The train to Chang Mai was the most interesting I have been on. There were no sleeping compartments and all the beds are along the sides of the compartments so in fact you are sharing a compartment with everyone. You have your own curtain to close once you are ready for bed.
I met a german and slovakian on the train who were also travelling on their own. It turned out to be a fun night. The train conductor was very funny and enticed us to buy beers for ourselves and for him. We did so but only on the proviso that he came back to drink it with us. 15 minutes later, he arrived with 5 very large bottles of beer and so began a fun night. We were the last people to go too bed and possibly the most unpopular people as we made so much noise.
The express train wasn't quite an express train and we stopped at many stations along the way, arriving at Chang Mai at about 1pm in the afternoon. After a quick shower at the hostel, I headed back into the city centre to meed my new friends for lunch and a wander around Wat Phra Singh, picking up another lone german traveller along the way. I must admit that I am feeling watted out so my enthusiasm is a little low, but we did find a really pretty wat on the walk towards the river. It was a very old wat and at one time had many elephant heads around the outside of the building. We also had the chance to chat to monks and ask them about their daily lives. We were a little unlucky though as our monk was writing an exam the next day and was more interested in his english book than us. To be fair, he probably gets so sick and tired of the same questions.
Both Franke (german) and Roman (slovakian) were going on a jungle trek for two days so I decided that it sounded like a good idea and signed up for a trek at the hostel. The trek was for two days, one night in the jungle and included an elephant ride, a swim at a waterfall, white river rafting and bamboo rafting.
No tour is complete without a stop along the way at the market.... where I bought a very colourful and pretty hat. Our next stop was the elephant ride. I had been quite excited about it but Iost my enthusiasm when I saw how the elephants were pulled along by chains and managed with a hammer and a long nail. I tried it, it wasn't comfortable and I was pleased to get off after and hour. I much prefer to see elephant in the wild, free to roam as they please. I did feed my elephant some banana's to say thank you.
We then headed to the start of our jungle trek at about 2:30pm. It was hot and it was a very hard walk. We didn't have enough water and my pack was far too heavy. We walked for about four hours and it was very hard going. We all took strain on the walk and our guides kept making us walk faster so that we weren't going to walk in the dark. The sunset at the top of the mountain was worth it though.
We all slept in one large bamboo dormitory with mats on the floor and mosquito nets. Each time one of us moved or rolled over, it created a ripple effect on the bamboo and we all felt it. Once again, I was very grateful for my ear plugs.
Next morning, we headed off at about 10am, again it was hot but the walking was a lot easier and mostly down hill. We stopped at the waterfall where we all jumped in to cool off. After another hour walk we were in a village for lunch and gratefully, a minibus took us to the white river rafting.
White river rafting was fun. The group was split into two, which I called team Britian and team international. I will proudly say that team international were far better than team Britian both at the rafting and the water fights. I was surprised by the rapids, I didn't think that there would be that many and really enjoyed my hour. We got stuck many times and there was one moment where the driver yanked me back into the boat when we hit a particularly large rapid. The moment was captured on camera.... you can't actually see me in the photo for the wall of water covering me.
After white river rafting, we jumped onto bamboo rafts. Not quite the same experience as Guilin. We were pretty much sitting in the water most of the time but it was very peaceful floating down the river.
That ended the two day trek and I was happy to get back to the hostel to have a warm shower. I tried to go shopping in the evening at the Night Bazaar, but gave in to tiredness.
I tried again this morning but I think I am too early for all the stalls at the markets. Not sure when I am going to get any shopping done.
Anwyay, off to meet my slovakian friend for lunch. I head back to Bangkok later this afternoon.
