Same Same but Different

Arriving in Chiang Mai we were greeted at the station by our guide for the trek and then had the day to explore, it was pretty hot so we opted for the option of a museum and tried to discover a little about the area we were visiting.  We also had to suss out where Lizzi was going to learn her massage and find somewhere nicer to stay.  We chatted to some people already at the school and found a good very local guesthouse around the corner, popular with those on massage courses!  After an evening at the night market, which was very touristy we got an early night in preparation for our trek....

The first day we went elephant riding, Lizzi had already told the guide that she wanted to 'do it properly' so whilst everyone else had seats there wasn't enough for everyone and she sat on the elephants neck.  A little scary the first time you do it as it looks like a long way down and the elephants were fond of deviating to eat from the sparse bushes.  At the end we bought them some bananas which they took eagerly.  We have since discovered that the elephants are generally badly treated in Thailand, we saw the mahouts regularly using hooks and squirting water in the eyes, traditionally elephants may have been used for logging, now this 'logging' is done in elephant shows and the elephants are used for tourists to ride.  The only place we know of around Chiang Mai where the elephants are well treated and cared for is the 'elephant nature park' about an hour north of Chiang Mai.  This place initially received a lot of difficulty from the Thai government but is now receiving more international coverage for its good work.  We met a man who worked here and he told us that even the elephants in the elephant sanctuary near Lampang were not particularly well treated.  For this reason we wouldn't do this riding again and if you get the chance to please don't, instead visit the elephant nature park, unfortunately we didn't get a chance to visit this place ourselves so we can't tell you too much about it, but it does allow short term volunteers to work there.

After the elephant riding we hiked to our village where we'd stay for the night, think of Forest Gump in Vietnam and you'll get an idea of what we looked like as we tramped, and slipped in a thunderstorm.  We thought it was great fun, but you could tell that others didn't as we balanced over the terraces of the sodden rice paddy fields, jumped over streams, and passed the old opium fields now sites for growing flowers for the cut flower market.  We stayed at a Karen village, however there was very little interaction with the tribe except for them coming to our hut to try and sell us their handicrafts.  The children would literally descend on you picking out a lone person (at first that was Lizzi being the only one stood outside of the hut) looking very cute and shoving their handmade necklaces in your face.  We were disappointed not to actually learn anything about the tribe or their way of life.  The evening turned funny as the men in the group got progressively drunker from 'moonshine' whisky and sake, and we were treated to some fabulous displays of drunken dancing and our guide's bug eating habits!

Unfortunately we weren't too happy the next morning when we discovered that all the cash we had bought had been stolen, and as we had to buy all our own water on the trip, we had to rely on the generosity of a Canadian couple to actually drink and not get dehydrated.  The group split the second day to those who would be going back to Chiang Mai and the hardcore 4 of us who had signed up for a 3 day trek.  The second day was just spent trekking and we finished early at a spot by the river with some mild rapids for attempting to swim in.  Again we were a little disappointed as we were led to believe that we would be staying with a tribe on the second night also, but in fact it was just us in a hut by the river.  We taught each other card games and spent most of the evening playing 'Don't be shy' a Thai game taught to us by our guide who got really animated when he was excited, it was quite funny!  The last day we trekked again and had a good view over the largest mountain in Thailand and swam in an area when you could slide off the rocks into the rapids like a natural water chute, which was cool!  The trip ended with bamboo rafting, good fun, we sat back and got soaked!

