Chiang Mai

Back to Thailand - where it all started from all those weeks ago... :)

We had heard good things about Northern Thailand from a number of people. We would have to agree with them all as we thoroughly enjoyed our six day stay in Chiang Mai before saying goodbye to South East Asia. (for now!)

We already had our heart set on achieving three things before we went back to Bangkok to fly out. Those were - experience some of the mountain trecking and experience some of the hill tribe culture; try expanding our somewhat limited culinary repertoire by signing up for a Thai cooking course; and wind down with some traditional Northern-Thai massage (because we had heard it was gentler on the body .... and cheap to boot!! ;o)

I am pleased to say we managed (and enjoyed) all of them.

First up was the 2 day Trek.
I (Tim) was a little concerned at how I would go... given how lazy I am... (oh yeah, and the foot splint thing). It was a very hard slog on the first day, walking for approx 5 hours and climbing over 500m through very steep terain. But we made it and our small group and guides were great! We stopped at a Hill tribe village (the Lahu people), staying in a wooden/grass hut with a magnificent view over the valleys we just climbed. We were served a huge and tasty feast and given a show by the children of traditional dances and songs before getting traditional Lahu massages on our mattresses (oh, how those sore muscles loved that!) and falling asleep then and there!















Our trekking group (Heidi, Ryan, Adolpho, Renee, Timmy, Jo and Hod)



Lahu (Hill tribe) village where we stayed over night
















Lahu children (one giving Renee the evil eye)

In the morning, after another big feed of pancakes and fruit (yeah, very traditional I know!) we climbed back down the other side of the mountain (much easier going down for some reason! ;) following a small creek and series of waterfalls, that eventually turned into a decent size river.

Here we stopped the trek in favour for the more fun/adventurous activities!

First up was Elephant trekking/riding. Apart from the zoo, I'd never seen these guys in the flesh. It was amazing! Our elephant was called Cappa, and once she got over her initial reluctance to cross the river (showing her fellings with a mixture of fairly scary, deep growling sounds, and bizarrely high pitched squeals like seal pup!) we enjoyed a fun meander along the river as elephants would see things. (except for the fat westerners on their backs)
At the halfway point we bought a bunch of bananas, which Cappa was well aware of, as she proceeded to ask for by reaching up over her head for them, until they were all digested!



Tim feeding the banana addicted "Cappa"





The Elephant trek was followed by white water rafting (which was fun, but not really hair-raising as it wasn't wet season) and bamboo rafting when the water had quieted down a bit.

Unfortunately we don't have photos of them as they wouldn't let us take cameras or bags on this stretch... :( Probably for the better though, as we got pretty wet!


arriving back in Chiang Mai, we signed up to spend the next day in the great-indoors.
We found a small Thai cooking course run by a lovely couple who were fun, informative and (strangely for South East Asia...) efficient! :D There were only six people in the group so it made it all the more enjoyable and personalized.

We got to pick seven dishes each - so naturally Renee and I chose different ones to make the most of it. (and Renee wasn't too keen on the meat dishes for some strange reason!)
It started with a trip to the markets, explaining the wierd and wonderful things we don't normally get outside of Asia, as well as explaining what we can use as alternatives when we get home!

I can't believe how great the food turned out! Many of our dishes tasted better than what we had in local restaurants! (Honest, I'm not just talking myself up!) We ended up with more food than we could eat, and ended up taking some back to the guest house for our take-away tea!

Hmmm.. now we let that slip, you are all probably going to want us to prove it when we get home and invite you over for a Thai dinner huh? .... well, OK. ... let see if you remember in 6 months! ;oD






Now I know why I've always just bought my curry paste...



Tim gaining a few skills to make himself a more attractive marital option

So that pretty much wrapped up Thailand... a quick internal flight back to Bangkok (which saved another tiresome bus trip and gave us more time in Chiang Mai) before flying out to start our new adventures in India!

Ciao for Niao,
Tim and Renee