Suan Bua Resort And Spa Chiang Mai

... meters, kilograms to our distance and weight. My weight sounds alot better in kilos than pounds.<br>6. The cleanest toilets are free, the squat toilets are flithy dirty and require a payment of 3 bahts and you have to use a water bucket to flush your contents. TMI?<br>5. Never pay the first price..you must bargain...they have a misconception that we are walking ATM machines. In the beginning I would ask for a ...

... for over 30 elephants, Lek lives to help elephants, she is a little lady (Lek means small) but several members of her staff told us she has a really big heart - and that is very apparent. She started with one elephant back in 1995 and now there are 33. <br> <br>Most have been saved from the logging trade, which has been illegal in Thailand since 1989, others worked as street begging elephants in the cities. Next month they will rescue an ...

... for about 3 hours through monsoon rain, soaked head to newly-blistered toe and passed through a tiny village (of one hut) and had a puff of a banana leaf cigarette which was ok. The little boy in the hut was so cute, although I barely cared at the time. 'Half an hour more' the guide said, I think he found my crapness funny which didn't help. An hour later, we arrived at camp. I quickly bought a coke and some crisps and my mood went up rapidly. The hut where ...

... enjoyable though especially the elaborate rituals they perform before each fight.<br><br>The next day was probably the best. We went on an organised tour which included elephant riding, a 2 hour trek through the jungle up to a waterfall, white-water rafting and trip on a bamboo raft. On the elephant ride our guide let Sarah ride on the elephants neck (no-one else was allowed do this) which was really cool. The trek ...

... audience and was class. Many beers later we headed off to a club called Lava. Now at this point I need to fill you in on something, whilst Chris was a perfectly nice chap being a few years younger/stupider than the best of us he went on a one man mission to get blotto while the rest of us were in for the long haul, I think you can tell where this is going...By the time we got to the club he could barely talk, a few drinks later he gave up on walking entirely and thought that ...

... pushing and punting the raft through these rapids. Wish I had taken a few photos of this is retrospect, but do have some similar ones from last time. Also didnt want to risk losing the photos from the trek the day before in the river.<br><br>We got off the raft after a couple of hours, and had a meal of....you've guessed it - bloody tofu. Its just rubber; bloody horrible. Then we had to brace ourselves by another assault by some tribeswomen ...

... on one fighter each time, and would walk away if you wanted the other! There was also an exhibition match where 4 fighters wore blindfolds and fought. Earlier in the day when purchasing the tickets the owner let us mess around in the ring for half an hour or so, so we got a load of photos of us doing the wrestling moves! Thought Stephen would appreciate that. The next day, myself an Tom, along with a couple of others we met at the hostel went ...

... river water raining down on our smiling faces. once through the white water, he yelled - paddle till you can paddle no more. don't piddle in the puddle. half way down the river course, we found ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place, which was also a rock. our guide climbed over the side and into the water, pushing and pulling the front of the boat, but only deeper into the ravine, then moved to the back, trying to lift us over the obstructions. the other half of ...

... rental place and who explained over the phone to our rescuer so that he could explain to her where we were. He looked quite confused by our PDA/phone so we had to stick it up to his ear and hold it there for him. He led us to someone's house in a little village that fixed us right up all for $4. It was one of those moments that restores your faith in our species as this random guy who didn't speak a word of English went far out of his way to help two falangs ...

I arrived in Chiang Mai after an overnight bus ride from Bangkok. The thing to do here - that everyone seems to do here - is to pay a lot of money for a quick trek through some of the mountain villages. Northern Thailand is home to some 20 ethnic minorities (although I believe that only 10 are fully recognized by the government) and many of them maintain their unique cultures and living conditions despite the onslaught of filthy tourists. <br><br>One such "tribe" are ...