Chiang Mai

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Hi All,

Well after a nice rest day after diving we made our way up to Bangkok only really wanting to stay one night before making our way up north to Chiang Mai. Unfortunately we were late in booking and the coach was already full so we had to stay another night which was a waste of a day really. We managed to book a coach for Sunday night an 11hr trip for 300baht (just under 5pounds) - it was the most uncomfortable trip ever and we got hardly any sleep. The people in the seats next to us were getting jiggy the whole way as well and even when we shone the torch at them to get them to shut up it made no difference! in the end we ended up getting some beers at a service station and staying up most of the trip.

We arrived at 6am and were taken to Nice Place Guesthouse. We were so tired we decided to just book our trek through them and go to bed! Later that day we met most of the people in our group and they were all really nice. There were 2 Australians, 2 New Zealanders, 5 Canadians a Swedish girl and a German girl. We all decided to go and watch the Thai boxing that was on at the local stadium as it was a good way to get to know each other and when in Thailand you have to go and watch Thai boxing. It started at 9pm and went on until 12. There were loads of fights from young girls and boys (15) older women and men and even one fight where about 6 guys were blindfolded and were just punching and trying to hit someone, it was really funny as the ref kept getting hit aswell! After the boxing there was a quick cabaret with loads of lady boys dancing and singing, fiona didnt realise until right at the end they weren't women (and thats only because we told her). We then went to a bar and stayed out drinking and playing table football and pool. Me and Fi went back at about 2am and nick didnt come back til 4am!

On Tuesday it was up at 8am to get ready for our first day trekking. Firstly we went to the elephants which was brilliant. We climbed the wooden platform and hopped on (Me, Fi and Nick), we got the biggest one. Once we'd started moving the guide jumped off and asked Nick if he wanted to sit on the head, obviously he did. Straight away we named him flappy as he kept flapping his big ears and hitting Nicks legs. He felt really leathery and kept going really close to the tree trunks. The flip flop of one of the girls in front of us fell off and her elephant picked it up with its trunk and gave it back to her. Obviously we thought our elephant might be able to do the same so me and fi chucked nicks flip flop on the floor and flappy just trod on it and carried on walking! Right at the end we went through a river and all got splashed by the elephants. After that we went to a little village in the hills for some lunch and all bought bracelets from the children. We started trekking but Fi was having difficulty as she suffers from asthma but had forgotten her inhaler! silly girl! so one of the guides took us on a flatter route to the village we would be staying in. We saw loads of water powered rice crushers next to the stream and locals picking wood from the fields and carrying it back to the village in baskets on their backs. It was really nice to see the cultural side of thailand. We all stayed in one room in a little bamboo hut. The guys played football before all gathering round some candles to eat our dinner. Then we sat round a bonfire and watched the locals do some traditional dances for us. It was a really nice atmosphere and it was so clear you could look up and see so many stars. Unfortunately that night i was really ill and spent most of the night in and out of bed which was annoying because it gets sooooooooooo cold up in mountains. Even with a sheet and 2 blankets in our trousers and jumpers we were all still really cold!

Day 2 - We started with a 2hr trek through the mountains to a little waterfall in the middles of nowhere. There were a couple of little huts where we had some lunch and all jumped into the waterfall to cool off. We then carried on trekking for another 2hrs before reaching the little village where we were going to stay. The walk in the afternoon was really nice as we walked next to the river through the rainforest. I was ill again which wasnt great so went to bed early while everyone else stayed up playing drinking games with the home brew whiskey the tour guide had sold us! I woke up to everyone coming to bed very drunk at about 1am. Apparently all night there was a fire on the nearby hillside,we werent sure if it was a controlled fire or not.

Day 3 - We woke up and started an hour trek through the mountains where we had seen the fire the night before. Everything was still smouldering and the ash was getting everywhere. It was strange how one minute everything was burning and the next it was all green again. We eventually got to river which had some bamboo rafts in it. The rafts were tied together with some string and they werent very stable. There were four to a raft and we kept getting stuck on rocks and falling over, it was so funny but because its dry season the rivers werent very high. We then had some lunch before heading back to the Chiang Mai guesthouse. In the evening we went to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar which wasnt what we expected, it was just the streets lined with stalls, it was never ending there were so many but they were all selling similar things. After the night bazaar we all went to the pub for a farewell drink and got a little tipsy!

We're now back in Bangkok making our way to Phuket before leaving for Malaysia at the end of the week. Hope all is well. Love us both xxx

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