Chiang Mai Mai Mai

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  Chiang Mai, Thailand
Friday, December 19, 2008

Chiang Mai, North Thailand, a place everyone refers to as a 'laid-back Bangkok'.  Following our now customary bus journey, we arrived here about 23 hours after setting off.  Unlike our previous escapades, it looked like we were going up in the world.  The VIP bus to Thailand had almost fully reclining seats, pillows and duvets.  This was after changing bus twice already but it made a welcome relief, save for two exceptions.  One was the Raza inspired 'Alain Prost' lookey likey who when asleep adopted a snoring technique exactly similar to the mating call of a White African Rhino.  At times I was a little afraid he had passed away in his sleep, only to return with a new sound, this time a North Italian Pig snuffling for trufflles!!  The second problem was trying to control the blind fury of the aforementioned Razman when the bus decided it was a good idea to stop for food at 2am at some coachstop in the middle of nowhere.  Correctly he was enraged as to consider who exactly wanted to eat at 2am, certainly not us.
Buses aside, we arrived early in the morning and settled into a personally recommended guesthouse.  Basic accomodation but a very warm shower, thank heavens for small mercies.  The city itself is old and has many temples littered throughout.  We took the opportunity to discover a few of these, impressive as they were, but you certainly get a little 'buddha-weary' after a while and yearn for something different.  My suggestion of raising the excitement level by stealing one of the little golden Buddhas to give to my parents was not acted upon, in retrospect probably a good call.
We have just returned from a 2-day trek into the Northern hinterlands.  We were taken out to the countryside, breathtakingly beautiful and not unlike Southern Italian vineyard country.  We spent a couple of hours visiting and riding huge Indian elephants around the estate.  I myself am not a great fan of large beasts, I confess even a horse can make me a bit jittery.  As a rule of thumb, despite travelling around Asia with Raza, I tend to stay away from creatures wieghing in at a tonne upwards.  These seemed docile enough, despite a disgustingly wet snout that sought out your pockets at any opportunity, and the fact that our one had I kid you not a nasty, snotty cold.  An elephant sneeze is an unusual expereince, especially when you are layered with elephant snot!!  At one point, a female elepehant and a bull elephant decided to have a bit of an argument, apparently over the bull's conduct with the baby of the group.  Mum didn't take kindly to this and let out an almighty sound, the type of sound despite it being a good 500 metres away inspired a distinct desire to jump off our own elephant and run for the hills.  More was to come.  The bull decided he didn't take kindly to being pushed around by a women.  He unleashed what can best be described as a roar, an unbelievably low sound that left no one unaware of his displeasure.  When you hear on documentaries that these animals can communicate for miles, I can testify this is no exxageration. A few bananas later they calmed down.
We set off trekking up the mountain, vineyards giving way to raw jungle.  4 hours of hard graft up unbelievably steep, tiny little routes and slippery slopes in hot hot heat.  It was tough, it hurt and by the end of it we were very grateful to reach a tiny little village perched on top of the mountain.  We were housed in a local village house really perched on the mountainside, tall bamboo sticks hlding us up from a very steep slip downhill.  We saw the sun go down over the mountains, ate a very nice homecooked green curry and watched a local man called 'Jack Sparrow' (don't think it was his birth name) perform magic tricks. Sleeping in a bamboo and rattan hut 1500m up was what can best be described as 'a little chilly', I woke up to find the Razman next to me under two blankets and his face completely covered by a scarf.  I thought he had passed to the other side in the night and no one wanted to tell me, Everest 'death Zone' style. In the morning, we were above the clouds and watched them snake along the valley. 
Two hours of downhill trekking (ow on the thighs), a stop off at a waterfall for a quick freezing shower and we reached the angry (not quite raging) river.  We were taken white water rafting down the rapids, a lot of fun.  Transferring mid-river to bamboo rafts, we meandered back home.  Two days of a very enjoyable expedition. 
Up next, probably Bangkok.  Bring on the madness...

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

Which one of these is the toilet?	Lovely when up, a bugger to get down!	Not another temple...	Another crazy nite!!
Gold - its the new black	Street Fights 4 - Kung Fu style	Me Vs Thai Hairdresser - He Won!	Dumbo - We shot him after the photo
The Happy trekker - or delirious	On top of the mountain	The morning view	the morning shower
Hunting Charlie in the jungle	Riding Wham style!	Kid fights	Sleeping @ altitude - it aint great!

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