Well hello there everyone!!

Ok so we left Pai by mini-bus to take us back down the windy roads of the mountain to Chiang Mai where we caught another bus to Chiang Rai, in Northern Thailand.  All was going smoothly until our mini-bus literally dropped us at a petrol station, gave us our luggage and drove off.  So, there we were in the middle of nowhere in the blazing heat not knowing what to do next.  Then a bus turned up so we flagged it down and asked them if they were going to Chiang Rai, in their best English they said yes.  About 200 meters down the road we realised we were going to wrong way - so yes, on the wrong bus!!  Not impressed.  We then crossed over the the road after a sweet Thai woman telling us how to get the centre, and caught a bus to the town.  We walked around for about 20 minutes with 'The Bloody Backpacks' to find a hostel, and Claire came up trumps finding us a really nice room.  We had a quiet evening wandering about the town and booked a trip for the next day.

Wednesday morning came and we were picked up from our hostel by our tour guide for the day.  We looked for the mini-bus and anyone else that would be doing the tour with us:  but it was just the two of us in his car!!  Seemed weird being driven in his car but it was a reputable company - so don't panic parents!! 

The tour started by visiting some monkey caves.  The monkeys live in the mountain and at certain times of the day they come down the mountain and run around and play etc.  They came really close to us and we fed them bananas, they were really sweet except the big ones who occasionally gave us  funny looks!!

The next stop was scorpion mountain.  Im sure you can all guess why it is called scorpion mountain but I will tell you just in case:  It is because scorpions live in the mountain-yay!!  Here we could see the Mekong River separating Thailand and Laos.  We were standing on the Thai side and across the river was Laos.  I was surprised at the colour of the river, I imagined it to be fairly bluey/green but it looks like mud, it is filthy - there is no way I would ever swim in it.

Then we went for lunch: had to mention it for Linzi and Grant's benefit!!!!  You'll be pleased to know guys that I didn't eat much at all.

After lunch we made our way to the Golden Triangle.  The Golden Triangle is the point where the Mekong Rivers separates the three countries of Thailand, Laos and Burma.  When standing there, at the point it is strange to think that we were in Thailand but could see Burma to our left and Laos to our right, with only the river separating the three.  Crossing to any of these would be into a completely different country.

The Golden Triangle is also the site of Opium that has been bought over from Laos, where it originates from.  We got taken to an Opium museum where the history of Opium was explained.  It used to be used for medicinal purposes but then over the years it has become popular on their black market and is now used as a recreational drug.  In Laos it is legal to use, smoke and do whatever with Opium, however in Thailand it is illegal.  The final stop of the day was to an Ancient Village not far from the Golden Triangle.   We saw remains of monuments, city walls and buddhist figures that had been hit and attacked by the Burmese army in the past.

All in all we had a good day and got to see a great deal of Thailand as it should be.  One thing we have really noticed since being in Thailand is that no matter where you go the Thai's absolutely worship their King.  He is everywhere.  They don't just have a picture of him, they have a shrine.  In every house and restaurant there are photos of him.  On every road there are banners 20 meters apart from the other.

That evening we went to Chiang Rai's famous night bazaar and had a wander around, in between the rain and thunderstorm.  We then went to a bar that Mum, Dad, Sue and Alan had been to as well as Linzi and Grant (you two have got mentioned twice in this blog - hope your impressed!!).  In the middle of the bar are rabbits in cages and you have to sit on cushions on the floor, therefore Claire was under the impression it was called 'The Rabbit Bar', but was getting slightly concerned as she couldn't see it on a map.  However, once she had spoken to Linzi she was informed that it was in fact called the 'TeePee Bar'.  No wonder the woman in our hostel looked at Claire as if she was mad when she asked her where 'The Rabbit Bar' was (silly Claire!!!).

So that's all folks.........(sorry!!) from Northern Thailand (Southern Thailand to come).

Laos here we come.

Hope everyone is ok and well.

Missing you all Loads

Lots of Love

Carly and Claire
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