The final destination - Thailand

Bangkok and Chiang Mai

Well we have arrived at our final destination after having such a mad time in New Zealand. We were very much looking forward to sitting on the beach, soaking up the sun and chilling our beans out. However, we were completly wrong. Thailand had so much more to offer! On our arrival in Thailand we were pleasantly suprised by the craziness of Bangkok, i presumed it was going to be mad but Ko San Road was just crazy with bloody elephants in the road, stalls EVERYWHERE, tuk tuk drivers driving in every direction, drunken people and lady boys left right and centre! It really was mad but the atmosphere was awesome!

After a pretty heavy flight we decided not to venture the streets of Thailand at night and have a fairly early night to see what Bangkok would bring us tomorrow. Our day in Bangkok was really good. Me and Sophie explored the city, sightseeing all the famous temples and architecture with our own private tuk tuk driver (who infact scarpered and we got away with not paying him!) This was really cool being driven about in a tuk tuk - exploring all the different backroads and hidden shops. Pretty cool. The architecture in Bangkok is very cool too, very different to most places and people would probably describe it as cheesy, but i quite liked the tacky gold look, and knowing how much the temples mean to the Thai population - very religious country.

We also explored the Grand Palace and had to dress up in robes and shirts which wasnt the most attractive look but very funny at the time! We got attacked by these bird women who made us hold bird seed to attract hundreds of evil birds then expected money from us. Cheeky b*****s! We certainly experienced the cheap way of life of Thailand, starting the day with a 2 spuid fry up, and chicken and rice for lunch. With the occasional fruit shake through the day - they are soo yummy out here. We explored Ko San Road which was great to purchase some cheap souvneirs from their thousands of nik nak stalls, and just to observe the range of people who visist the famous road.

After our day in Bangkok we headed north to Chiang Mai for 3 days. We organised our buses through a travel company and hopped on the bus the same day. We experienced a killer 12 hour journey that was the worst 12 hours of sleep i have ever had!! But well worth it when we arrived in Chiang Mai. Both me and Sophie were very jubious of the people of Chiang Mai when we first arrived there and didnt really know what to expect. Our first thought was that it was going to be very rural but it was the complete opposite - a big city with a simular atmosphere to Bangkok and the people were very friendly and trustworthy. More than i thought they were going to be!

I really loved Chaing Mai - it was full of culture and we jampacked so many activities into our 3 days which probably made it more special. We didnt however see any bit of sun for the 3 days as we were mainly inside but it was awesome. The first day in Chaing Mai we visited a Long Neck Village, this was certainly an experience and a shock to the system. Poor women were made (and young children!) to wear long gold hoops round their necks, weighing 5kg!!! They were never allowed to take them off only for exhange of another one. (women always have it hard) We spoke to many of the Long Neck Population and they said they didnt mind wearing the neck pieces but it certainly looked uncomfortable. Me and sophie both tried the neck piece on and no exaggeration it was hurrendous, and upsetting knowing that they are forced to wear them. What was more upsetting when walking through the village was a photograph of a local primary school where all the kids had the gold hoops around their necks, knees and elbows.

After our experience at the village we went to see Lions! Now this was definately one experience i wont forget, making myself get into a cage with adult Lions. Why oh why we chose ADULT lions i do not know! But it was pretty cool. We made sure the Lions were not getting harmed in any way before entering their cage, and certain they had been trained and everything was under good regulations. Our expressions on our faces from the pictures tell it all, we were papping our pants!!! They didnt really do much, occasionally walked about and had a sniff of you and then fall straight back to sleep. (I do think they could of been drugged?!) We had abit of a cuddle with them - well a quick stoke haha, and went to see the little CUTE tigers. They are such gorgeous animals, their markings were beautiful.

After a pretty eventful day in Chiang Mai we went to see Thai Boxing! This was a really cool experience as i have never seen boxing before. And Thai Boxing is really entertaining. They put out some pretty crazy moves! We also managed to have our tea on a 50p budget... not bad really!! And the food tasted so good. (Pai Thai is the way forward) From this night onwards we moved away from the 2 squid meals in restaurants, and said hello to stall food, which is probably much fresher and loads cheaper.

Our second day in Chiang Mai was another hectic day which involved us going on a Thai cooking course. This was a really good day but i could not move after the amount of food i had consumed... I actually managed to cook some food which didn't taste that bad either! I learnt how to cook 6 different dishes and 5 out of 6 i enjoyed so cant wait to try cook them at home if i can find the ingredients. Their famous dish Pa Tai is definately worth a go! and their Thai Soups. There was six of us on the cooking course and each of us made a dish, so between us we got to try each others which was dead good because then we had an idea of what they would taste like before attempting them in England! And we even came away with our own little cookery book on Thai Food... Brilliant.

On the evening we went to the well known Night Bizzare which is a huge night market full of thousands of stalls. It was a really cool atmosphere, with great cheap stalls, and of course the 'lucky lucky men' and 'i give you good price'. We are sick of these words! ha. This was really awesome though as all the stalls were lit up (like the above photo) and it was really pretty to walk round and make the occasional bargain! Mum you would of loved it.

Our third day in Chiang Mai, a further busy day consisted of going on a Thai Massage Course.... this was sooo good! and the women who taught us how to massage was really cute. She reminded me of nan! Me and Sophie had such a good day, practising massages on each other which she had taught us and her giving us the occasional massage. We have learnt some very good methods which i know i am going to be abused for at home. I may treat you to one! We also went for lunch with the Thai Lady for a break throughout the day to a local restaurant she goes to. This was amuzing - it was like spot the white person! Felt very in the culture though. And the people are so friendly especially if you start trying to use their language.

After having such a relaxing day we went from this to craziness again as right next to our hostel (which i forgot to mention only cost us 2 squid for a night each!) was the Sunday Market where all the locals come out and cook for each other and they sell clothes, jewellery etc. It was a lot nicer than the Night Market as no one wanted to hassle you - the atmosphere was completly different and we experienced some more yummy Thai Food at the Food square. We are getting addicted to eating at these food stalls - they are so cheap! And i am certainly addicted to the gorgeous fruit they have out here, its fantastic. After making another couple of purchases we ventured back to the hostel where our bus was awaiting for another 12 hour bus journey to Bangkok.

I would definately recommend Chaing Mai for a visit because it is such a cultural place full of cool stuff to do, the people are so friendly and everything is so cheap - the food is good too!! Definately a must in Thailand, as well as Bangkok - i disagree with people when they say they dont like it they havent experienced it properly. Its not a chilled out place, very busy but a must do place - just to observe the Lady Boys walking the streets, the old english men with Thai birds and the crazyness of Ko San Road. Go... just dont overstay your welcome!