DAY 10 - 24 SEPT 2010 - V.I.P. BUS TO CHIANG MAI

We bid farewell to Ayuthaya and Tony's Place and boarded the V.I.P. night bus north for the 9 hour journey to Chiang Mai, Thailands second city. It turns out that in Thai, 'V.I.P. bus' translates roughly to 'big seat, we play movie, sort-of air-con'. Needless to say it wasn't the most comfortable night. Many hours later, with a whole 18 minutes of sleep under our belts we arrived, badly in need of a bed. The lesser travellers would have settled for the first guest house with an open door but we decided to get our money's worth out of our Tuk-Tuk driver and after visiting a couple of places, settled in at 'Ben Guest House', a family-run affair in the east of the city, close to the river.

After a couple of hours of badly needed sleep we made our way out on foot to explore Chiang Mai and get our bearings. With a population of 1.6 million, we were worried that we'd run into the same hustle and bustle we experienced in Bangkok, thankfully however the two cities are very different. Chiang Mai is busy, but it's not 'in-your-face' and there's a huge variety in everything from restaurants, bars and shops to the people and sights that populate the city, which has grown in recent times and expanded outwards from the walls of the old town in the centre. There are tastes to suit everyone and a much more relaxed feel, we both liked the place from day 1. After wandering around for a couple of hours and taking in the sights and smells (there are always smells in Thailand) we took refuge from the daily downpour in a Thai coffee house overlooking the old city walls.

That evening we made for the famous Chiang Mai night bazaar, a huge outdoor and indoor market that takes over one of the main roads in the city centre. Unlike other markets we'd experienced so far, this one is full of goods of genuine quality (fake Rolexes aside of course). The outdoor markets are a maze of clothing stalls and wooden crafts and the indoor markets offer a huge variety including an entire floor dedicated to artists who sit all night in front of their canvases drawing incredible images of almost photorealistic quality and offering portraits to tourists.

After making our way around the markets we grabbed a bite to eat in the food court, an odd voucher-based system of Thai, Indian and Western food stalls, and then headed into the old city to a bar called 'The Wall', a traveller friendly place where you can buy a litre bottle of Sang Som rum to share at a table for about 7 quid. Needless to say we took full advantage, drinking into the wee hours with our traveller buddies and the other clientele of Americans, South Africans and Thai's, oblivious to the fact that Janine and Angie were the only girls in the place and that there was a lot of love for the Lady Gaga videos that were playing on repeat no the tv's. A truly awesome night, and one that we paid for the next day (I almost vomited in an internet cafe!)

DAY 11 - 25 SEPT 2010 - HUUUUUNGOVER

Didn't do much this day, everything was all loud and bright and irritating for some reason. We finalised our plans for the next few days and wandered the streets, hoping that the fact that we were sweating rum didnt attract any of the stray dogs that seem to roam Thailand like little canine street gangs. Whilst on the subject of things we have noticed in Thailand, here are a couple more: If you order a glass-bottled drink from a street vendor, don't expect the bottle to be part of the deal. Once you hand over the cash, the contents of your Fanta bottle will be emptied with some ice into a little plastic bag and handed to you with a straw! As with many places, expect to barter for EVERYTHING and never take the first price. It becomes a game after a while and you realise that you're arguing over 5p just to win it, seriously I think you can even haggle with the cash machines. There are weird pictures of the Royal couple everywhere, they appear on huge posters outside many of the public buildings and stare down at you as you eat your Pad Thai in a restaurant, when the King and Queen change it's going to cost them a fortune to change them all!

DAY 12 - 26 SEPTEMBER 2010 - ELEPHANTS, TREKKING AND TRIBES

Ok…now to write this for the second time after Sean turned the computer off with his foot the other day!

We booked a 2-day, 1-night trek through Ben Guesthouse who quite simply couldn't have done anything more for us had we asked. Any question we asked them about Chiang Mai, ranging from bus times to excursions, to laundry, they went out of their way to help us.They even went to the bus station and bought our tickets for us whilst we were on this trek. It was like we were part of their family and they were offended if we didn't let them do something for us.

