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Hi everyone,
So we last left you hung over in Chiang Mai - our hotel sent off our passports for us to get our visas for Vietnam sorted which meant that we were stuck in Chiang Mai for a few days (as you can't check into hotels without a passport).
We spent our first full day looking at some temples a lady (we think, you can never be 100%) from the hotel recommended. We were a bit worse for wear when she was telling us why to go to them but she circled them on the map. So when we came to looking at them it was like a puzzle working out/remembering why she recommended them. The first one we went to was the oldest temple in Chiang Mai - that was impressive. The second one had a sleeping Buddha (not so impressive). The third one we still haven't worked out - we thought she said it was made from marble, but after looking at a concrete temple we decided that wasn't the case (not impressive at all)! We went to the night market on the evening and haggled for Ray Bons and fake flip-flops.
The next day we hired a moped and had an interesting ride up into the mountains to another temple. There was apparently over 300 steps to the temple, the temple itself wasn't dissimilar to all of the other temples we've seen (surprisingly!), but the view over Chiang Mai was worth the 300 steps (although Josh thought it was more like 150). We stopped at a waterfall on the way back but we could only see two of them as the others were closed. We decided to have a chill out on a rock by the waterfall - well Josh did, Christina spent her time battling giant ants, with her cardigan over her head for protection from the sun! On the night we went to watch a Muay Thai fight at the Night Bazaar boxing stadium. There were several fights, but two worth telling you about. One where a Canadian fighter completely knocked out a Thai fighter - they definitely shouldn't have been in the same weight class! The last fight was two small Thai fighters - Christina thought they were children but Josh spotted armpit hair so we concluded they were just very small men - they were crazy and didn't even stop to breathe!
We found Chiang Mai quite touristy, everyone was trying to get money from us to do various trips etc, we had heard from a couple we met in Bangkok that there is a place called Pai near Chiang Mai which is chilled out and you get no hassle - so we made a speedy escape.
The first night we spent in Pai we thought we would go out for a nice meal at a traditional Thai restaurant, Josh ordered a chilli seafood hot plate - it came out sizzling and smoking, and made the majority of the restaurant choke as it was so spicy (they even had to turn the fans on). Josh ate it in around two minutes in his usual food inhaling style! On the way back to the hotel we thought we would stop off for a few drinks, we spotted a bar/shack named "Edible Jazz" which looked intriguing so we ventured in. Upon entering we realised we had stumbled into some kind of hippie den and we were the only customers - besides us there was a guy on the guitar and his two friends/barmen (one of whose hair can only be described as a big black fluffy mane). It was really chilled out there, even their dogs where really chilled. We stayed for a few drinks and listened to the guy sing and play guitar - he then told us about the open mic night the next night and when we said we couldn't sing he said we could read a poem if we wanted to. Needless to say we gave that one a miss.
We googled things to do in Pai and a genuine thing that came up to do was "nothing", so we took that advice and chilled out for a few days. We decided to go for a massage. Christina had an oil massage, which she found fairly relaxing (although the ceiling did look like it could fall in at any time) the masseuse did do quite a lot of pinching and slapping though and definitely was not the same as one that you would get from home. Josh went for a traditional Thai massage, which consisted of the masseuse bending his body in all different positions and was quite painful! Up until this point we had been eating mostly in restaurants, we decided to give the street food a go. We realised that the street food is delicious and so much cheaper!
After chilling out we decided that we needed some more adventures so we booked to go elephant riding. At first it was terrifying. We were sitting on a towel on an elephants back with just a rope to hold on to. If the elephant had decided to sit down we would have been in trouble! It was only us and a moody looking Thai bloke with tattoos all over his face guiding the elephant (although the elephant did what it wanted the majority of the time, including running off and taking us with it, while the Thai guy had a chat with someone on a motorbike). However it turned out to be brilliant. We went through jungle first - Christina kept getting leaves from trees stuck in between her toes - and then we went down to the river. The Thai man turned out to be nice and really liked our camera, so took LOADS of photos for us. He told Christina to move from the back of the elephant to the elephants neck, so her legs where behind the elephants ears - turned out to be an amazing experience, despite being scared as there was no longer the option to hold on to the rope.
