We arrived mid afternoon in Chiang Mai, ready to find this recommended guest house from the book which we later found out I had marked down wrong on the map (only by a block) but meant we were walking round this city for a good few hours in the sweltering heat with the backpacks on .. I wasn’t in the good books with Jason!
Next day we walked around the city looking at all the historical Wats that the books recommended... there are over 300 in Chiang Mai and we only managed to look at 5 but I can tell you, we were totally Watted out by this stage so went back to the hotel to arranged a tour for the next day to go bamboo rafting, elephant riding, trekking and see a local village which turned out to be a great trip. The bamboo rafters actually made Jason stand up and paddle (mans work) whilst I just sat there getting soaked by the man steering who thought it was funny to splash me with the dirty water - it got old very quick! Next we did an hour trek to a waterfall which was lovely and then via a local tribal village which was pleasant until they kept telling you the price of all their goods rather than acting “tribey”. They dressed the part in the main huts giving you the impression of authenticity but then when you looked a bit further you saw the kids running around in knock off Chelsea and Arsenal shirts.... I got rather bored of this so was more interested in the chickens and pigs that were around and went nuts with the camera... one pig nearly ate my shoe which just cracked me up J We then headed to the elephant camp and of course we managed to get the only elephant with chains around its neck, I didn’t like that and plus the guide was a nutter and kept giving the bananas I bought to the elephant... I swear Jason was going to punch him out if he did it again. The ride itself was ok although we did see this one crazy thai driving up and down this metre deep river on his motorbike, we were just waiting for him to flood the thing. When we got back to the elephant camp there was this one family of elephants that freestyle walked with us as they had this 3 month old baby with them, and when we got back to the camp we were allowed to play with it and it was so amazing. The baby kept wrestling and wanting to play... again I went a little overboard with the photos!
Next day we hired another proper motorbike, and saved $$ on not doing a tour, and went to Doi Inthanon National park to see the highest peak in Thailand. Took us a couple of hours to get there but the drive was great especially going up through the mountains. At the top, unfortunately the view was very hazy (as the farmers are currently doing a lot of back burning in the area) so wasn’t as spectacular as we originally thought and again went to see a few Wats on the top of the mountains... again there for a grand total of 5 mins each! We then headed to Doi Suthep which was on the way back to Chiang Mai which was supposed to be a “institution at sunset” which we had missed so this was perfect having our own transport... well that was until we again got lost and well after 5 hours on a bike, my ass hurt like hell! We managed to find the place and it was worth the trip but again the views were hazy although we managed to get a good view of the city. Riding around made the day though being Songkram (New Year water festival) there were kids standing on the side of the road everywhere pelting water at you as you drove past, people loaded up in the backs of utes with barrels of water throwing at each other as they pass... we got absolutely soaked throughout the day and we eventually learned that speeding up whilst they are throwing water at you isn’t a good idea!
Although Chiang Mai is the epicentre of Songkram, we had our flight to Laos booked for the 16th so we knew if we wanted to see the Golden Triangle we would had to leave Chiang Mai for a few days. So we headed up to Chiang Rai which was the gateway for the Golden triangle, the long neck hill tribes and the White Temple so we booked a driver for the day ensuring we would see what we wanted to. All I can say is lucky we had a sedan and not a ute as the amount of water being thrown around, would have made the farmers back home weep. First we went to the white Temple which was magical and looked like something out of a Disney movie, truly lovely. Then went to see the Akha and Karen (long neck) tribe which again were interesting although it was all a show for the tourists with one of the grannies wearing a Coke T Shirt under her authentic tribal outfit... In saying that the long neck tribe was fascinating so can’t complain too much. Then off to the Golden triangle which is where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos meet over the Mekong river. We then stopped at the Opium Hall which was a museum outlining the opium trade in the area which was very interesting and the most technologically advanced thing we have seen in Thailand since we have been here. It was staged just like something out of London or the US and was really interesting... say no to drugs! On the way home we quickly stopped by a local hot spring and the “black temple” which was an architect’s dream filled with random furniture and even had a toilet with Penis handles to flush water down. A great day all in all and don’t think I have seen Jason laugh so much at people getting soaked...
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