So, we got picked up for the trek around 9am and crammed onto the back of the converted truck with a bunch of travellers from Belgian. We set off for a local market, picking up some more Brits and some Germans enroute. This was probably the least impressive market we had seen to date but the reason for stopping was so that our guide could get supplies for our lunch and dinner. After a brief stop we continued until we reached the elephant park. Sean was pretty excited about this, as was I, although once I saw the size of the animals compared to their tiny masters I felt a little apprehensive. We bought some bananas to keep the elephants happy and jumped on top of one of them. Ours was pretty small in comparison to some others, but still giant compared to me! At least ours wasn't one of the elephants that had a bladder problem. We set off on the animal trek, firstly down hill which made it interesting when I was sliding out of the seat. We went along the river and back inland enjoying the views of Northern Thailand. After the downhill part I enjoyed it too, but wasn't impressed with the way some of the masters treated the elephants. Ours was never allowed to stop and eat, whilst others were pulling down trees, and ours was even bleeding at one point. But as long as us tourists continue to ride them, they will continue being treated that way.

We got back to camp and Sean was on a high so fed the elephants a little more before it was time for lunch. Thankfully elephant was not on the menu! Once we had some energy inside us we set off on our trek. We were told it would be at least 3 hours today. About an hour into the trek the heavens opened in true monsoon style and within seconds not only were we soaked, but our bags were soaked through too! No dry clothes for us for two days then! Oh well, it was all part of the fun. After seeking shelter for a few mins and having no idea when the rain would stop we continued up into the mountains. Apart from being slippery from the rain, it was slightly easier as the rain meant that the temperature was much cooler. Having said that, there were parts that were pretty tough, climbing rocks that were half of my height, trying to find the best route up when there's no grip and a big drop to your right! Every now and then you had to stop, not just to catch your breathe, but to look back and see the amazing views of the jungle. The worst parts were still to come, we crossed a couple of rivers and were told they were the last, only to come across another and told to hurryup as the water is getting higher and faster! Not being able to see the depth and where the rocks were, made me a little scared. Especially at one point when I stepped and the water came up to my waist and the current almost pushed me over! Thankfully someone on the other bank pulled me up!

In the end the climb, partly due to the weather took around 3.5/4 hours. Although parts were tough, it was amazing to think we had made it to the top. The views were amazing, the pictures will not do it justice!

We arrived at the Lahu Tribal Village and were greeted by local men and woman and prompted to take our wet shoes and clothes off and put them round the fire. The place looked like a local launderette! We sat around getting to know our fellow trekkers and getting advice on places we are visiting. The local women then offered massages to everyone; Sean and I didn't take them up on this offer as we found it a bit strange! Dinner was then served, red curry, rice, noodles all pretty tasty. The night continued with the local women retreating to bed, and more men appearing with a guitar. Of course, on the top of the mountain, there was a large cooler filled with beer! What more could you ask for, a great day, good food, good beer and singing around the campfire with a guitar, no complaints here. The local alcoholic was also around, shouting random words in Thai and giggling every few minutes. He amused us, and that was all that mattered. Our guide then appeared with a plate of interesting looking bugs. They were called bamboo worms and in all honesty they were quite tasty. I couldn't bring myself to eat the head, but they just tasted roasted and had no insides. I had a couple; Sean had a couple of handfuls. After a few more beers it was time for bed. 13 of us were sleeping in one room, mats on the floor and mossie nets. For some reason as had chosen the bed in the far corner which almost resulted in Sean being decapitated as the mossie nets were all connected in the middle of the room by string.

A decent night's sleep wasn't really an option in the Lahu Village, some crazy cockerel which I think must have been blind was cock-a-doodle-doing from 3am, and some dogs were fighting about 5am. Oh and a German was throwing up from too much beer! And there was me thinking they could handle their drink. It was all part of the experience though and I wouldn't change it at all.

