Chiang Mai

Decided to get the train to Chiang Mai, considering our lack of luck with busses this trip, but even that ended up taking forever! It was well worth the journey though, our 5 days in N. Thailand were brilliant, we did so much and had such a great time. The city itself was really lovely, lots to do and lots of things to see, there were loads of temples there but as we have been in Asia for 3 months now, we were a bit templed out! The markets were pretty fun in Chiang Mai, so busy though, the Sunday walking street market was insane no one could move!

One of the days here I really wanted to do a Thai cookery course, it was absolutely amazing! I had no idea I could cook that well, all the food was so tasty, and I made spring rolls from scratch! So everyone is invited for a Thai extravaganza round mine when we get home! Ben on the other hand didn’t want to join me in my uber-fun cooking class so he had a “Boy Day” – he rented a big motorbike and went for this 100 mile ride through the nearby mountains and played golf, he had a really good day but I personally think he missed out. It’s probably so I have to do all our cooking when we get home!

On New Years Eve we had one of the best days ever – elephant mahout training! It was so amazing, we had an elephant each, a big girl called Toka and her gorgeous 4 year old son called Dodo. They were so beautiful, at the beginning we were a tad scared just because they were so big and powerful, but it didn’t take long at all to get used to them – especially with little Dodo giving you kisses all the time!

We spent the whole day with them, learning how to ride and command them, they were so well trained and really well treated – no hooks or anything were used just voice and leg controls, it was really lovely. We took them for a ride through the jungle (stopping to eat every 2 mins because those things can eat like you wouldn’t believe), then at the end of our little ride we took them to the river for bath time, it was unbelievable, my favorite part of the day. They were so beautiful in the water, and little Dodo was playing with Toka squirting water out his trunk at us, he was such a character, just like a naughty little 4 year old!

It was horrible at the end of the day; I didn’t want to leave them at all. I could have happily stayed there for weeks with them, they were just so beautiful, really was one of the best days of the whole trip.

The rest of our time in Chiang Mai we did a few half day trips, we went to this place called Tiger Kingdom where you could go in with the tigers and hold them etc. Ben and I chose to go in with the baby tigers, they were so cute and fluffy and had these big paws to grow in to. We only had about 15 mins with them but it was really fun none the less.

One day Ben convinced me to this stupid motorbike ride he did the other day, it was ok but the actual riding I could have done without! We did stop at these cool waterfalls though which were really nice, loads of different levels and cascades you could walk up to (all the Thai’s were picnicking there, it was a really beautiful setting).