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Published: January 24th 2008
Yes, we are in Northern Thailand in an area famous for hot curry's without coconut milk but this evening we went for some authentic mexican food and it was delicious! We tried nachos a few days ago and got a few chips with a dabble of cheese and a few chunks of chicken, but this was heavenly. Don't get me wrong, we do love Thai food, but rice or noodles every night is sometimes not exactly appetizing. Anyway, when visiting Chaing Mai and craving Mexican food, hit up Miquel's.
We've now been in Chaing Mai for 5 days and we're loving it. The slower pace and cleaner air are a refreshing relief. 10 days in bangkok got us a bit anxious and edgy. We took a bus from Bangkok up to Chaing Mai. After asking around we felt that 350 Baht was a good price for the 12 hour ride. Ackk! It took over 13 hours and our VIP bus wasn't quite what we imagined. The bus drove quite slow and stopped frequently. At first I was alarmed and thought we were going to be mugged or something, but then we accepted the pace and went with it. As the monk at the flying saucer temple said, "no expectations, no disappointment".
We've been staying at Julie Guest house which truly is a gem of a place. Its cheap, relatively clean, and has a great group of people running in and out. We booked a one night trek and added a white water river excursion. It was fantastic! We rode and elephant and Alex actually rode on the elephants head. We fed him about 20 banana's and he kept lifting his trunk to Alex's hands requesting more. At one point the elephant chose to head down a 15 foot embankment. We thought the quide would stop him but he didn't...Ben(Hilarious Airforce Englishman) and I hung onto Alex and the huge beast went down the hill. My fear and excitement combined into frantic laughter as we reached the trail below. For a moment I thought we were all going to topple over. Our ride continued and our elephant was still hungry. Again he went off the trail and pulled down and entire banana tree. One of the other elephants joined him and they pigged out. After lunch we hiked in the gruelling hit to a Lihu hill tribe where we spent the night in elevated Bamboo huts. In the morning we walked through the jungle to a small waterfall where a few of us brave souls jumped right in(Alex and I were among those few). It was very refreshing under the shower like falls.
Our white water rafting was exhilarating! I'd never been and was nervous but our guide practiced safety with us and of the 6 rafts we were the first to make it to the pull out area. Besides our guide Chat, we were with a mother and daughter from Perth. They were part of a family of 5 amazon daughters! Analisa, the daugther fell out in one section which was scary but we were all laughing the whole time. The raft after us lost every passanger in the same section. Alex & I were in the front of the boat and going down the drops was like being in the front of a roller coaster as it hit the peak and then plummeted straight down. The trek was definitely worth it.
Now we've got a motorbike and will spend several days exporing the parks and waterfalls around this area. As a passanger traffic seems insane and without and organization but now that we've been riding the bike it actually makes sense. Alex is used to riding on the left side of the street and I keep myself prepared for huge bumps, quick stops, and sudden excelleration. Tomorrow we'll go to the highest peak in Thailand....
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raminta
non-member comment
wa wa wee waa!
your adventures are getting more and more adventurous! I can't wait to see some more pictures! You might be having really cool adventures, but I am having really good Mexican food! hahahaha Miss you guys bunches - and stay away from southern Thailand, I hear it is dangerous!