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Published: August 8th 2010
Bungee jumper
Oh yes, he jumped!Right then, we are back in Thailand then, having said goodbye in Vietnam. It took 12 hours to fly from Hanoi, via Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We plucked for the slightly more expensive 'Vanilla Place' (900Baht), but we are very impressed with it so far and it is definitely worth it, i'l explain why a little later....
On thursday we simply took a day off, which when your away for so long you have got to do because you wear yourself down so much. Having said that we were out and about by midday and exploring the place. Chiang Mai seems to be an endless market town (although it is Thailands second city), with awesome food and tribal crafts brought in from the mountain regions around. We then passed a cinema, and since Inception wont be out when i get back, we jumped in. This was a fun experience, it cost a pound to go in, i got to eat Seaweed Pringles (BRILLIANT!, although the tubes are suitable for tiny, asian hands) and we had to stand at the beginning while a video of the king played. They absolutely LOVE the King over here.
Actually,the previous night we were in
Cake!
The delicious surprise cake, courtesy of Mr Kem a bar talking to a dutch guy that lives here and he described the 3 things that will get you arrested in Thailand;
Do not have anything to do with drugs!
Do no buy or remove and artifacts or Budha images from the country, and
Do not insult the King or Royal Family.
Anyway, moving on. On Friday we took part in the best (supposedly) cookery course around. We got picked up at 9 in the morning and were taken to a nice affluent area outside of the city, where the school had a place. The school was set up by a famous TV chef in Thailand, and it was very impressive. Each course (of which there was 6) was first demonstrated to us by a professional chef, and then we attempted to do the same...i swear they made it look easy! Now i can, in theory, cook Spring rolls, Red curry, Chicken noodle soup and a few other things, as well as do a little amateur vegetable carving...in theory remember.
Next was Saturday, or more importantly MY BIRTHDAY! I turned 23 yesterday and Rachel had something awesome for me...a Bungee jump! Now iv already done one
Professional chefs
We are so good at cooking.... of these in New Zealand, which was bigger than the 50m id be jumping/flopping from today. And i cant put my finger on why but this one was way scarier! I was raised up on a crane, all by my lonesome(last time there was a dozen of us all egging each other on), able to see the motorway arking around the pond i was jumping over. The Thai guy who was filming a dvd for me was not helpful. "just jump", "stop looking down" and "whats the matter?". I finally did it, and i did it wrong! You're not meant to just drop off legs first, but its what i did last time, and its the only way i seem to be able to do! At least i did it though. Bungee number 2 done. I may sound like a bit of a chicken, but have you done one?
Next our driver (Mr Ting, organised through our guesthouse) took us to a "Monkey Training Centre", which i would advise anyone to avoid. While mildly entertaining, its just plain cruel. Loads of them chained to tree stumps or being forced to do tricks by the heavy-handed keepers. Im not going
Success
The sigh of relief! to spend much more time on this place, if you were thinking of going here, don't.
Next was the Tiger Sanctuary, which was a complete opposite of the monkey place. They are helping protect an endangered animal, and they weren't cruel with them at all. You can go into the cages with the Tigers (we opted for the youngest ones), and the carer explained to us that they were quite docile because Tigers naturally sleep for around 18 hours a day anyway. I was much happier spending my money here than over at the monkey place.
Right, off home to get changed for dinner. This is where our guesthouse owner proved why he is number 8 out of over 200. Rachel had mentioned it would be my birthday today, and on her request he booked a top top restaurant and ordered a cake delivered to the restaurant. Most places would not go this extra mile, but Mr Kem doesnt seem to hesitate in getting what we need or doing that bit extra. And i bigger thanks goes to Rachel for making my birthday a memorable one. Actually, she made me fall from a great height and put me
Tiger!!!
We love the tiger. He is so cute. in a cage with a ferocious animal...she must be getting sick of travelling with me.
We finished the night by playing guess the Ladyboy(and man that looks like a woman for those that dont know) at the bars in the city centre. Some of them are bloody convincing, they hang around in packs outside bars and blacked out 'karaoke' bars, waiting for the creepy old men who seem to have developed a bad habit for this kind of thing. Its strange that a country that frowns on people displaying affection in public is okay with this kind of thing, but i suppose the key word is 'public', as long as you keep it to yourself its okay to do it...except insulting the king remember, thats never cool.
Thanks for reading, David.
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Bungee Jump
David you keep frightening the living daylights out of us with these Bungee jumps, Im pleased you took you glasses off first though. Rachel could you not have made David a cake on the cookery course although that one looked lovely. Enjoy the rest of your time in the north xx