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Well, eventful is not the word!! Deaprting hours later then expected and after the bus journey from hell the bright lights, street markets and cosmopolitan feel of Chiang Mai surrounded us. Suddenly the horrific looking he/she tour guide on the bus, the disgusting beyond belief toilet stops, the bus braking down on several occasions and the worse than school dinner slops lunch we were handed all were forgotten. Armed with the address of SpicyThai we set off in search of a taxi only to be told the hostel was infact miles away. uh oh. Tired and hungry we opted for the next best thing, a hotel recommended by the bus company. It couldnt turn out as disasterous as the bus journey surely!? On first impression thankfully not. Room sorted, bags dumped we head out to the Sunday Market. Chiang Mai has a much more relaxed feel about it than Bangkok. Although the streets are still bustling with both locals and tourists and the markets and street stalls remain, you can't help but feel, well, at home. Fed and watered we head back to the hotel only to be greeted by an infestation of cochroaches. Naturally, I make us move room.
SpicyThai bound once more we find the hostel is actually about 15mins up the road however, they are fully booked!! NO! Disheartened we book the next 3 nights there and pick the nearest place to stay til then. The day is sepnt soaking up the sun in Chiang Mai park which is absolutely beautiful.
At last, SpicyThai. The hostel which has won countless awards and comes highly recommended. It does'nt disappoint. Within an hour were already settled in. Everyone is so friendly with many stories to pass on, it's relaxing and really feels like home. The hostel is a breath of fresh. Anyone going to Chiang Mai STAY HERE : ) That night we visit a local student market where I finally get round to replacing my broken phone charger!! Hmm maybe Thai time is catching!!
Next morning, early start and were off on a 1 day trek. Picked up at SpicyThai we travel for around an hour to an elephant camp. The morning is spent feeding the elephants bananas and an hour long elephant ride. They really are unbelieveably beautiful amimanls (even if I am slighty terrified). We stop for lunch and commence on what I believed to be a gentle walk through the jungle, the sort you'd do maybe walking round the Lakes. Wrong! It soon became apparant that flip flops and white shorts were a big mistake. The trek was like something out of a Bear Grylls documentary, wading through rivers and streams, rock climbing, clambering over and under trees, steep inclines, slippery declines and makeshift bridges. Nightmare. After an hour we arrive at the most beautiful waterfall which did make it worthwhile in the end. The air was somewhat cooler on the trek back to camp and the sky quickly filled with jet black clouds as the heavens opened. Surely white water rafting was going to be cancelled. Nope. I have never ever in my life been as terrified. No sooner had the Thai instructor gave instruction after instruction, none of which sunk in and he may aswell have been speaking gibberish, we were in the raft. The river raging we almost capsized several times and there were more than one or two scary moments but all in all it was by far the best bit of day.
After staying a little longer than planned in Chiang Mai our last day is spent at Tiger Kingdom. We opted to spend our time with the smallest and the biggest tigers. The small ones are sooo cute, full of energy and love attention. The big tigers are well, BIG! Suprisingly I'm terrified and much prefer the small tigers. Our last night is spent at a Thai boxing match held at the giant night bazzar then it's back to the hostel to pack as were headed to Pai, a small hippy village North of Chiang Mai, in the morning. xx
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