Chiang Mai

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Day 23-31 Chiang Mai.

We had to head back to Bangkok to head to Chiang Mai. This was one of the two really bad bus journeys we've had to date. Again, I'll explain when we get back – but lets just say we were all conned and nearly had an accident. The days we spent in Chiang Mai were active and cultural as well as one day of complete relaxation. Jag's has always wanted to do rock climbing so we spent one day hanging of the limestone mountains of Sankampang. Jag's was a natural and I think he'll take up rock climbing when he gets back. I, on the other hand, wasn't a natural but I never give up, and did all the climbs that Jag's did – even when the instructors were saying you sure you want to do this – it's very difficult. Can't let Jag's think he's stronger than me – even though he is.

We were all conned and nearly had an accident

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We then spent 2 days learning how to cook Thia food – great fun. Made some of our favorite dishes and learnt some new ones. Jag's thinks his cooking tasted better than mine – but we all knows who's is better. We then did trekking in North west Chiang Mai in a place between Chiang Dao and Pai. The group was supposed to be small but we some how managed to pick up a big group of kids and mums and one teacher. There was Jag's and me, then Richard, who was American and 11 Koreans. We started with a short trek – around 20mins to what Jag's calls the elephant stop. Probably because that's where we waited for the elephants. A family of elephants came – ranging from the daddy to the little baby. We got on a medium sized elephant – who turned out to be quite a handful. He didn't follow the other elephants and enjoyed ripping down trees. This doesn't sound that scary but it is when your sitting on his neck and a tree's being pulled down above your head. He was the rebel among the family. We did elephant trekking for around 2 hours. Now the trekking really started. We didn't have our trekking boots and we really felt it. There was no grip on our trainers and one of the mums slipped off the trail down the slope – not nice. Anyway after a scenic but tiring trek we reached the Lahu village and stayed with the Along family. Seriously, the dogs in this village were vicious and one of them bit Jag's pockets to get at what was inside it. Not nice dogs. Anyway, there are many stories which we'll share with you later. We sat around a fire at night and ate and sang songs and had a really nice time. The following day we headed back a different way. At the bottom we went white water rafting and bamboo rafting – great laugh more of a 'get everyone soaked' experience. The following day Jag's treated me to a day in the Oasis Spa – which ladies is bliss, as a birthday treat along with the trekking. This I have to say was one of the bestest birthdays ever.