After we were back in Chiang Mai and installed in our new guesthouse, we thought we'd try and visit the famous Doi Suthep outside of the city.  This was easier said than done, due to a combination of being the quiet season in terms of tourists and the rain which descended upon us.  We asked a tuktuk to take us to the bus station, instead he dropped us off by his friend's taxi who wanted to charge us the fare for 8 people for taking just the 2 of us in the pouring rain.  We hid in a restaurant until the rain stopped and tried again to visit the temple, by walking to the bus station, where we found a similar story.  The 'bus station' was in fact a stand for songkiews (local red taxis with 2 bench seats, that looks a bit like a truck), finding one who would take us for the correct price he said we'd have to wait 10 minutes to see if anyone else turned up as each songkiew had an allocated timespot at which to leave.  As the time came and went we asked him what was happening at which point he proceeded to try to charge us more, pretty fed up by this point of being mucked about by so many people we protested, then he got in his vehicle and drove off, and we gave up on the temple.  Instead we visited Chiang Mai zoo, but if you're thinking of going then don't.  It was overpriced and of a poor standard, their main attraction were some pandas which you then had to pay the admission price again if you wanted to see.  Lizzi nearly cried when she saw the poor orang utan's face coz he looked so unhappy and Thai people were laughing and throwing food at him.  Many of the enclosures were empty and the animals generally didn't look content.  We did discover the Sunday market however which was very good, we were to visit every Sunday and incidentally it rained everytime we went when we wanted to eat.

As Monday came it was time for Lizzi to start her massage course at ITM whilst Nick sorted himself out with English teaching and researching one of his many entrepraneurial ideas.  As part of the course a free herbal steam at the attached spa was recommended and we both benefited from massages from the teachers which were very good.  The northern or Chiang Mai style of massage is different from the southern or Bangkok style as it involves much more stretching (think legs over the head) as opposed to the pressure points used in southern style.  Our day began with reciting the mantra 'Om Namo' and an hour of yoga, or twice a week it was Qigong and yoga.  Lizzi did levels 1and 2 which taught all the main postions of the massage and then went onto level 3 advanced which allows practice of 1 & 2 and the addition of variations and new moves to carry out massage following 'sen lines', she also did a course in basic  Thai foot reflexology using the Thai method of a stick, the Chinese just use the thumbs.

Once Nick was settled into his teaching this was what we did for 3 weeks. When not teaching or massaging, we found a local aerobics class which Lizzi tried a few times, it was quite funny and not quite as good as aerobics back at home, and we discovered a hotel that would let us use its swimming pool, great for hot afternoons especcially as it was generally pretty quiet.  We went to a Thai cooking class that was so good Nick went back a second time so expect Thai next time we invite you round for dinner!  We went on a handicraft tour which involved being driven to various places where they rushed through the explanation of the craft in order to get you into the shop, then they followed very close behind trying to get you to buy something.  We also went on a tour to the Golden triangle which unforunately meant far too much time sitting on a minibus only to stop at various markets and find out that we'd have to double the amount we had already spent on the trip to do the only activities worth doing.  We were taken to some hot springs which they cooked eggs in, we didn't actually visit Chiang Rai but an old stupa in the old town, then up to the golden triangle itself.  This consisted of a boat ride on the Mekong river from the Thai side up to view the Burma side from the boat and then stopping on the Laos side where guess what there was a handy market selling handicrafts, and the possibility of sending a postcard from Laos.  Next stop was the border bridge with Burma and the possibility to extend your visa and more shops, before a trip to see 3 hilltribe villages all in one spot, the highlight being the long-necked Karen tribe, famous for the rings they wear around their necks and, no surprises for guessing, more handicrafts for sale!

We made friends in Chiang Mai with some lovely Koreans whom Lizzi met through EunJeong on her massage course.  We had good fun for going out with them, they introduced us to Korean food and we would recommend the Bibinbal and rice cakes.  They also came with us to see the famous 'Simon Cabaret show' which was made up of lady boys miming to music from around the world in glittery dresses.  At the end they pose for photos, but if you don't pay up quick enough a gruff voice says 'give us the money'!  Another thing of note in Chiang Mai was the art museum we visited on our last day, there was no art!!!!  All we could find there was a small Israeli exhibition on the holocaust.  We'll miss the Koreans and really enjoyed the many things to do in Chiang Mai but its onward to Laos for us.