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We travelled to Chiang Mai from Bangkok via the overnight sleeper train. It was suprisingly comfortable and we both slept like babies (when do babies sleep well in real life? silly saying!). Chiang Mai is a busy bustling city in which the older parts are surrounded by ancient walls and a moat. We found ourselves a nice hotel (oooh! we've gone up in the world from tents and hostels) run by a Franco-Swiss chap. Its very nice and even has a minibar, no air-conditioning unfortunately. On our second day we went on a one day trek into the hills. Trek is a bit of a misnomer. After popping into a butterfly farm, we went on an elephant trek which involved a 40 minute trundle in a circle. We weren't sure how well the Hephalumps were treated so we were glad it didn't last too long. There was a baby Elephant in the herd, it was very playful and cute and would fall over everytime we went through a river just to be awkward. We then went to visit a 'hill tribe', which was basically some huts, chickens, pigs and souvenir stands. We then went for a short walk down to a cascading waterfall where we had a nice cooling swim. The last part of the trek was the most fun. We rafted down the Metang river, first on an inflatable raft, then on a bamboo one. All the locals were out playing along the river, so we had waterfights at every opportunity. It was also nice to see the Mahouts (Elephant wranglers) walking the Nellies home along the river whilst giving them a good bath.
That evening we popped to the famous night markets and bought flip flops and trinkets. After that day Chiang Mai came to a standstill. It was Songkram, or the Thai new year. They celebrate it by having a 5 day waterfight. The festival is meant to encourage the onset of the monsoon rains. Otherwise its great fun and you spend the whole week soaking wet. No one is safe, not even mopeds, young or old, thai or especially falangs (foreigners). Its is also impossible to get anywhere as you can see from the pictures. The people line the 6 mile long main thoroughfare and halt all traffic.
Otherwise we have eaten well and Matt managed to have a Thai massage. We visited a few Wats (temples) and bought an engagement ring in the worlds largest Gem Shop. Lucky Jo!
We will be heading to Laos in 2 days where we plan to spend 15 days.
Hope everyone is smiling,
Love Matt and Jo
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