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Published: February 25th 2010
The last two weeks have been completely action packed, and what makes it better is that we actually got time to unpack our stuff- feels like LUXURY!! After a REALLY long day of travelling from Ho Chi Minh, we arrived at Chiang Rai Airport late evening to meet Jade's parents, as Jade has family out here. (Note to self-NEVER fly Air Asia again!). The main mode of transport around here is by pick-up truck, and as Jade's family spend quite a lot of time in Thailand, they rented their usual pick-up truck for the whole 2 weeks. I was pretty excited at the thought of this, as it's something i've always thought i'd love to do! It's pretty funny though because there is literally no health and safety around here; makes me wonder why everyone worries about wearing seatbelts at home!! First thing I noticed on the ride was how much more built up it is here, compared with Cambodia, especially in the town, and I don't think I was really expecting it to be like that! The centre of Chiang Rai is lush-it doesnt feel skicky and humid like it did in some of the other cities we've visited, and
there are pretty much NO westerners, which was actually kind of nice. One other thing that's great about it is the temperature difference from down South; it actually feels REALLY cool here at night and in the morning, giving you time to cool down from the heat of the day. No need for air conditioning or anything during the night! PERFECT.
The house was situated just outside the town, so it was kind of a perfect location, away from all the hustle and bustle. It was pretty much how i'd imagined it to be- the house itself is concrete, and looks pretty nice from the outside, although the inside is pretty basic- NO running water, no toilet flushing system and all COLD water (The first cold shower was definitely an awakening!) Although Jades' house is one of the nicer in the area, since it's slightly more Westernised, the surrounding houses are more hut-like houses, so much simpler. Theres such a nice community feeling about this place; all the extended family live within shouting distance of eachother, so it really is like one big family, and I kind of feel like part of it! All the family are amazed by
us- they LOVE that we're white and just keep telling us how beautiful we are! Most Thai people buy products with whitening in them, to bleach their skin white, so they're very envious of us and our naturally white skin! It's mad because its the complete opposite in Britain, with people paying money to tan on sunbeds etc. It seems backwards! Most people in this area work really long hours, so the children are looked after by their grandparents. It's much more physical work out here too- the average wage is about 150 Baht a day if they're working in the fields, which is about three pounds! But i suppose you have to remember that it's all relative as everythings cheaper out here, BUT still it seems like pennies.
We spent the first few days relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere, and we visited the local night market, which was really fun. We endured lots of stares from the locals; it's really not like they try and hide it either-i'm not sure they could actually look for any longer or get any closer to your face, but it's all part of the experience! In the first few days, during periods
of relaxation, we visited the local temple- it seemed so perfect- gold with very detailed patterns all over the walls. We also found time to explore the town, and the local market which was very busy- kind of chaotic actually. The streets are lined with stalls selling all sorts of things, especially raw meat- it's really disgusting when you think about how they store their meat out here-flies and bugs everywhere, hanging in the 40 degrees heat- MAD. We explored another local night market in the area too, which was very overwhelming as it was just so SO busy; you definitely cannot afford to be in a rush at this market!
The next day we visited Khun Gohn Waterfall, which was just a short drive away from the house. We had to trek for what seemed like ages through the jungle; there were bamboo trees everywhere and various creatures and mosquitos. The waterfall itself was absolutely stunning, not only because of the sheer size of it, but also the surrounding area was deserted, since we'd left so early in the morning. There were places where you could swim, but me and Jade weren't brave enough as it was actually
kind of cold! We spent some time rock climbing and doing a bit of paddling, and then headed back through the jungle for some food. We spent the afternoon with the family, and visited what they call the 'Silver Temple'- it was amazing, and it's annoying because the pictures really don't do it justice! The walls were lined with tiny little mosiac mirrors and it was shining bright silver in the sun, so it looked stunning. Westerners have to cover their knees and shoulers out of respect, so you end up overheating from all the clothes you have to wear!
The following day we visited what the locals call Chiang Rai beach, although it's not what you would expect from a beach, in that it was kind of muddy/sandy and no where near the sea, just the Mekok river instead! It wasn't a sparkling blue colour, more a brown dirty colour, but it looked lush all the same! We spent some time relaxing at the house- it's so nice to just watch the world go by and experience what it's like to live the Thai-lifestyle. The family works hard to collect water in buckets and carry it back to
their house- can you imagine if we had to do that in England!? Another thing i've noticed here is how many clothes the locals wear in the day- this is actually their winter- so when we're walking around in barely anything, their wrapped up in coats and wooly hats- it's MAD. We collected some food from the market, and spent the evening with the family enjoying the local food and chatting. (I say 'chatting'- none of the family speak any English so we spend most of our time listening, but it's actually kind of soothing all the same; plus i'm picking up some Thai words too!)
We also visited Maesai, which is the most Northern point of Thailand, and borders with Burma. It was a bit more touristy here because it's on the Burmese border, and people want to see it. It was weird hearing English again; we hadn't really heard any other groups speak English since we left the tour, and i've kind of got used to it! We spent the afternoon exploring the food and clothes markets; it was much more expensive, I guess because they get many more tourists in the area, and they grab every
opportunity to take advantage of the Westerners! The afternoon was spent exploring the local area and we headed up to Wat Phra That Doi Wao- a collection of temples overlooking Burma, with lush views- although i'm not sure i'd ever want to visit there. It was an awesome drive through the countryside to get to our next stop- Sop Ruak, (it kind of reminded me of Cambodia actually!) which has just recently been made into a very touristy city. Sop Ruak is home to what is known as the Golden triangle, where the three borders of Laos, Thailand and Burma almost meet, so it's not hard to understand why it's become a tourist attraction!
