Chiang Mai

Thursday 3rd


Before we left Chiang Rai we wanted to go to this Chinese-Thai place for cheap dumplings but as it was Chinese New Year they were closed. We settled for this other place near our hotel where i had lots of Chinese bread and a noodle dish which was alright but not what i wanted.

We then went to the bus station on foot only to find out that Chiang Mai buses leave from a different station. Luckily there was a shared tuk tuk for 10B each that we just filled up. We had to wait 30mins before we could leave but that was alright.

On the bus they played an Australian movie we had never heard of but it was dubbed in Thai so it was no good to us. After that they played Thai comedy, similar to the Cambodian style. The bus ride took four hours and was pretty smooth.

We had tried to book places but they were all full so we had to tuk tuk driver in Chiang Mai take us to places he knew, it was about four places before we found one which wasn't full and didn't involve me lugging our bags up four flights of stairs.


Friday 4th


We got up late and went out to eat. Today was all about booking a trek and going to the night bazaar. After eating it was way too hot to be out and about when we could do it later so we went back to our room and watched tv. Most places were offering the same two day one night trek for the same price (1200B), but we found one for 1000B, the travel agent asked us to tell the other trekkers that we paid 1300B as they were not the company running the trek and it could cause issues blah blah blah. Fine by us.

As it was the time of the 'flower festival' in Chiang Mai we got to see some floats and listen to some Thai singing. This part was outside the old main gate to the old city. We didn't have time to walk in the opposite direction from the night bazaar to see the actual parade.

The night bazaar was outside the old city and about 30mins walk for us. It was a whole lot of street stalls and a bunch of food inside a building. I got myself a wallet along the way. There were alot of things to see and buy but it was hard because it was on the footpath and there were people everywhere.


Saturday 5th

We were picked up at 9:30am and got all the others (10 others) along the way. On the way to the elephant camp to ride an elephant, we went to a butterfly and orchid farm which was really nice. We also stopped off at a market so our guide could buy food for our dinner. It was midday by the time we actually got to the elephant camp, we had a crappy tofu and fried rice lunch when we got there. After we ate we went down to see two elephants, one was in labour (elephant labour lasts 5 days) and the other had a two day old calf. It was so nice to see a baby elephant so young and up close, although not too close. The mahout (trainer/carer) was from Burma, although not Burmese (Kachin ethnic group) and was able to speak to Kay though.

We bought some sugarcane for our elephant who was ever so glad to have it, even when it was gone it would put it's trunk back for more. Our mahout was another Burmese ethinic group - Kayah or Red Karen. We basically just did a circle round the camp on the elephant but it was alright because riding an elephant isn't the most comfortable thing to do.

From the camp we started our 3 hour, 7km trek to the Lahu village we would be spending the night at. Unfortunately we didn't have a big enough backpack so we had to use Kay's sports bag, which you can only really have slung over one shoulder and is not the most comfortable bag to carry. The trek was easier than Sapa but as the route wasn't as difficult it was at a very fast pace with minimal breaks. I had fried rice for breakfast and only ate one small plate of it for lunch as i didn't really want it. As such by the 2 hour mark and most difficult part i was exhausted. I felt like throwing up, i felt faint and was trailing the group.

It was one of the worst feelings in the world, compounded more so by the fact you know there is no other option but to soldier on. It wasn't as though i was sore, i felt completely drained and it was like my legs weighed a tonne each. I reached the village without anything going wrong thankfully.

Our village had electricity but not in our house. We were all dying for a shower, no hot water. So everyone had to have a cold shower at sunset. Once the sun was down we had only candles and a large fire as light. The bedroom was for everyone, no privacy, eight double beds, rather thin mattresses on the floor with mossie nets next to each other.

We had yellow curry and a chicken stir fry for dinner, i made sure i ate properly so there would be no repeat tomorrow. At dinner time we got to know our fellow trekkers better.


Sunday 6th

We officially woke up at 8am but the roosters made sure we were awake much earlier. Breakfast consisted of toast with butter (the butter is terrible), scrambled eggs (i don't eat) and fruit. So i had dry toast and fruit for breakfast. Today was all downhill and about two hours of trekking before white water rafting and bamboo rafting. I felt much better and the walk was absolutely fine, hard but fine. The first hour downhill to a waterfall was quite hard. We were able to swim at the waterfall but the water was freezing cold eventhough it was a hot day.

We continued walking, went past some villages, stopped at one and fired some slingshots. Our guide was very good at it. We got to our base for white water rafting, i actually thought it would be quite gentle. Well i suppose it was but it wasn't at the same time. It was such a good experience, i can't wait to do it again. Straight after we got onto some bamboo rafts, the raft was just afloat with Kay and two other girls on it, once i got on it went under the water so we were slightly submerged.

After the bamboo rafting we had lunch, a noodle dish with bloody tofu. Straight after we got in our big tuk tuk, which barely got all 12 of us inside it. As it was the weekend in Chiang Mai there are a number of streets blocked off for what is called the 'walking market', this made it hard for some people to be dropped off and for us to pick up our bags from the travel agent.

We decided to have McDonalds for dinner. Surprising the servings were bigger than in Australia and of course cheaper. It was pretty much exactly the same as home. On the way back we went through the walking market which was absolutely packed. It was like every tourist in town and half of the locals were on these streets.



I would've liked to spent one more day in Chiang Mai eventhough we had done most things but we didn't have the time. We definitely come back though. Unfortunately Northern Thai food was very hard to find so we didn't get to try any here or in Chiang Rai.