Chang Mai Waterfights, Horse racing and an indecent proposal

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Day 5
We left bangkok on the 10th of April by Bus to head for Chang Mai, with an estimated travel time of 8 - 10 hours. However, we both thought it would be a piece of piss as the travel agent demanded we buy VIP tickets, promising large seats with enviable leg room. However, they saw us suckers a mile off. Our expensive VIP ticket afforded us the luxury of the very back seat in the bus with three other foreigners, with only enough leg room for bilateral above knee amputees. So at 6 am after 9 hours in the bus bugger all sleep, thousands of ankle pumps (but still swollen calves), and in dire need of a shower we made it to graces guest house. After a few hours sleep we checked out chang mai via a tuk tuk and viewed a few of the 300 temples. Our luck seemed to change as we found out it was the start of the Songkran festival in thailand which is especially huge in Chang Mai. Songkran is basically a massive waterfight throughout the entire country. So after a drenching we invested in some kick arse waterpistols with about 10 litres of stroage. We tested them out on the side of the road and sprayed the shit out of any one passing by. it is strangely fulfilling to squirt people in the face as they road past on motorbikes regardless of being men, women, children or often granmas. (this would come back to bite us later on). However, we softened our stance a little when we saw a thai girl come off her bike after a drenching that was similar to what we would have provided. After 3 -4 hours of waterfighting we went back to our digs and got changed and went out for tea (walking through many alternate routes to stay dry) to a fresh seafood joint. We had fish and huge prawns which was awesome Cost us a shitload but it was worth it ($20) We finished the night by purchasing some hippy clothes, the lady started at 400 baht but she was dreaming that i would pay that much for a shirt so i bartered her down to 200 and sealed it with a piece of dried fruit. Day 6We had planned a day of riding push bikes and visiting museums but unfortunately the tribal museum was closed. We rode around for a bit to explore the area and in an amazing stroke of luck stumbled across the Chang Mai Racecourse. AND IT WAS RACE DAY!!!

So after alot of pleading and begging from carly to enter i said ok and we were off to the races. (carly probably has a different memory of this but this is how i remember it). we paid our 10 baht entry fee and checked out the where the bloody hell i could get a bet on. So race three we whacked on 50 baht each way on number three (it looked good in the mounting yard but had npo idea of it's name or form, as it the form guide was only in thai).

We set ourselves up in the stand where we found ourseleves to be the only white people there. sure enough number 3 shit it in by 8 lengths,i wish( it actually came second last by about 16 lenghts). So with that betting form carly dragged me from the track. (thanks carls) we ended the day by dropping a few cold stubbies and set about drenching as many people as we could, that is until my water ran out. We went to a roadside bar to fill our tanks when i was not allowed water.

Unfortunately for me my exceedingly high value as a breeding sire was spotted by a hot thai chick. i was not to have water unless i would "have sex with me and we have babies" ( it was a it was a girl and not a lady boy, i hope), the girl then saw an infuriated carly and proceeded to apologise profusely. suffice to say that look allowed me to get water. From then on i had to make myself ugly, which was needless to say a difficult task.


Day 7We hired what i like to call a bitch bike, a motor bike that is fully automatic like a scooter. and took the tough and exceptionally wet ride up the mountain to see Doi surat temple. This is where karma bit back. I was repeatedly smashed in the face with water. i was ok with it but it was my first ever time on a motorbike on the road so it was a sensational debut, for a motorbike rookie as i didn't crash. Temple was awesome and then we endured an amazing wet traffic jam (due to songkran) it took us about an hour to get 1.5 km's so after that we relaxed with a few frothies.

When the day was almost done we managed more excitement (for carly) and further turmoil for myself when the lock on the bathroom door broke and locked me in for 45 mins. Luckly the door had a 2 cm gap at the bottom so carly could slide me a towel so i was not starkers when the local locksmith eventually got me out.

Tommorow we are off for our three day trek. Disclaimer: Parts of this blog may have been embelished but they are loosely based on a true story.
Cheers Go Tarra
Jez and Carls

Sorry about that last blog we lost some of the text between the photos hope this is better

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