Chiang Mai and Bangkok III

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Our next stop was a backpacker classic - Chiang Mai up in the north. Our first day was spent exploring some of the city's many impressive temples and ruins. The most spectacular was Chedi Luang, which was in fact a ruined temple - its majestic stupa towering above the surrounding buildings.

Aside from the charms of the city itself, most travellers head to Chiang Mai to embark on one of the popular organised treks. Ours' began with a tough two hour walk through sweltering jungle and up sharp inclines. The reward for our labours was a hilltop village of the Lahu tribe - subsistence farmers originating from China. The views were unsurpassable, the village beautiful and we met some really fun and interesting locals.

The hike back down the other side was far more enjoyable than the previous day's, with a beautiful waterfall providing cooling relief, and an obstacle course of rocks and bamboo bridges following. Our destination was a river camp, where we mounted a great lumbering elephant for a circuit of the local area. After this fun but uncomfortable and rather disconcerting ride, we boarded rafts to take us further down the river, which completed an excellent couple of days.

For our last day in Chiang Mai we signed up for Thai Cooking lessons at a farm some distance from the city. We were given an introduction to the ingredients, both at a huge local market and at the farm itself, where all of the required vegetables are grown. The cooking was good fun, and for lunch I stuffed myself with three dishes that I had prepared. This did make cooking the last two dishes rather difficult as I could barely move!

Our last day in Thailand was spent once again in Bangkok - this time we stayed near Sukhumvit Road. It was a fairly chilled day - the highlight was some fine live blues in the Saxophone Cafe. The following day we flew to Hong Kong to begin our final leg, in China.

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Photos

View from the Village
The views from up here were utterly stunning.

Chedi Luang
The impressive stupa.

Cheeky Elephant
Our oversized stead had no morality issues with stealing bananas from our companions.

East Gate
We passed through this mighty gate numerous times during our stay.

Chiang Mai Farm
Our very pleasant surroundings for the cooking class.

Power Shower
Chris enjoys a refreshing shower on the way down from the Hill Village.