Up north

Monday 18 October 2010: Travel to Chiang Mai

We really wanted to take the train up north, but weren’t disappointed by the bus trip. It was surprisingly comfortable, and we still managed to see quite a lot of the scenery. Obviously, the travel companions we met on the way made the trip all the more enjoyable. Lars and Nicole from Germany were to become our Chiang Mai buddies, and we celebrated our chance meeting with some decent sized bottles of Chang on arrival.

The four days we spent there were action packed. There is just so much to see and do in the area! We took a day to orientate ourselves and look around the city, and I’m glad we did because the next couple of days just flew by in activities and entertainment. The city itself is really attractive, and there are some really gorgeous temples too. I think out of all the places we’d been at that point (which is of course just a fraction of the great country that is Thailand), this was the place we’d enjoyed the most. It’s just so hard to see that this is the second largest city in Thailand – walking around it you feel like it’s a small town. It might have something to do with our hostel being in the Old Town, the perfect location to explore.

In the evening we went to the Night Bazaar – wow what a place! The madness! It was fun though. Our first day in Chiang Mai was packed to the brim with exciting-ness.

Wednesday was spent at The Thai Cookery School, learning to cook Thai food. It was such a treat, something we’d been looking forward to since we started planning our trip. The school we chose didn’t disappoint, and we were taken through everything from sticky rice and mango, to curry paste and stir fried chicken with basil. And lots more! It was such a good day, spent with a nice group of people in nice surroundings. And did I mention the delicious food?

Thursday we left the city altogether and headed to the great outdoors. The tour was amazing and included such varied activities as elephant riding, hiking to a waterfall in the forest, visits to Karen and Akha villages, orchid and butterfly farms as well as white water rafting. It was a really busy day, so I’ll just let the photos do the talking. We’ll upload some more photos in the gallery next time we have a longer stay somewhere with stable internet.

Obviously we were knackered at the end of the day, and could only just muster up the energy to head to the market for some curry, banana pancakes and Chang beer. It was sad to say goodbye to Lars and Nicole, but we had to separate as the pair were just travelling in Thailand and only had about five weeks.

Our final morning before heading towards Laos was spent running some errands (sending parcels home amongst other things!), and then we went to meet up with the Stray crew. Bring on the orange bus! We got ready to leave all the important decisions (where to go and how? where to sleep?) to others and sit back and relax for a week.

The accommodation we had were really nice, and a bargain – or so we thought… “four star luxury at two star prices”, as they advertise. The room was massive, and we even had a fridge! No more lukewarm water at night! The English speaking TV channels were a bit of a treat too. But we discovered much later that money (which was hidden away – our emergency USD) had disappeared from our room while we were staying there. So disappointing, and it put a real dent in our finances, not to mention our confidence in Thai hotel workers. I know that we are so much better off than them and understand that our comparative wealth can be tempting for them, but it still doesn’t mean that I’m comfortable with someone going through my stuff and picking what they deem they need more than me. I want to decide when and where to make my donations, thank you very much!