Up in the North

Hello again. Well a shit load has happened in the last few days. Before we cruised north to Chiang Mai we made a quick stop into the King's Grand Palace. It was pretty impressive stuff and even though this kind of tourist attraction wouldn't be my first thing to look at, I have to say that it was very good. The pictures don't do it justice but it was top draw stuff.


That evening we left Bangkok and did the overnight sleeping train. It was actually quite pleasant and we were able to sleep during the night in our double bunks and arrived in Chiang Mae 15 hours later - the trip was 4 hours longer than we anticipated. Highlight of that trip had to be the fact that the bog was basically a hole in the floor that opened straight up onto the tracks. Once we arrived in Chiang Mai, we checked into our hotel and did some exploring. The vibe up here is much more relaxed compared to Bangkok and I guess that's to be expected when you get out of the capital. After our exploring, Bren, Laura and myself stopped in for some afternoon street side beers, something that we seem to be doing every single day over here. I haven't not had at least 3 beers every day since I arrived here, and the beers are quart sized as well so it's definitely holiday time. Colin arrived in the evening and we proceeded to welcome him aboard 'Team Thailand' by getting horribly drunk in our hotel. We bought our own beers from the shop down the road but ran out and ended up cleaning out the mini bars in both our rooms.

The next day (I'm not mentioning what day is what because I've already lost track of what day it is and I'm quite happy with that) we hired some mopeds and spent the day cruising around. We left the city centre and cruised north, turned left, and stopped in at one of the National Parks in the area. We found a pretty decent waterfall and proceeded to take a few photos before getting wet and taking a shower under the falls. The water was helluva cold but so refreshing.


From there we hopped back on our bikes and went further into the rural areas. We found another National Park, this time with hot springs and a steaming river flowing through the Park. It was awesome. The spring was bubbling with some ferocity and the water was hotter than I expected it would be. Further down, the river was diverted into a mineral bath where we slipped into our baggies and took a dip. The water was hotter than I would ever have a bath, it was ridiculous. Robyn you could have wallowed in there for hours. Without realising it we had actually travelled quite far and getting back took us a solid 2 hours. Highlight of that trip was managing to get up to 100kms an hour knowing full well that my mountain bike helmet would offer me zero protection if a stray dog wondered into the road and I hit it - something with high probability over here I've realised. Turns out we had done 170 kms that day. We arrived back in the city just as rush hour was kicking off. It was dark and we had 3 bikes between us trying not to get lost or killed. Driving style over here resembles a flock of a million birds all taking off into the sky. Absolute chaos and yet everyone seems to manage to get by without much incident. I seriously don't know how we all made it back without having an accident.

The next day was the start of our trekking jol. We originally thought that the trekking was going to be elephant riding focused - turns out we were wrong, it was walking and hiking focused with an elephant ride at the end. Shooooweeeeee we are all buggered now!!!! The 3 days of trekking are over and the legs are frikkin almost throbbing from the pain. The first day was the most intensive. It started with a river raft down the stream and after lunch we began the great trek. Plenty up hills and almost mountain like in some areas with some tricky rock sections and loose gravel with some plunging drops just off the narrow path. Along the way though we got to swim in a section of the river and once again it was freezing cold but so worth getting in.

That first night in the hills was spent with a village tribe who cooked us our chow and kept us entertained. The animals in the village included chickens, dogs and pigs and plenty of them. We also each took a half jack of local rum into the hills and proceeded to have a blow out with all of us finishing our rum and then sinking about 5 beers afterwards. Sleeping conditions called for this behaviour though because our beds were basically just a wooden floor with a straw mat as your mattress. Some Canadian dude managed to steal all my blankets before I came to bed and so I spent the night in my jean pant, hoodie and later on my shoes just to keep myself from freezing. For my pillow, I used my damp towel. I suppose I could have woken the Canadian up and stolen my blankets back, but that Thai rum makes you do some funny unexplainable things - take a look at me and my pig friend for example.

The next day of trekking was a lot easier after we convinced our guide to take the short cut to the next camp (The Waterfall Camp) and effectively shaved the 4 hour trip into a 2 and a half hour trip. This was welcomed by all and we were super stoked to arrive at the camp that evening. First on the agenda, a swim in the waterfall, brilliant, and then some beers!!! That was last night and after the standard 8 beers I was off to bed. Sleeping on a mat on a wooden floor does absolutely nothing for the well being of your hips, just to confirm. I would sleep on my left side for half an hour then get woken up from the pain and have to sleep on my back for half an hour only to be woken up by more pain and have to roll on to my right side. Crazy sore and I'm glad I've got a night of sleeping on a soft mattress tonight.

The 3 day trekking finished off with an elephant ride which was great. Much better than riding camels in Egypt. You buy a load of bananas in the beginning and then feed the Olifants along the way. Feeding the Olifants means that when when one of the wondering trunks comes your way you simply lunge a banana in it's direction. If he doesn't get his chow then he just blows his leaf blower straight in your face and sometimes adds a bit of elephant snot for good measure.



Tomorrow we're heading to the Golden Triangle and are leaving the hotel at 7 bells. What the hell are we thinking?!? We've just got back from 3 days in the bloody mountains and now we're missioning in a bus for 3 hours there and 3 hours back. Hahahaaa...just joking, I could think of a lot worse places to be right now.

Until next time I hope everyone is doing ok and I'll speak to you again soon. Cheers, Badger.