One of our favourite places in Thailand is Chiang Mai!

We arrived by overnight train fairly tired, and at the station were some representatives from a hotel called 'Thaphae Gardens'. The hotel looked great and it had a swimming pool (indoor, mind) which was brilliant as it was so hot! The room price was very reasonable, and they offered to take us to have a look for free... it would be rude not to. When we turned up, the room was perfect! Great size, nicely decorated, clean... so we checked in and jumped straight in the pool! We have to say, it was THE coldest pool we'd ever been in, but very refreshing for us that day. The first day, we didn't do much... we went out to the Night Bazaar in the evening, and headed to Walking Street where we knew there were lots of bars with free pool etc. We also remembered a bar just off of Walking Street called Paradise Bar that we liked last time, so we went there for a few drinks. One of the girls behind the bar recognised us from a few months ago which was surprising! The owner, Lek, also recognised us (so he said) and spent a lot of the evening with us.

The next day, we decided to visit Tiger Kingdom again but this time we would see the smallest tigers. We caught a Tuk Tuk (very cheap) and spent a little while in with the tigers, taking pictures as you can see from our album. I wish I could take them home with me, but they grow very quickly! The ones we were in with were between 3 and 6 months old, and already much bigger than your typical pet cat at home!

The following day, we decided to look on the internet about places to go which aren't through organised tours, and found that Chiang Mai had a zoo about 15 minutes drive away - we had NEVER seen it advertised before. It cost 100 baht (about £2) to get in, and about 40p for a shuttle bus to take us round (the zoo is very big and very steep as it's on a mountain!). They had so many different animals from birds to lions, and elephants to penguins! It was sooo worth the money, especially the shuttle bus because it was a very, very hot day. This took up a lot of our afternoon and we saved a lot of money from not doing an organised event! That evening was very fun! We went to Walking Street and Paradise Bar as standard. We then went with some of the girls & a guy from the bar to a local Karaoke bar. I was right at home, although their selection of English songs was... I Will Survive, or Zombie by the Cranberries (both of which I sang!). The locals LOVE karaoke, so I felt like I was famous on the stage! The girls were a really good laugh, and we ended up leaving around 4am (with the karaoke carrying on until the later early hours!)

The next day, we had arranged with Lek from the Paradise Bar to take us in his car to some natural hot water springs. We paid him for a full tank of petrol, and it was worth every penny. The hot water springs were 105 degrees, so no way could we touch it! They give you a basket of eggs to boil in the water which was different! Unfortunately, a Thai lady took our eggs by mistake so our 'hard boiled' eggs were only just part boiled! We swam in a warm mineral water pool for a while, and also had a 45 minute Thai foot, leg, neck and head massage which was great, and cost about £3.50! Again it was a hot day and quite a long drive, so we were really tired come nightfall.

We had found some excellent places to eat near our hotel; one place was an Italian/Mexican restaurant and their mexican chicken pitta's were absolutely incredible! So much so, I ONLY had that when we went in there! Another place James discovered was a little Thai & Western restaurant, which was recommended by the Lonely Planet. We could see why - it was so cheap and had some of the best Thai food we have had!

All in all, it was a lovely stay in Chiang Mai. The weather was perfect (besides the night time when it always seems to be torrential rain) and the hotel was spot on. I'll miss this place!