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Well the bus from Vientiane to Chiang Mai in Thailand was the most comfortable we have been on our whole trip. Huge chairs, plenty of leg room, drinks and snacks delivered to your chair and a soothing morning wake up call. First overnight bus we actually felt refreshed from.
After being arbitrarily dropped somewhere near our hotel we checked in and began to explore the local area by foot as we always have done. Best way in our opinion as you take in more. Laura got to sample her first Pad Thai (local noodle dish) and so began our Thai food adventure. After walking around we started noticing a few tuk tuk's advertising Tiger Kingdom. We were originally planned to visit the Tiger Temple in western Thailand however we had read some disturbing reviews that the Tigers were getting drugged and mistreated there. We did some research on Tiger Kingdom to find that it had much better publicity and reviews, so our decision was made! We spent the rest of the day checking out the bars in the area and soaking in the atmosphere of Chiang Mai, quite a city, even in a quiet period such as now.
The next day we hit Tiger Kingdom and were completely blown away by how much interaction you are allowed to have with the Tigers. You have a choice of 4 sizes of cat and we went for the Smallest, Small (which weren't small at all in our opinion!), and Biggest... in that order. After being brought into the Smallest tigers play pen it was hard to believe we were surrounded by TIGERS! These were up to 3 months old and very cute indeed. They were very playful and despite threat of discipline from the carers they continued to jump and chew each other's ears. The next 'pen' was the "small" (3-6 months) which is where we began to get a bit nervous as they were just as playful but the size of a VERY large dog! They would constantly give playful growls at each other as we weaved around them to try and get photos with one chilling on a perched log. The enclosures themselves were quite spacious and green with a pool too, 3 star resort maybe, and were always under the watchful eyes of the guides so felt safe. The final 'pen' was the Biggest which were 22 months old... bloody huge! Here we found 3 Tigers lazing on the floor and we got to have photos with each of them always being encouraged to "get our leg up" over them as well as stroke and cuddle them. It was incredible listening to their heart beats and their fur was just as soft as the baby ones. On our way out the guide showed us just how big their teeth are and brought us back to reality that these had the potential to eat humans. It didn't help that the guide jokingly told us that the biggest of the lot had a particular taste for Brits. I felt safe at this but Laura not so much haha!
That night we got tickets to see Muay Thai boxing, hard to escape in Chiang Mai, which was a good night all round of entertainment and drinks. Laura finally got to sample a Sangsom Bucket (for those that aren't familiar, this is local Thai Whiskey, Red Bull and Coke served in a beach bucket), and enjoyed it!
The next day we had booked a Thai cooking course which began at the local market being shown what fresh produce we would be using for our class. Plenty of exciting new spices and herbs and believe it or not, about 11 different types of rice were available! We stocked up and headed to the open air kitchen where we were presented with a cooking hob and workspace for the day. We were taught 4 dishes out of the cook book that we were soon to be given and each one was as tasty as the next. Needless to say, by the end of the course we were stuffed and a bit flushed as all dishes had a varying degree of spice to them, hot, hotter and firey! Well worth the heat though.
As much as there was to do in Chiang Mai, we decided to break up our time there and head north to Pai and Mae Hong Son for a week. Pai was to be our chill out time and what better place, sleepy and full of hippy like people. Apart from spending our days strolling the quaint little town and sitting on our porch, we rented a bike to explore the surrounding area which consisted of a waterfall (much like a natural water slide) and Pai Canyon. We sat at the canyon and watched the sun go down but unfortunately, due to the huge amount of Slash and Burn techniques used in the area, the ash created from this caused a very distinct haze over the valley. This became quite noticeable anywhere we went with a good view which was a shame. In some places you could even start to notice tiny bits of ash land on you. After our time in Pai we continued to Mae Hong Son near the Myanmar border for a couple of nights. This tiny little town was even quieter and there wasn't much to do at all. The main attraction was a large Wat on top of a mountain that overlooked a valley and the town of Mae Hong Son itself. There were some spectacular views here as you will see from the pictures but again were a little spoilt by the suspended ash in the air. This sight however was not without its charm and did make for some interesting sunsets.
Our northern loop then came to an end where we bussed it back to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai zoo was next on our list there which had a Jurassic Park feel to it as the main form of transport around the complex was by either monorail or shuttle and wasn't pedestrian friendly at all. However there was an Aquarium there which had a cool selection of sealife and a rather large underwater tunnel. There were also a family of Panda's on loan from China on display in their own habitat although they didn't do much apart from sleep and excrete, not in that particular order either.
After Chiang Mai we bussed it further south to Sukhothai and Ayutthaya for a spot of culture. First stop was Sukhothai where we stayed in the New build area. Our hotel actually had a pool which was luxury for us! After a hot sticky day in 37 degree heat and sun there was nothing better than to have a dip in the pool. Around the corner from our hotel was a friendly little restaurant called "Poo Restaurant". We had a little chuckle at this but we could not fault it. Not only did it have decent food, but it had the largest Belgian Beer selection I have ever seen outside of a Beer Festival. I was in heaven, sampling amazing Belgian beer and slowly appreciating the ridiculously high alcohol content of them (in other words getting wasted). The next day I cleared my head of Belgian influence and we rented a bike to explore the historical park. Here was plenty of ancient ruins from the 13th century, all of which had their own unique feel about them. There was something quite satisfying about exploring this park by motorbike. We got to see lots in a small space of time. Perfect.
Our final stop was to be Ayutthaya for our final spot of culture. Again full of ancient ruins which the city have simply built around making it part of their everyday horizon. We decided to do this area by foot but slowly began to regret that due to the blazing heat and long distances. Well worth it though and got to explore each temple one by one and catch some great pics. Check out the album.
This then brings us to the our final blog which encompasses Bangkok and below!
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