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For my second week off I went up to Chiang Mai. It is Thailands second largest city, in the north west of Thailand. I got the overnight train up there but as I was in an air conditioned seat coach I didn't sleep much as it was uncomfortable and freezing!
I found a lovely place to stay, cheap with a communal area to hang out with other travellers. I arrived Thursday evening and signed up for a two day trek on the Friday. We set off quite early and stopped at an elephant park for an elephant ride. We then trekked through the jungle for a few hours and then spent the night camped by a waterfall. We had wooden cabins but they were very basic and full of spiders! It was pretty cool as there was no electric or water so we showered and washed our clothes in the waterfall and had dinner by candlelight. At least you can't see spiders in the low light! The next day we trekked back through a hill tribe village and then stopped for some bamboo rafting along the river.
The night I got back I went to see another Muay Thai match - I love it, but this time they had a stupid fight called 'blind fight' were 4 boxers were blinfold in a corner each and just swung punches all over the place. There were 2 referees so that if a fighter was heading in the wrong direction he would be pushed back into the fight. Although this was strictly for tourists I found it a bit degrading considering a lot of serious fighters train from a young age for the real fights.
The next day I visited Don Suthep and the temple there. It is supposed to a major sight to be seen but the only thing they had in English were the signs asking for donations! It would have been nice to read a bit about its history etc but as it was I felt I'd spent an 2 hours watching a film and at the end had no idea what happened! On the way back to the hotel I visited jade, laquer, umbrella and silk factories and then more shopping in the famous Sunday Walking Market.
On the Monday I had a very early start as I was visiting the Golden Triangle. This is a point in Thailand where there are 3 borders - Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar). It was paticularly difficult getting up at 6.30 as I went out with a couple of Dutch people for their last night in Chiang Mai and din't get to bed till 3am. On the way we stopped at a hill tribe called the Long Neck Karen Tribe. They have metal rings put around their neck to lengthen it. Also Big Ears Tribe - they have big holes in their ears! When we got to the border we took a boat ride past the Burmese border. There is a casino the were the Chinese go to gamble as the are not able to gamble in China so they get bussed down to this casino! We then got out at the Laos side for more shopping. The suprise of the trip was a stop we made through Chiang Rai on the way home at a beautiful temple known as the white temple. Unfortunately it was closed by the time we got there but got some photos from the outside.
On Tuesday I did a quick temple tour and ended at a temple that runs a 2 day meditation retreat. We had a quick Buddhism overview then got a truck to the temple. We had to change into white clothes and be silent. It was very strange as everybody took to walking around very slowly with their hands behind their back. I the evening we did a standing meditation were we went outside and stood in rows then slowly started chanting "standing, standing, standing, preparing to walk... etc. I had to giggle about it because everyone was everso serious and I thought if you drove past and saw us we would have looked and sounded like a cult! We were living under temple rules so we went to bed at 9pm ready to get up at 5am for more meditation. I found the whole thing very interesting but bizarre!
On Wednesday I flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok were I thought I'd treat myself so went to a 4* hotel with tv and air con! I was lovely but cost me £15 for a bowl of pasta and glass of wine (very expensive for thailand - I can get this in Surat for £5 and that's considered expensive!). I saw no sights in Bangkok as I went strictly for the shopping but all I got were jeans and mascara - better than nothing!
I am currently cat sitting at a friends house about a 15 drive from my street so it's very peaceful (apart from the mad cats) but she has cable tv and air conditioning so its like an extension of my holiday! I have a 2 day weekend this week so I'm going to Koh Samui - I wasn't keen on it the last time I went so we'll see this time. At least I'll get to top up my tan - I'm turning back to my pastey English colour at the moment.
Hope everyone is well and keep me updated with your news
xxxx
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