visit a waterfall which required some rock scaling to get to; at the top of which a Chinese man nearly fell to his death whilst trying to impress his girlfriend. We met up with Samart at Ting Tong bar most evenings and Taz kindly helped him with his English for his tour website to say thank you for all his help. On our last day we decided to join a drop-in yoga class run by the very batty Mama who wore eccentric glasses and drove the 'box' (a tiny, leopard print car which we piled 6 people into). The yoga class was very good and we had a lovely lunch afterwards, although Mama couldn't eat anything as she
is fasting for 2 months....she really is mental.
To get to Chiang Rai we had to get a bus at 5.30am from Pai which wasn't too enjoyable. The journey itself was far better than expected (we've learnt that closing your eyes helps when you're taking corners at 60mph and driving on the wrong side of the road). Chiang Rai is a small, peaceful town with few tourists and singing (and flashing) roundabouts. We're only here for two nights and then we make our way to Luang Prabang in Laos via bus and boat. Today we went to the Hilltribe Museum which was very interesting and had a restaurant named 'Cabbages and Condoms' where we had a quick lunch. This evening we plan to visit a couple of temples and relaxed at our hostel ready for pick up at 7am tomorrow morning.
Our next update should be from Laos (if they let us in...Taz does look quite dodgy with the dreads and facial tattoos...).
We are still fit, healthy and vaguely less pale! Focus on the word vaguely in the cases of Hannah and Suzanne.
Speak to you all soon!
lots of love xxxxx
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