North to Chiang Mai

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With a hint of sadness and a lot of sand through my gear, I left my little island paradise (Koh Lanta) yesterday after a three great weeks on it. So far I think Koh Lanta has been the best place I have visited closely followed by Koh Chang. I can't really explain why... it just grew on me, I'm definitely going back one day...

So with seven days left on my Thailand visa I decide to head north to Chiang Mai so I could exit easily in Laos in a week or so. Now this is were flash packing has its benefits’ cos the thought of a 4 hour bus ride, 9 hour train trip to Bangkok and another 8 hours to Chiang Mai (excluding stop over in the each airport..) was not my idea of fun. So I flew! Two simple plane rides and I was there in 5 hours, start to finish all done and sorted. To give you an idea the first way would have cost about AUD$90 and the second way was about AUD$220.

Arriving in Chiang Mai was also an interesting experience. I have kind of stoped using my lonely planet travel guide lately and started talking to people more instead about where to stay and what to do. As such the research has basically stopped and often I arrive into towns very un-prepared, like I did in Chiang Mai. Its quite funny the response you get from a taxi driver (who speaks very bad english) who ask's you where you want to go in a strange town at 11pm at night.. try it one day, you'll see what I mean.

Chiang Mai is an ok place to visit but it's not the same as the islands down south. It's a very traditional old city in northern Thailand that was built about 700 years ago. It still has the original moat in place around the old city and they have kept the four big entrances to the city in place but the rest of the old fortress like walls have been pulled down and swapped for a nice bitumen road all the way around the city... which is a very very busy road to I might add.

I was lucky enough to meet up with a friend I met in Koh Lanta who was already in town. We did the usual exploring together and drinking sessions but I must admit Chiang Mai is definitely more suited to going there with a friend. I didn't find it as easy to meet people due to the layout and little pockets everywhere.. On an island its real easy.. you just head to the beach.. We did however hire some more scooters and had a couple of great days cruising around the local sites. Check out the pictures and you'll see what I mean.

After three days we decided that we had had enough of Chiang Mai and wanted to move on. We had heard of this place called Pai that everyone seemed to be talking about. Everyone we met had a story about it so we thought it was worth a look. Apparently its a small town about 200km away in the mountains that’s very laid back and full of backpackers. Once again another fun 6 hours bus ride on a winding road through the mountains... but not for us flash packers!

Mert the guy I was hanging out with found out about this little private airline that flys there twice a day with one of those small 10 seater single prop planes... You know the type with the pilot sitting up the front and you can look over his shoulder as he flys! The entire trip only took us 25 mins and I must say it was a little ridiculous and over the top but loads of fun. And it was definitely the smallest plane I have ever been on! We were like little kids a Christmas sitting at the 'terminal' if you can call it that waiting for this little plane to come in.

Great trip though cruising over the tops of the mountains. We were so low you could see everything.. including the buses that headed of at 8am in the morning. So basically after leaving our accommodation at 10am in Chiang Mai, we had been to the airport, caught a flight and were in cafe having a cold drink in Pai by 12pm BRILLIANT! Needless to say we also got the choice of all the hostels too as everyone else was still 3 hours away on the bus. If you can afford I highly recommend it.

Loads of pictures attached so I hope you all enjoy.

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