For the next few days, we spent our time relaxing in Chiang Rai, and it was really nice to know that there wasn't anything we needed to do. This is the life! The back of the house is home to a HUGE quarry and it was pretty fun to explore it and watch the sunset, although we saw lots of snake trackings, which certainly didn't put me at ease, since this was just a little way from the house! Although there's been a fair bit
of driving on this part of our trip, it always seems much more enjoyable when you're relaxing in the back of the pick up, than stuck inside the car, so we really haven't minded that much! The next day, another long drive took us to Doi Mae Salong- it was quite a climb and was really pretty with lots of tea and coffee plantations, to make for lovely views! Everything in this area is Chinese, since the Chinese army were stationed here during the war, so it was all but surreal. Lots of the people living here are also from the hill tribe area, and they wear these huge heavy hats and carry their babies in slings around their waist. They grow their fruit and vegetables and then make their living by selling all their produce in the market. (although i'm not really sure how much you can trust it!) The next stop took us to Doitung, home to one of the most famous temples in Thailand- Wat Phrataat Dio Tung. We spent some time exploring, burnt some insence, lit some candles and placed flowers at the foot of the Buddha. There were a hundred or more bells leading down
a steep hill and they believe that if you hit every bell, you will have good luck, so we trekked down the hill to ensure we got every bell! Our next stop was Chiang Saen lake and we arrived just in time for the sunset; it was incredible! The lake was huge, and the reflection from the sun was amazing- it's got to be one of the best i've ever seen.
We planned to spend the next few days in Chiang Mai, a city just south of Chiang Rai. (Although a lot bigger, since it's the next biggest city after Bangkok). We took a bit of a detour on route and stopped off at Phu Chi Far, a villiage well known as a perfect location for a view of the sunrise. We booked into a small hostel with an amazing view of the hills, about twenty minutes from the viewpoint, and all shared one extra long bed- it was hilarious! (Only ten pounds for all of us- for one night!) There were ghekos and ants crawling all up the walls, making it all the more exciting! The area itself was packed with hill-tribe people, who have got a bit
of a reputation of being rude and a bit dangerous in this area, and we certainly experienced that! I even saw two twin boys roaming through a rubbish bin for food, and they eating it! They live a completely different lifestyle to us, living and working out in the fields, and they were absoloutely shocked to see people like us- I think they very rarely see Westerners. After a restless night sleep, we trekked up the mountain to watch the sunrise - It was definitely worth the sleepless night and VERY tiring climb!
We lived in what seemed like luxury for the next few days- in a guest house with running water and HOT showers! One thing that I instantly noticed about Chiang Mai was the diference in temperature; it's was much more humid there- and the city had EVERYTHING. The next four days in Chaing Mai were really busy as we wanted to fit in as much as possible in the short amount of time we had there. We visited two temples; Doi Suthep and Pratart Ampang Luang temple, each had it's individual style. While Dio Suthep was incredibly touristy and seemed more of a tourist attraction than
anything else, Pratart Ampang Luang was much quieter and known as the oldest temple in Northern Thailand. On the way back from Doi Suthep, we visited Huay Kaeo waterfall, and although it wasn't quite as stunning as the waterfall in Chiang Rai, it was still lush. We also spotted an amazing restaurant overlooking the waterfall, so enjoyed a REALLY expensive meal in a REALLY nice location with music to accompany it- I think it was worth the money, just for the views! ( I say expensive, it was actually about 15 pounds for all of us-but it's all relative!!)
I think, for me, the highlight of the trip to Chiang Mai has to be our visit to the elephant conservation centre. They were all so cute, and seemed so well-trained and content in the environment, as there was just so much space for them. Me and Jade enjoyed a half an hour ride on one of the biggest males we'd seen - It was really fun, if a little scary, especially when it took us through the deep water; I honestly thought we were going to fall backwards the amount we were slipping and sliding around, but the elephant
was completely in control! They also performed a really impressive show, where they even drew picures of themselves-i hadn't realised quite how clever they were!
On my birthday we visited Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand; a pretty impressive opportunity to have on my birthday( Don't think I will ever get a chace to do that again!) The highest point was found within a National Park, so the views were absoloutely stunning, and we enjoyed some amazing nature trail walks through the woods- the whole area was just so peaceful. Also within the park, were two palaces dedicated to the King and Queen for their 60th birthday- i'd like to have had something like that for MY birthday! They were HUGE with what seemed like thousands of steps leading up to them, each surrounded by completely untouched gardens. It was really impressive!! After a look around the palaces, we headed on down to two more well known waterfalls within Thailand; Sirithan Waterfall and Wachirathamn waterfall. Both were beautiful and so vast, although we all managed to get literally eaten alive by mosquitos! Our evenings in Chaing Mai were spent exploring the Night Market in the centre of the
city-it was literally huge with whole streets lined with stalls. I could do all my clothes shopping here and be completely happy, especially because it's so SO cheap! Perhaps I should stop buying clothes as my bag is progressively getting harder and harder to close! We bought lots of presents for family back in Chiang Rai and they loved it. It's really lovely because whenever we buy anything for the children or the family, they are so appreciative, because they just don't have the opportunity or the money to buy these kind of things for themselves. They really enjoy the opportunity to come on day trips with us too as it's a real treat for them to venture outside Chiang Rai!
After a long journey back to Chiang Rai, we were welcomed by all the family! We spent our last few days relaxing and enjoying the company. Im really really going to miss them! What i've loved most about this part of the trip is that i've had a real insight into the life of the locals in Chiang Rai, since we've spent a lot of time with Jade's family. Ive actually become quite accustomed to things like squat
toilets, cold showers and no make-up, which I never throught id hear myself say- it's weird how a trip like this gives you a completely different perspecive on everything!
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