Chiang Mai & Mae Taeng

I arrived at Chiang Mai train station around 10am on Sun 4th and was greeted by many thais holding up boards advertising accomodation. I agreed to one of them and was taken to Lanna Guest House where I was very quickly shown their rooms and persuaded to take a 3day trek the following morning. I'd read their customer reviews of the treks which was enough to assure me that it would be ok at worst. And Julie, the girl/ladyboy on reception, seemed a bit mad and had a good sense of humour, as well as the place seeming to have a pretty relaxed atmosphere. It was Sunday market day in Ratchendoemnan Rd, so I took a walk around and tried to get my bearings of Chiang Mai. It was a good time to arrive as it was the Kings Birthday on the Monday, so the place was in carnival mode that weekend. After I'd had enough of walking around I stopped off at a small pub/guest house and took a rest from the busy street. I enjoyed a couple of pints in the small garden front whilst looking out to the street and watching the people pass by. The garden was small but comfortable, and warmly lit. An acoustic guitarist sat by the door of the bar playing blues which seemed to fit the mood perfectly. It felt good to be in town, and feel settled somewhere after all the travelling, and i probably had a couple more beers than i should've that night.

I woke up on the morning of Dec 5th around 8am after our wakeup call for the trekking. I'd left everything until the last minute. Hung over and tired, I managed to pack my smaller rucksack full of what i might need for the 3days ahead. Needless to say, it turned out i'd forgotten my towel, tootpaste, toothbrush, and all things waterproof. Got on with the trekking all the same. I was lucky to have a great group on the trek and met a few guys who i continued to travel with for the coming week or so. The three days trekking took place in and around Mae Taeng, 2hrs north of Chiang mai, which was an amazing setting. The trekking was exhausting, particularly the first day, but definitely worth it. Some of the views we saw from the hill village we'd trekked to that first day were amazing (so good that i forgot to take photos - sorry!). We were greeted by some of the villagers, and a big bucket of ice filled with cans of cold juice and beer. What a treat that was, and completely unexpected. We all enjoyed that first beer, and the many to follow that night. The next two days were much the same, with some good laughs along the way. Including the odd slip or fall by various people, notably me falling into the stream, flapping around in the water trying to get out whilst keeping my bag above the water. I earned myself a red face and a badly scraped shin that day.











(left): We stopped for some lunch,
and a photo opportunity of
course.
(right): That's Dave on the front of the elehant. I'm in the
distance with 'the trooper'. He was given that name because he
liked to troop off on his own, away from the group. Hence
his ommission from the photo (left).

We arrived back in Chiang mai On Wed 7th for a much needed hot shower, and a good feed that night. The following afternoon, three of the guys I met on the trek, and an Alaskan guy named Brett from the guest house, all signed up for quad biking just outside of Chiang mai. It cost 3000B each which is pretty expensive, but was worth it just this once. Again, we had amazing views, plus a great track to take quads on. We had a great laugh, in particular at Brett's jokes on the minibus trip. What a guy!





The meal in Chiang Mai after
we returned from our trek.






Left to right: Mark, Me, Brett, Luke, Dave









Lovely view eh lads?






The following day Mark, Luke, Dave, and I got the public bus from Chiang Mai station to Pai, where we would stay for a few days. We checked into a guest house called Baan Tawan on the river, and headed out for my first glimpse at the wonderful place called Pai. The 2nd day in to our stay there, we signed up for an 8hr white water rafting day, north of Pai. We were one person short of the minimum required to sign up but they went ahead with it anyway. This meant a lot of hard work for those in the boat. There was only Luke, Dave, myself, and our guide to do all the work. It took a great effort, but we all enjoyed it. Dave and I had been to a pool party the previous night, so the beginning of the rafting sucked badly, but we were forced to sober up quickly.




Luke and Dave tucked up in bed at Baan Tawan, Pai.





By around the 15th the Auzzie guys, Luke and Dave, were moving on to Koh Chang, and I was headed for the island of Koh Phangan...