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After our epic 2 day boat ride up the Mekong River in Laos, we finally crossed the boarder to Thailand! It was by far the weirdest boarder crossing I've done (so far!), as our boat stopped one side of the river, we took a bus to the immigration office to be 'stamped out' of Laos, then boarded another boat, crossed the river & were 'stamped in' to Thailand. For about 10 minutes, we were just in the river in 'no mans land'. Haha.
We then spent the night in Chiang Rai before the 4 hour bus trip to Chiang Mai. We stopped along the way at the White Temple. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL, but also really quite odd. The upside of the temple is painted with murals of 'modern heroes' such as Batman, Michael Jackson, the guy from the Matrix, Sailor Moon.. Etc etc.. Weird right?!
Arriving in Chiang Mai, I immediately knew that my decision to leave the tour early & stay in by myself for a few nights was the right decision. This place was gorgeous, & very chillaxed in comparison to the Bangkok that awaited me.
After a quick walk around, I went off solo in a place to stay once the rest of the gang left me for Bangkok. I visited 2 guest houses that were recommended in Lonely Planet & found that their shoebox size was not for me. Disappointed & thinking I'd have to find somewhere the next day, I approached 2 random western guys that were walking down this strange alley as I was leaving. After a short chat, they told me they were staying a little B&B down a side alley (off an alley - quite a place to fins when drunk at 3am I can tell you!). Bravely/stupidly, I decided to follow these 2 Irish randoms further down into the maze that is the backstreets of Chiang Mai & found the most gorgeous little B&B :) I made my reservation on the spot.
That night was our 'farewell dinner' on the river, with a few of us staying out till 1am in the dodgy red light district. Eeeeek!!
3 others decided to stay on for one more night, so the next day a few of us went Zip-lining on 'flight of the gibbons' (google it - freaking scary & still can't believe I did it!). & That night we ventured to the night markets & spent up reasonably well..
The following day, Marcia & I went to a cooking school - what an awesome day! i learnt Pad Thai & had loads of laughs :) Before the rest if the gang waded to the overnight train to Bangkok, I checked into my B&B & met up with my new Irish friends for some dinner, which turned into multiple drinks, which turned into a surprise midnight birthday cake for Graham, which turned into Tash getting home at 3am & snoozing through my 5am alarm for the Anzac dawn service. Whooops.. Thankfully the boys left for Laos that day, so I could no longer be tempted into trying to out-drink 2 Irishmen! Lol. I may have beat them at pool twice, but they can hold their liquor much Bette than I can! Haha.
I farewells them as they got on the bus & went of to jump on my Segway for my tour around the Old City. My Oh My.. Such fun was had! Segways are awesome! Didn't fall off once & had loads of fun - much more fun than if I was waking! Haha.
My belly was still upset from the night before, so after a nap, & Te adventure of my $6 shampoo & haircut (haha!) I had my first meal for the day at about 5pm - A single serve pizza from Pizza Hut! Lol. Although I order Super Supreme, it tasted a but odd, but I still ate it & then went to bed after another wander around the night markets :)
My final day in Chiang Mai, I wandered the streets for 2 hours in search of a fish 'foot spa' only to find nothing open before 10am.. So I went home, packed my bags & grabbed a Tuktuk to the airport (mind you, my bag took up more space then I did!haha) for my dirt ever Air Asia experience! Eeeeeeek!
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