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Well we had a wonderful week in chiang mai... expecially because mum and dad were there! we met at the very post and beautiful Galare Guesthouse which was a serious step up in luxury compared the the school acomodation!! It had a beautiful garden and as we were all tired from travelling we spent the first day catching up exchanging stories and explored the famous Night Bazaar in the evening - where mum did some serious shopping!! Found Art's Cafe which had the biggest menu in the world! Our first day sightseeing was a busy one. Firstly we met a lovely songthaew driver who we stole away for the day and he drove us to Doi Suthep, the highest mountain in the Chiang Mai area which houses a beautiful Temple with a golden Chedi. The views were spectacular and they were worth the long climb to the top!I think over 300 steps! after that we went top visit various examples of Chiang Mai's 'Home industries'. These included silk, which was amazing to see the whole process from silkworm to coccoon to spinning to finally weaving - the silk weaving was such a skill and the colours were mesmerising! Of course they usher you through to the shops at the end and we couldnt resist buying a few souvenirs!! Parasol making was my favourite as they were all so bright and they made them really quickly - i had to restrain myself from taking photos! Wood carving was amazing the piece in the photo will take 6 months and cost 3 thousand pounds - not quite in our budget and a little heavy to carry around! the leather wasnt quite up my street - 'we only use exotic skins madam' (exotic being elephant amongst others) yuk time for me to leave.
We couldnt resist going back to the elephant conservation centre to show mum and dad round - had a nice little nap in the sonthaw on the way! As I already told you about it I wont repeat myself - But we did have a ride into the jungle which was brilliant - elephant are surprisingly nimble and can manouvre their giant physiques along tiny jungle paths. Speaking of large physiques, we bought the obligatory souvenir photograph and noticed a rather large 'third leg' in between the two back legs of our elephant - that wont be a photo for the mantlepiece then!!
Dad decied he would go and explore the zoo and bird sanctuary at the bottom of Doi Suthep so wandered off into the distance to do some serious haggling with a tuktuk driver! Me mum and Chris went off to a river cruise, in a longtail boat with a lovely driver who pointed out some sight salong the way and we stopped off in a teeny organic farm, which as you can see on the photos, was Sly Stallones home in Rambo 17 or whatever number hes on now! Primarily though it is a farm which grows just about anything and we had freshly made ice tea from lemongrass ginger and tamarind mm!
The highlight of the trip for me and I think everyone was the cooking school which we did on the last day. It was on an organic farm about 30mins outside the city and in such a beautiful location. We went to a great local market first to buy some ingredients , then wandered around the farm picking and trying fruit and veg for our cooking- chris nearly blew his head off with the smallest chilli ive ever seen! we cooked five different dishes looking total pros in our aprons and mexican sombreros(! actually they are thai farming hats) we made green curry, tom yung soup, bananas in coconut milk amongst others. I think A for Effort went to dad who actually cooked, in a real life kitchen?!!! Wonders will never cease - I hope youve already cooked some curry for mum, dad! we had a real funny sailor who amused us with filthy stories and a lovely sweet thai lady woh never stopped hysterically laughing!
We had a wonderful time in Chiang Mai and it beats Bangkok hands down!
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