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Published: November 24th 2007
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Chiang Mai!
We arrived in Chiang Mai at about 9 in the morning and were picked up by the guesthouse we were staying in BMP Resident. I was a bit worried about what it was going to be like at the hostel as i did feel we were scammed a bit by the tourist office we booked with but i was pleasantly surprised. Its probably the nicest place we have stayed in the whole time we've been away, swimming pool, big room with wow, our own bathroom and hot showers! It even had a nice bar with food and live music and the best banana shakes i've ever tried! All for the grand total of 2.50 each per night, bargain. The only problem was that it was about half an hour walk away from the bars and shops etc, but hell, we could do with the exercise with the amount of noodles we're eating!
We just spent the first day exploring the city and getting ready for our 3 day trek which we were going on the next day. We met the people we were going on the trek with and went out that night for some food and
beers. Was a good mix of people, germans, french, irish and us!
The trekking was only a couple of hours each day and had alot of time to relax, chat, take in the beautiful surroundings and most importantly, eat! The food was simple but tasty and lots of it! The guides cooked each night over an open fire and we had lots of rice, vegetables and fruit to eat. One of the best parts about the trek was the guides knowledge about living in the hilltribes. He grew up in a 'Karen' hilltribe, one of the 6 types of hilltribes in thailand. He showed us loads of things as we trekked, fruit and mushrooms we could eat, things to avoid and lots about bugs, animals and how they grew food to feed their families. One of them even caught a small vole which as you can see in the photos he roasted over the fire! On the second night one of the other guides made a very interesting soup, consisting mostly of frog spawn which adam was brave enough to try!
The evenings were lovely and we all sat round a huge campfire with some beers and sang
songs. However, sleeping was not so much fun! The first night all nine of us slept in one big bamboo hut, each couple with their own mosquito net, luxury! A combination of snoring, cockrels at 4 in the morning and a 2 cm thick mattress did not allow a great nights sleep! The second night was a bit better, and we all got a private bamboo hut where we stayed in a tiny camp next to a huge, beautiful waterfall where we had our morning shower!
The last day was brilliant. After a short trek, we had lunch and then set off to the elephant camp. This one was a bit more bumpy and scary than last time as our elephant seemed to have a mind of his own, setting off up amazingly steep slopes and then down again til we thought we were going to fall out the seat! He also decided to spray us after he had a drink which was an experience! Bamboo rafting was excellent too, only small rapids but someone most of us managed to get pretty wet or fall in (or get pushed in!)
Was nice to get back to civilisation though
and we have spent a lovely week in Chiang Mai. Its a great place for nightlife and we've had loads of great nights out and met lots of great people.
We've done loads this week. A great cookery course called A lot of Thai where we learnt to cook 6 thai dishes to wow you all with when we get back including spring rolls, sweet and sour soup, chicken and cashew nuts, pad thai and my fave sticky rice with mango, mmm.
The Sunday Market is also another highlight. All the main roads in the town are closed off and all filled with small market stalls selling everything you could possibly imagine, all with dancing and entertainment in between. The Chiang Mai Night Bazaar is similar but on every night so theres no shortage of places to shop!
We had also arranged a day trip to see the Longneck hilltribes. This was also booked through the tourist office and probably the only dissapointment of everything they had booked for us. 3 hour drive each way to see about 10 longneck women begging and pleading with us to buy their goods. I would have really liked to see
the village where they lived etc but i just dont think this is possible in thailand anymore as everyone has realised how much money they can make out of foreigners. We did get to see some beautiful scenery though and i now look forward to leaving Chiang Mai and heading further up north in the countryside.
Finally, anyone who comes to Chiang Mai should def. make time for "Monk Chat". Monks are not normally allowed to talk, acknowledge women, in fact not even make any kind of physical contact with women so i took advantage of the rare opportunity to speak with 2 young monks about Buddhism and what life is like as a monk. Adam and I hired bicycles for the day and cycled out to the Wat about 20 mins away for the evening chat with monks. Very interesting, and they were just as interested in england as we were with thailand, and spared no time asking adam lots of questions about how to flirt with girls, what to do at bars and what drinks to order!
Anyway, thats all for now, miss you all lots and hope to hear from you soon! xxxx
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Dad & Sal
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Finally Caught Up!!
Hi you two - finally managed to get to the computer and catch up with all your blogs. The pictures are brill but seem to involve a lot of bottles of beer and food! Sorry its taken us this long to catch up but Dad hasn't been too good for the last couple of months - okay now though. Really glad to see that you are seeing so many places and having such a good time. It was really nice of you Maria to let Adam get his photo taken with all those ugly ladies at the Grand Prix. Really impressed with everything youhave done so far. Love the blogs, love the pics. Not jealous at all not! Will keep in touch with blogs more regularly from now on. Everyone sends their love. Keep having a great time lots of love Dad and Sal xxxx