DAY 13 - 27 SEPTEMBER 2010 - WHITE WATER RAFTING AND THAI BOXING

The morning began with a downhill trek from the tribal village to the river at the bottom of the valley via a waterfall. Once we reached the river we were given a quick safety talk by our Thai guide, who had the worst accent ever (yeah yeah, his English was still better than my Thai, but only just, and I know like 4 words in Thai, and two of them are Chang Beer!) we set off down the river towards the rapids.

The first set were a challenge, one I'd like to say we rode through with the grace of a ballet dancer, taming the wild waters and generally being all extreme and Bear Grylls. What we actually did was tip the raft on a particularly big wave and end up in the drink, in rapids, trying to avoid the boulders sticking out of the water and clamber back on to the raft before the next set. This is easier said than done when I'm 6ft 2 and the guide who's trying to haul me back in makes Janine look like Andre the Giant. Me, Janine and a German guy who also came for a dip eventually found our way back aboard and sat catching our breath before tackling the next set of rapids.

The rest of the ride down was good fun as our new found experience of what it's like to tip the boat gave us a no-fear attitude and we rode over the white water like pro's, I think I heard the guide say he'd never seen such athletisism before or something but it was difficult to pick out the English.

After the shorter than advertised white-water rafting, we swapped to bamboo rafts for the last gentle float down the river. I must have impressed the guide because he gave me the massive honour of steering, which basically involved holding a big stick and occasionally pushing it into the water when he told me, which definitely now makes me a qualified bamboo raft 'skipper'.

Monday night is Thai Boxing night and we made our way to the stadium (a grand name for what is basically a bigger version of the garage out of Eastenders, with a woman who actually resembled Minty on the door). We got lucky and got upgraded to ringside seats for the 8 fights. the fights increase in weight division as the night goes on, so the first was a feisty little encounter between two lads who must have had a combined age of about 25. As the fights went on, they got more and more brutal, with fighters contributing to the blood-stained canvas.

Each fight has 5 rounds and each round is accompanied by live Thai music, before the main fights of the night (a Swede vs a Thai and a German vs a Thai) came the 'Special Event', something of a highlight. It basically involved four fighters who were blindfolded and set on each other in a Battle Royale, hilarity ensued as fighters swang wild windmills, happy to hit anything that moved. The referee took more hits than any of them I think, retaliating a couple of times and using his advantage of sight to connect nicely!

A great night and a bargain at 8 quid a ticket!

DAY 13 - 28TH SEPTEMBER 2010 - MOVING ON

It was an early start on Tuesday, not what we needed after a couple of tiring days.
All I wanted to do was sleep and go for a massage as my legs were in agony!
Ben and his wife took us to the bus station at 8am, free of charge (this is how nice they were) and pointed us in the right direction where we waited for our first class bus to Chiang Khong on the border. The bus left 15 mins late, and although it wasn't UK 1st class standards we weren't complaining as it was much nicer than some of the other transport we had experienced. Plus we got free water and snacks (prawn flavoured peas)! We were told it would be a 6 hour journey to the border, but in true Thai style it would of course turn out to be about 7.

I was still shattered from the trek and managed to sleep for at least half of it, regularly being woken as the bus flew round the corner and threw me side to side. The last hour was pretty hellish as the road gave way to a dirt track, but I think that this was just to prepare us for what was to come in Laos!

After 7 hours we arrived at the border, cleared Thai immigration and took the boat over the Mekong to Huay Xai in Laos. Whilst clearing immigration we were being hassled to book the night bus to Luang Prabang but all we wanted to do was find a room and sleep. We headed up to the main street - not a whole lot in this
town as we were about to find out and picked the first guest house that we came across. 200B a night.

It was pretty minging, but I didn't care at this stage. Plus it had a TV with HBO and Sport so Sean was happy. Walking down the road later, we realised that our guest house was probably the worst in the street! Nevermind...it was also the cheapest!

That evening, we headed out for a Lao dinner and sampled to local Malacca wine. I could drink a few of them quite easily. An early night was definitely called for so we headed back and watched some film on HBO before falling asleep.