After booking the flights up to chang mai we had to catch a bus down to phuket (also known as poo ket) and we spent the day in transit..as usual we were the most ridiculous people on the mini van and soon made some new friends!..given that we got in late and the fact that by all intents and purposes the town is described as a being a bit shitty we decided to stay at the airport..after scoping out the situation we decicded to put a camp together in one of ther terminals and after taking some valium we drifted into what turned out to be a blissfully long sleep!
THe flight up to chang mai was hassle free and only took a couple of hours! It was a relief to be up north and away from the islands and the chaos and we met a nice aussie girl at thte airport who deicided to come and stay with us in our little guest house in the center of town and it turned out she was from the gong and had several mutual friends! small world!
That afternoon we had beers inn the back of a tuk tuk and took a spin around the city..we had dinner at a beautiful little french restauraunt and finished off with beers on the roof top balcony, awaitiong the arrival of emmas friend.
The next 2 days were absolute crackers. We got picked up early and headed into the mountains in the back of a ute..The 3 of us and the 2 aussie girls..it was a beautiful day, a little cooler than down south with clear blue skies..We hiked what the guide claimed to be the highest peak in thailand and it was tough going!. There was no real track and the guide, chai, who was a really cool guy carved a path for us straight up the mountain. We were all battling by the time we reached the peak (which had a small monument on top to bring the good spirits down into the village) but it was a stunning view out over the mountains..Coming down the mountain proved to be even harder and we all fell several times, danny doing an amazing job having worn thongs and lost them in the first 5 mins..
We spent the night in a local village and it was great to be away from all the whities!! We had a small shack as our sleeping quarters and set up mats on the floor...that night we ate pork from the fire and they cooked the 5 of us up a beautiful meal..we sat around the camp fire and had beers and rice wine with the locals and even managed to smoke a little with them (a little irresponsible) but it was increadible and we all had a great chuckle around the camp fire!
That night it was freezing and we all huddled together in the hut, danny doing his best to keep the girls warm!
In the morning we were woken by the incredibly loud grunting of the pig who lived beside us as well as numerous roosters, and as such we set of nice and early..we walked for a couple of hours to a beautiful waterfall and we all went for a swim in one of the natural pools at the top..we then trecked on and went to the guides local village..we met some of the local kids and we went to their school and spent an hour or so messing around with them and drawing pictures of aus and making paper planes..it was an awesome exxperience and the kids were frothing!! we then continued with chais kid (who we nicknamed monkey boy)and had an incerdibe elephant ride through the jungle..we got to sit on the head of the elephant and steer with our heels..quite difficult considering how high up we were! We ended the day with bamboo rafting, which turned out to be quite exciting and at times mildlty dangerous with us all taking some big falls into the shallow rock bottomed water, with me losing my sunies in the process!
We were hoping luke had made it to our hostel and when we arrived back, sure enough he was there..we snuck into his room and gave him a right welcome..we headed straight out for dinner and beers and had a really good night..one of the local pubs were pumping and there were some nice young ladies with whom to converse, incluyding one particulalry cute english girl!
The next day we set off for laos and the beautiful town of luangprobang..the only way to get there from chang mai was by boat and so we set off on a 3 day journey down the beautiful mekong river..the first day was spent mostly on buses and that night we stopped in a small boarder town. Luke and i got an amazzing massage (still no happy ending!)and we played some pool..the town was really quiet so we were pondering going to bed when things turned suddenly..an irish couple on the bus was staying at the same place as us and the barman basically gave us free rein of the bar while he chilled outside with his friends, only coming inside when we wanted beers and whicsky! We played all our own tunes full bore and went a little crazy in the bar but it was a great night with just the 6 of us dancing around until he kicked us out at 3am!
The boarder crossing was smooth and we spent the next two days on a slow boat down the mekong..it was a slow but absolutly beautiful journey and we saw some amazing countryside, untouched by civilisation..mountains, beaches, forest..incredible..The night inbetween was spent at a little village plagued by tourism but we had a nice quiet dinner, a few shots ofg whicsky and had a nice early night!
We arrived in Luangprobang around 6 and the beauty of the town was immediately evident..THe french influence is clear and it is one of the most romatic cities i have seen any where int eh world..that night we had a beautiful dinner at a small restaurant and made some friends as a result of our usual racous (but respectful) behaviour..We spent the night with a couple of nice girls from NZ who live in aus and we ended the night in the ususal fasion! All in all a cracking start to luangprobang!
