After an OK night sleep we reached Chiang mai around lunchtime and went to our very friendly yet slightly crazy hostel with its owner, Stella.
The next day we had chosen to go on a 2 night 3 day trek so we took it easy. Chiang Mai is a bit of a hippy retreat and there are tonnes of yoga classes etc offering to help you find yourself. As adam had some prayer beads and I had some hippy trousers we felt we didn't need any further enlightenment and settled to enjoy the yummy vegetarian food instead.
In the evening we headed to the local boxing ring to watch and bet on the Must Thai boxers. With our Singha beers in hand and our free that whiskey and cokes we settled down to an enjoyable evening.
There was a variety of fights ranging from 13 year old boys, lady fighters, adults, 5 in a ring and an international contender. Our favourite 2 had to be the 5 in a ring and the international. The 5 in a ring was hilarious as they were blindfolded and had no idea where each other was to box, this was accompanied to the beautiful tune of gangnam style! At one point one of the guys kept trying to box the referee, after trying to defend himself and simply block the referee completely floored him! The international fight was between a massive French man and a not so massive Thai guy.Before they came on we had already bet on the Thai guy and were very pleasantly surprised when we won! It made a great end to a really fun evening.
The next day we were picked up early so we could head out for our trek. It was about an hour's drive from Chiang Mai in a bumpy truck. We started the trip with a bamboo raft trip,This involved floating down the river on a few sticks of bamboo lashed together and was definitely not my favourite way to travel! We then embarked on a 4 hour trek up a mountain which was pretty painful! The heat wasn't too bad but this was simply because it was constantly raining ! The highlights were a pretty impressive waterfall and being able to pick fresh mangoes from the tree. They were delicious! We arrived at the hill tribe at around 5,extremely soggy and not in the best of moods! After a nice dinner and a couple of beers we were feeling quite mellow, our mood further improved with a bonfire! We slept in a traditional hill tribe shack on bamboo mats. Although this sounds cool it is bloody uncomfortable especially when Adam developed a fever and was absolutely boiling.
Due to the development of this fever we decided to opt for the 2 day trek instead. The trek back was a lot more enjoyable as it wasn't as wet and the scenery was fantastic. Apart from a fever and my infected toe, we were raring to go! We walked for about 4 hours with only one stop so were pretty pleased to reach the bottom. Then we had the highlight of our Chiang Mai trip, we met, fed and rode the elephants! My favourite part was when the baby elephant tried to eat my shorts! On the way back home we knew we had made the right decision to cut the trek as Adam started to throw up and his fever to rage! Needless to say our remaining time in Chiang mai was mainly spent in our hotel room!
Before we left we did manage to visit the night market and a lovely teak house which contained a yummy cafe. Due to Adam's illness and our delay in Chiang Mai we opted to be cheeky and take an hour flight to Laos rather than the 3 day boat trip!!
The next day we were picked up early so we could head out for our trek. It was about an hour's drive from Chiang Mai in a bumpy truck. We started the trip with a bamboo raft trip,This involved floating down the river on a few sticks of bamboo lashed together and was definitely not my favourite way to travel! We then embarked on a 4 hour trek up a mountain which was pretty painful! The heat wasn't too bad but this was simply because it was constantly raining ! The highlights were a pretty impressive waterfall and being able to pick fresh mangoes from the tree. They were delicious! We arrived at the hill tribe at around 5,extremely soggy and not in the best of moods! After a nice dinner and a couple of beers we were feeling quite mellow, our mood further improved with a bonfire! We slept in a traditional hill tribe shack on bamboo mats. Although this sounds cool it is bloody uncomfortable especially when Adam developed a fever and was absolutely boiling.
Due to the development of this fever we decided to opt for the 2 day trek instead. The trek back was a lot more enjoyable as it wasn't as wet and the scenery was fantastic. Apart from a fever and my infected toe, we were raring to go! We walked for about 4 hours with only one stop so were pretty pleased to reach the bottom. Then we had the highlight of our Chiang Mai trip, we met, fed and rode the elephants! My favourite part was when the baby elephant tried to eat my shorts! On the way back home we knew we had made the right decision to cut the trek as Adam started to throw up and his fever to rage! Needless to say our remaining time in Chiang mai was mainly spent in our hotel room!
Before we left we did manage to visit the night market and a lovely teak house which contained a yummy cafe. Due to Adam's illness and our delay in Chiang Mai we opted to be cheeky and take an hour flight to Laos rather than the 3 day boat trip!!
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