Bangkok to Chiang Mai

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Well, its been about a week and a half since we've been here. Thailand in a nutshell so far...Mahem!
We arrived in Bangkok and couldnt find the street where all the best guesthouses were. Ended up staying on pretty much the craziest and loudest street Ive ever seen. Great little place, AC, beauty room, cheap too, 12 bucks a night.
We spent the first 2 days in Bangkok doing your typical tourist things. Let me tell you, 3 hours in this heat and Im ready for a nap. Its truley remarkable how hot is. Each day about 35 and humid. The pollution in Bangkok is ridiculous and these tuk tuk drivers ; Taxi cab in an open back seat 3 wheel car are the most arogant and hard to negotiat people Ive ever met.

Now on a good note, the city was great to see. Were definitly glad we stayed 2 days but itwas nice to leave. We took off on the train for this little town called Ayuthaya, about 2 hrs up north from Bangkok. Saw some real cool old ruins which dated back about 600 years.

After about a day and a half there in another beauty guesthouse, we took the night train up to the city we're in now called Chiang Mai. This city is a not miss in Thailand. Definitly the highlight of the central and northern part.

We got another awsome guesthouse, with a huge pool with a huge terrace right beside it. For a whole 12 bucks a night and from what Ive heard this is the most expensive we should be paying for Southeast Asia.

After a good day of chillaxing by the pool and walking around the city, we went on a 2 day Trek into the jungle/mountains just outside of the city. Absolutly gorgeous. There was 9 of us with 2 Thai guides. Pretty hard trekking but we stopped every 2 hrs when we'd find huge waterfalls to swim in.
We stayed in a old school village with no electricity that night. The family cooked us up an amazing thai meal. The next day, did some more trekking, saw some beauty waterfalls and road....Yep...some big ass Elephants!! These things are monsters. What an experience!!!A bit cruel when you think about it but it was fun.
Finally yesterday we did a full day Thai cooking class. Started early in the morning, went to local market and learned about all the food, food I've never even heard of. Throughout the day, we cooked everything from Pad T hai, Spring Roles, we made our own curry, and even some cool Thai deserts. Great time.

So ya, thats pretty much it. We've been eating like kings. Seriously, the amount of fresh fruit we eat each day, some of the best Thai food Ive ever had and its all dirt cheap. Its definitly way more touristy then I could of imagined. At first I was happy to see white people, then aftera few days, all you see is tourists.

We leave tomorow for Laos were we are doing this thing called the Gibbon Experience. I'll write about that later next week.
This was a bit long, but there's lots to tell.

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