Chiang Mai

After traveling overnight from Bangkok, the whole bus was dropped off just outside the city & everyone was picked up by a "free tuk-tuk" which was organized by the owner of a guest house with an onsite tour company. So after free coffee he started running through the Hill Tribe Trek tours he had to offer "best in town - non tourist area" & of course they are more money than other local agencies! To be fair he wasn't pressure selling & the guest house was really nice & cheap but we still wanted to check out other accommodation/treks before we committed to anything. However we did come back but after we'd found a tour 600BHT cheaper so he knocked another 100BHT off of the same tour, 100BHT off of the room & 100BHT off the Muay Thai boxing match that night. You can barter on anything in Asia…Love it!

Had an excellent night at the boxing, the ring was surrounded by bars offering table service & we happened to sit directly outside the Lady Boy Bar. To be honest ther're really friendly & some of them have better figures than most women. The half time Dancing Queen act was hilarious! East was introduced to his first "Bucket" (half bottle whisky, redbull and coke) & after two we were on our way. That may have had something to do with him losing all 4 bets he placed, luckily they were only about £2 each time. The fighting was pretty intense but for me it was more about the atmosphere. An excellent night!

After topping up my tan by the pool in the morning we headed to Tiger Kingdom the following afternoon, to get up close & personal with the big cats. I wasn't sure what to expect as you hear stories of them being drugged or chained up, but they were just really tame and as they are nocturnal hunters during the midday heat they are at their most docile. We paid for pic's with the biggest & the babies… it was a surreal experience to be lying on the back of a tiger three times your size. The first one we had photos with turned its head quickly towards me & I screamed & jumped back suddenly…I'm sure it smelt fear as it got up & walked in my direction… Needless to say we moved on to another. The babies were adorable & really playful, they could smell the tiger balm I had put on my mosquito bites so they started nipping at my legs. We got some once in a lifetime snap's!!