The day after we decided to hire a moped and explore Pai. The scooter was suspiciously cheap at 100 baht per day- £2.20. We realised why soon after riding off when it started to backfire louder than Delboy's Robin Reliant. This was extremely embarrassing at times. Our first stop on our tour was Pai Canyon, this is basically a much smaller version of the Grand Canyon. We weren't expecting much, as we hadn't heard many people talk about it, but when we got there we were surprised at how deep and impressive the canyon actually was. There are no safety rails to protect you from the 200ft drop either side and in parts the walkway was only a matter of inches wide; so of course Christina wisely decided to stay at the entrance and take photos of Josh as he walked out along the narrow spine of rock overlooking the whole Canyon. After taking a lot of photos and walking round the Canyon we headed off to mor paeng waterfalls.
The drive to the waterfalls took us through a traditional Chinese village, which had been designated on the map as a "place to visit", it wasn't! There wasn't much there and it was really dirty so we quickly scooted through and carried on up the track which was progressively getting worse and worse. We eventually found the waterfalls and went to investigate. The first set of waterfalls we came to had groups of people splashing around the in the pools below, these were beautiful, but Josh thought he could hear some more falls down the river. We walked through some bushes and over some rocks and came to another; an even more impressive set of falls and best of all, no one knew they were there! Josh decided to try and clamber down to the pool at the bottom to see how deep it was and whether it was possible to jump or slide in. Whilst trying to get down a dry bit of the falls on his bum, he lost grip and ended up sliding 30ft down and being flung into the water below (which turned out to be about 2ft deep). By some miracle he came out unscathed and Christina had it all videoed on camera! The rest of the day was spent experimenting (and Josh generally being the guinea pig) with different natural water slides at the higher falls which got a couple of rounds of applause from some Chinese girls watching it all.
The next day we got a mini bus back from Pai to Chiang Mai - not much to tell here, other than the driver going ridiculously fast on VERY windy roads, resulting in the majority of the bus clutching on to sick bags. The following day we flew from Chiang Mai to Hanoi in Vietnam which we will tell you all about in our next blog!
We're having trouble getting on Facebook in Hanoi, so we will put the pictures and videos up of Pai as soon as we can.
We hope everyone is ok, we're missing you all lots xxxx
p.s. coming up next time - Josh and Christina stay in a hostel!
- comments
Elizabeth Pendleton Hi Both. Christina I've decided you've found your next occupation; you would make a great journalist :). Pleased your getting stuck in and making the most of your time. Jamie (neighbour) will be so jealous about your elephant ride, something she has always wanted to do. Mopeds yesterday it will be motorbikes next, don't blame you just be careful. Hope Josh is not too sore after his fall! Bet he is a little sore, alcohol helps LOL. Looking forward to seeing your recent photos, it's fabulous that your able to keep us all updated and allowing us to see that your not only having a great time but your safe :). Have told your Dad never mind Austra for his 50th, want to come and see you guys if your settled? Missing you loads as we all are. Good to see you guys spending quality time together and looking after each other. Can't wait for you to get to Vietnam; hope the guide book comes in usefuI? know it's one place you have been really looking forward too. Bye bye for now both. Love you loads xxxxxxx
Keith Great adventure and brilliantly written, it's like being there, can't wait for the next instalment , have fun love dad ( Keith) x
Tony C Hi kids I know we've spoken since you wrote this blog, but I've still enjoyed reading it. I'm sure you are loving Vietnam. I looked great on the webcam. Everyone is well back here in Blighty. The gramps have just come back from Saundersfoot and uncle Gray is up at the moment. Belle is stopping at Grandmas and I'm on my own for a week as Donna, Lianne & Ryan have gone to Gran Canaria for a week, I will chill and read a few books. Did your bank card work? Love you Dad Tone xxxxx
Tony C It was supposed to say 'It' looked good on the webcam, not 'I' looked good!!!!
Josh Hi guys, thanks for all he messages, it's nice to know that the blog's appreciated. Vietnam has been a cracker so far, so the next blog should be even better (not to mention the photos!) Bank cards working fine, it's that cheap here that I could have just exchanged my pocket change from England and lived like a king! Love to you all xxx p.s Dad, just use the mirror If you want to check yourself out in future!
Sarah cook Hi just got back from mijas . Had a really lovely time , everytime I thought it was too hot I thought of u too in a lot higher temps . That bid is brilliant . Only been home 5 mins and woody says u seen josh on that vid . Goin to put in utube . Carry on having a great time and really enjoy the blog . Can't wait for t next , miss u both lots love u xxx