With a full moon party looming in Koh Phangan it was a tough decision to head north up to Chiang Mai. But we decided that we'd return to the islands in june to make the full moon on the 23rd. Our coach up to Chiang Mai was great, smooth all the way (unlike India) and we both managed to get some sleep. We stayed at Deejai backpackers which was a great hostel! It was based in the old city and was ideal to meet new people. On our first day we went to Tiger Kingdom located just out of town. Pete wanted to go in the big tiger enclose and I wanted the cubs so we compromised and each done both! It wasn't cheap but it was an amazing experience being up close to such powerful tigers! The cubs were very cute and playful and the big tigers had just as much energy. We were told they become boisterous just before feeding time at 6pm so when I checked my watch to see it was 5.45pm we decided to get out whilst we still had all our limbs attached! The next day we went trekking, this involved some elephant trekking, a zip wire, trekking on foot to a beautiful waterfall and bamboo rafting. All in all a great day out! We had some great nights out in Chiang Mai, mainly by heading up to the square where the main bars were and drinking buckets! On our last night we went to the sunday night market which was a good experience. There was loads of crickets, grasshoppers etc for food but I wasnt tempted this time round!
After 3 nights we took a mini bus 3 hours north to the small town of Pai. It was a tough journey when nursing a hangover! It was literally one road with a million turns and going up and down hills. We stayed at spicypai backpackers and loved the place. The set up was different to any other hostel I've stayed at. There was a large mixed dorm that was kind of a like a big barn with beds at all levels like a big tree house. Pai turned out to be one of our favourite places so far. On our first day we rented some scooters out with a group from our hostel. It was the first time me and pete had even been on a scooter and the rental guy made me demonstrate that I could ride one before he rented it to me! Luckily I managed to stay on! We all set off to discover one of the waterfalls. Little did we know that it involved a 2 and a half hour trek each way! We tried to complete it on the scooter but we had to abandon them as were kept having to drive through the river! But after a couple of hours trekking we arrived at Mae Yen waterfalls. It was a tough trek but thoroughly rewarding when we arrived and had the place to ourselves. On the way back we came across a green snake in a tree then further along was a HUUUGE spider sitting on it's web. IT WAS THE SIZE OF MY HAND! After cooling off we headed back to town then found another snake over one metre long just making it's way along the main road! We spent a couple of days chilling at a quality swimming pool called Fluid. It was only a couple of minutes from where we stayed and was a great place to nurse a hangover. We also visited the Mo Paeng waterfalls 12 km out of town. The return journey on the scooter was brilliant. We had the roads to ourselves and amazing green scenery surrounding us the whole way! Again, like in Chiang Mai, we enjoyed some great nights out and met some great people. But 3 days soon passed and it was time to take the two day slow boat along the Mekong river to Laos!
