Our Chiang Mai Adventure begins ...


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Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Chiang Mai
June 22nd 2013
Published: June 22nd 2013
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Hi Again ... well it has been an adventure filled 24 hours. It is hard to beliive we have only been here a day ... let me share with you what we have been up to.

Leaving Koh Samui was hard ... we felt like "locals" at the Infinity Resort towards the end of our stay as we seemed to outstay everyone else. Most people we met there were only staying for 5 nights ... so our 8 nights made us part of the furniture 😊 We enjoyed our transfer in air conditioning from the hotel before enduring a very hot wait lining up to check our luggage through at Koh Samui airport. You see ... it is an "open air" airport ... the first of this type I have been to!

Thankfully we were travelling domestic so we did not have long to wait before we boarded the plane. The trip from the boarding gate to the plane takes place in a little open sided bus / trolley car and then the gush of air conditioning from the plane was a welcome comfort for us all!

The flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok was fast ... less than 1 hour. We then had a short 1 hour wait in Bangkok airport before boarding the same plane to head on to Chiang Mai. We were thrilled to learn that our boarding pass entitled us to "free" access to the Bangkok Airways passenger lounge ... and it happened to be right next to our boarding gate - PERFECT!! We enjoyed coffee, internet for the kids, food and felt like royalty (passenger lounges are clearly NOT what we are used to when flying).

Another uneventful flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai ... and we were greeted by our driver who wastaking us to our Villa called Villa Pee Seua. The boys were thrilled to find that the driver had a "saloo" (not sure of the spelling of that??) which is an "open back" type of taxi. There is a picture of the boys climbing all over it ... of course we all sat in the back and Scott and I took the very back positions to ensure none of the boys fell out!

They LOVED the ride through town ... Dylan and Blake were shouting "Savendee Cup" (again spelling all wrong) which is Thai for "hello." They were very excited to get a wave or a smile from the motorbike riders alongside us.

We arrived and checked in to our villa ... here we have a 3 bedroom townhouse. You may have heard a big bang in Australia ... that was us landing back on earth! The villa is very homely ... but nothing like the luxury we grew accustomed to in Koh Samui! The boys were all hyped up but we did our best to shower them and put them to bed before getting ourselves organised for the days ahead.

I remembered why I booked this place soon after settling in. No, it's not the most luxurious place, however I read on a number of travel sites that the service from the staff is outstanding! Well we have not been let down there at all! I snuck out to reception last night and sat with the lovely Manager, Prae, who was so happy to discuss with me what plans we had for Chiang Mai. She was SO helpful in assisting me to make firm plans and even arranged for a local driver to look after us ... without being ripped off by someone we didn't know. I went to bed feeling happy with the plan for the next few days.

This morning we enjoyed a lovely home cooked breakfast in the gardens of the villa then got picked up by our driver ... Singha. We won't for get his name given that it is the same as the local beer!

Singha drove a saloo (spelling???) so the boys were excited to be moving around in this ALL DAY!! First stop was Tiger Kingdom. WOW WOW WOW!!! I can't say any more ... this was an experience none of us will EVER forget! We had the opportunity to cuddle with baby tigers which were only 3-4 months old. We could pat them, cuddle them, lie with them, get photos with them ... it was unforgettable. Check out the photos!

Then Scott and I got to go into the BIG CATS!! Scary scary stuff 😊 It was unbelievable ... to be inside the enclosure with about 6 or 7 of the Big Tigers and about the same number of trainers. We got to have photos taken whilst lying down on them, patting them, while they were asleep and also while they were very very alert! Again check out the photos! We lived to tell the story. It was incredible.

Next ... the boys had a go at playing inside a giant inflatable ball on water ... fun!

They got very hot and sweaty inside due to the heat so to cool down they had another fish foot spa!!! They loved it first time so wanted to try it again.

We then headed up into the mountains to visit a hilltribe ...specifically to see the "long neck" people. This was so wierd ... the boys were staring at the women and were a bit shocked by what they saw I think! Apparently from age 5 females wear the neck ring to make their neck longer. They wear it all of the time until it needs to be made longer - they have to sleep in it! Ouch - how uncomfortable. Some of the older women in the village were very strange looking ... with super long necks so the boys were staring lots and lots. They didn't want to sit close for photos either - they were freaked out by the look of the pople I think!

This village walk was so hot so we decided to head to the waterfalls to cool off. The boys took no time to jump through the waterfalls with the local Thai kids ... and we also enjoyed the opportunity to do the same. I nearly lost my swimmers because the force of the water was so strong! Funny 😊

We headed home past a lovely coffee shop on a side street ... and enjoyed a fantastic latte whilst the boys indulged in ice creams. It was the perfect way to end a hot busy day out.

Back at the Villas, we ordered dinner from the kitchen here ... and all enjoyed a lovely home cooked meal. Honestly this place makes us feel like we are part of a family 😊

Everyone is in bed early as we have a day with the Elephants tomorrow. We just can't wait for that! Catch up again soon xxx


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