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Published: March 7th 2008
Uncle John and Auntie Ice thankfully let us keep our over sized backpacks at their Condo in the City. This was a nice opportunity to relax and take a swim on the second floor swimming pool.....and a spot of sunbathing. This felt like a million miles from the area we had stayed the night before. It was so quiet and peaceful.
After soaking up the sun we headed to Hualamphong Train station to catch the overnight train to Chiang Mai. We couldn't afford a private 1st Class cabin at 1400 baht (or around 15 Pounds) so we opted for a second class sleeper carriage. This consisted of chairs which folded into bunks. At about 21.00 we were happy reading our books until the staff insisted on the beds being made up. Although not the most comfy of beds, we did get some sleep and arrived in Chiang Mai at 9.45 in the morning.
We had read in the lonely Planet guide that one of the best places to stay was Julie's Guest house at only 200baht a night. We phoned as soon as we arrived and got the last room available for a few days. This was a great
find and has so much character and a great place to meet others.
Yesterday we went on a full day tour of the local jungle. We started with a trip to a butterfly and orchid farm followed by a 50 minute drive into the mountains. This was where we met our next transport.......Elephants. We had an amazing time traversing through the jungle on the back of the biggest one and probably the greediest. He would stop every 10 meters and not move again until he got a banana!
After the elephants we climbed down to the river where we got a cable cage across, This was nothing more than a rusty cage on a thin rope which stopped by banging into a tyre. Luckily the noodles and rice have kept the weight off and we were able to avoid the water by more than a few inches!
Having survived this near death experience we had some lunch....what a place to eat! We sat on the banks of the river with nothing but the sound of raging water, birds and cicadas! Without time to let lunch digest we were off on an exhausting walk up and down the
mountains following the water up stream to an amazing waterfall. This walk was incredible....although very tiring! The waterfall was beautiful and only we dared jump in!
The walk back seemed quicker and the guide was eager to show us a tarantula hole and a shaded area by a tree surrounded by King Cobra skin! (we walked the rest of the way a little quicker).
Our TREK was followed by White water rafting down stream past some amazing scenery. It was like something from Jurassic park. When we were in calm water we were able to just sit there and listen. To the right of us suddenly appeared an Elephant, whether it was wild or not we don't know. The excitement of the white water soon stopped and we got onto a bamboo raft for the final leg of the river. Why they called this a raft we will never know as the majority of the time we were under water......it was very peaceful though.
The final part of our day was spent walking around a local hill tribes village. Felt a bit awkward at first but we remembered the fact that people come to our quaint Stratford
to take Pictures all the time.....our consciences were clear! This was an interesting insight into their way of life out in the Jungle.
Really enjoyed this trip, probably the best day so far despite Kayley's 15 Bites and 1 Sting..........we think. James however has only received 2 bites.........Kayley is a natural mosquito repellent.........for James!
Well thats probably about it for a few days. We will be catching the train back to bangkok tonight and staying at Johns tomorrow night after Ice's cooking. From there we will catch another train down south to continue our Journey. We will update this as soon as we can.
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Matt Wesson
non-member comment
Looking into the crevass!
I like the picture of Kayley in the cage - looking into the crevass! :OP xxx Glad you guys are having a great time! Keep the commentary coming. Matt xxx