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Next stop- CHIANG MAI
We left Bangkok by plane here, a place that's a favourite of mine. Warned of the cold temperatures, everyone's dressed in fleeces and jackets, despite it still being 26 degrees.
Known to be the place to elephant trek, we booked onto Rantong, where they pick you up from your hotel and drive you to what feels like the jungle. Rantong saves elephants from the kind that beat them up in order to teach and train them. Here, a mahout lives with them and helps them grow. We had to dress in mahout clothing to ride and clean and feed the animals. It was so amazing spending time with these animals. With no force or frustration, the mahout lets the elephants do as they want, a good and in fact a bad thing. The elephant we were on pulled down 2 thin trees to eat the leaves, which the mahout thought we liked so got it to pull more, a language barrier downside. We made sure that we didn't do a trek where the elephants had metal seats on as it causes pain, and Rantong ensure the elephants needs are put first. Without a seat, it isn't comfortable whatsoever, and elephants are surprisingly so boney. We also got taught a few words that the mahout says to the elephant in order to walk alongside it, despite the elephant listening to none of it whatsoever, but that was all the fun of it.
Another extreme to the other, the next day we visited Tiger Kingdom. This place isn't as it seems. With suspicions to start with, it was difficult to work out whether these tigers are being treated well. Every guard with a metre long cane, the first impression didn't look good, although I do get that they need some kind of protection themselves. The main aim of this attraction is to get a picture with an animal you normally wouldn't ever be in contact with. Feeling like you are on a photoshoot, it all feels just abit weird. When asking questions, the answers were either slim, or they used the excuse of the language barrier. The tigers are fed boiled chicken, due to expense, however tigers need red meat for muscle growth. Rumour has it they are drugged. Some don't seem it at all, yet a lot do. This place shouldn't exist, and shouldn't be a tourist attraction as there is no freedom for the animals. Trying to ask important curious questions just gets you nowhere. I wouldn't recommend this place or any similar organisation to visit at all. Yes I've got a picture with a tiger, but I'm certainly not going to hang it above my mantelpiece, and anyone that does, surely can only see the sadness that is evident behind the smiles there.
One of the best places visited in Chiang Mai is Catmosphere Cat Cafe, a craze in all cities over the world. Scott popping antihistamines beforehand (minor issue of him being allergic), you have to put on slippers and wash your hands before you go in. Entering this place was like entering cat heaven. Cats and kittens as well as toys and play boxes dotted about, they have floor seating and lows stools and tables to sit with them. They do food here too, which in fact the cats have zero interest in eating. Definitely a good point, being able to eat in peace, minus the cat on your lap, the cat on the shelf above you, the cat on the seat with you, and the cat on the table with your food. It sounds like some people's worst nightmare, but definitely not mine. I would definitely recommend this place for the brownies as well as the cats.
TukTuks in Chiang Mai are very cheap and the best way to get around. Temples again on every corner, this quaint city is more like a town, with a true Thai feel. The district of 'Old Town' is definitely the best place to stay here, at the heart of it all. We stayed at Eurena Boutique Hotel and CM Apartments, both basic but decent, although I would say you know when you look online at photos of the place and it's completely different to what it looks like in real life?.. Yeah that's what Eurena Boutique Hotel is like.
We visited a shooting range here too. Another surreal experience, passing on a TukTuk in lots of greenery lies a little hut, with about 25 guns in a glass cabinet, and a small Thai woman asking which one you want. We shared between a revolver and a shotgun, and it was class, despite nearly falling backwards from the impact. It's expensive to do so we only had 15 bullets.
'Night Bazzar' is like a nice version of Khoa San Road. Full of markets and stalls of fakes, there's lots of bars round here too. Hidden in a car park, is a mini Thai boxing stadium, which was really surreal and abit uncomfortable to watch, yet still good to see.
The last day in Chiang Mai we decided to get a true Thai massage. Fah Lanna Spa is so nice, I could have spent the whole day there. A proper Thai massage is what we wanted, and that's definitely what we got. A fully grown woman stood and crawling on your body is definitely weirder than imagined, and the word 'softer' definitely doesn't have the same terminology here, but all in all, it did do my muscles good, and strangely, I think I would have another one.
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