Our first three days in Chiang Mai have been awesome. A little more laid back than Bangkok, Chiang Mai, while very touristy, is a very cool city. Our first day was spent wandering around the city checking out their many Wats, including the amazing Wat Phra Singh. Our first day also included the pleasure, and some pain, of our first Thai Massages.
Because it feels like 40+ degrees every day, on our second day we decided to head a little west of town to float down the river with Chiang Mai Tubing. Cheap beer, good company and excellent food this little adventure was well worth it. We capped off the day at Chiang Mai's famed Night Bazaar where even Jen learned to fine tune her bartering skills. The following morning we were picked up by Travelhub tours where our guide May took us on a whirlwind trip up to the Golden Triangle and back. First stop on the trip was a local hot spring just North of Chiang Mai. Hot was an understatement, and after getting laughed at by some locals, we were able to get our feet in there long enough to snap a couple of pictures. From there we stopped at Wat Rong Khun or the White Temple. Different from any other Wat we have been to so far the White Temple is still under construction and the man behind it, Chalermchai Kositpipat, says it won't be finished for 2 more generations. A mixture of traditional and contemporary design the temple was unique and beautiful. Continuing on from there we headed North of Chiang Rai to the Golden Triangle, this is the place where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) all meet. It is called the Golden Triangle because it used to be a meeting point for the opium trade and because it was three countries swapping goods the only common currency was gold. The opium trade has long since faded from this destination, but it is still a very cool place. Casinos are illegal in Thailand, the first thing you can see from the river on the shores of both Myanmar and Laos are Casinos, The nickname for the one in Laos, Laos Vegas. The giant golden Buddha in a boat on the Thai side is there to judge water levels. A quick boat ride in the Mekong River and we were over to the duty free zone on the Laos side where we both had our first taste of Mekong Whisky. Mekong Whisky is rice whisky that has been flavoured with things like fruits, scorpions, snakes, turtles, ginseng and tiger penis. Jen had the ginseng and Andrew sampled the scorpion, once we were feeling bold it was back to Thailand for a quick stop off in a mountain village. The mountain village was cool but it is very apparent that this unspoilt traditional life is far from unspoilt. Our guide was excellent and explained how things used to be, it was an interesting experience.
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After a three days in Bangkok we were ready for a break from the city. following a short bus ride to the city of Pak Chong we were picked up and taken to a little slice of heaven in the jungle Khao Yai Nature Life Resort. This place has beautiful surroundings, great food, and a friendly staff. The package we signed up for included two guided tours.
The first was an afternoon tour that lead us to a natural spring where some locals were cooling off, and then in to a BAT CAVE. No Christian Bale wasn't there, but we did see some of the seven million bats that call this cave home. Once we had done a walk around the cave's two rooms the guides led us outside to the backside of the mountain where we watched all seven million fly out of one hole like a snake through the sky. They fly together like that for 10 kms and then fan out to hunt and they never go more than 60km away from their home and then before morning they all come back. Next morning we were off on a tour around Khao Yai National Park. Our guide JJ was amazing, she had worked in an office for 10 years decided she hated it, went back to school to study nature for a bit and then came out to work as a guide. After a quick stop off at a look out and the visitors centre she took us to the trail head where she kindly explained that the path was for babies and we were going to go find some wildlife and find we did. First creature we ran into happened to be a Scorpion which we were thrilled about (sarcasm). Next we saw some sexy spiders (HUGE), two types of Gibbons (these are apes), three types of hornbills (like Zazu, but less sassy), a few Macaques (not apes, Old World Monkeys, for Emma), some Sambar Deer and a Monitor Lizard (dragon). Once we were finished in the Jungle JJ took us to a beautiful waterfall and a stunning set of cliffs. All in all, it was a very cool trek and very well guided. After one more night in Khao Yai we were back to Bangkok on the bus and then off to Chaing Mai on the over night train. They say Bangkok is one of the hottest cities in the world... lets just say that "they" aren't wrong. Plus 30 with 74% humidity translates to more heat than these two land locked Albertans have felt in a while. Jen, being more built for the heat, immediately loved it. Andrew, who still has his winter coat on, is still getting adjusted, but getting over his fear of tank tops helped.
Day one had two missions, first get a phone, second head to the Reclining Buddha, the Royal Palace and the Emerald Buddha, simple enough. We set out map in hand bright eyed and bushy tailed on the way to the transit station. Once we arrived at our first stop on our walk to MBK Centre we ran into a nice man who informed us that he was a teacher at a local high school, and that unfortunately MBK Centre wasn't open until later, but if we took a ride on a TukTuk we could see a market that was only open today, and be back in time for opening. Initially we bit, being the good Canadians we are we thought "what a nice man helping out these poor travellers, definitely something we would do at home." Unfortunately that thought quickly turned into "this is starting to sound like a scam I read about, yup definitely a scam, we have to get out of here." We managed to get out of the situation un-scamed and the experience helped us just say no to the next 6 people who came up to show us something on a map. By the end of day one we had completed both our missions, phone in hand we saw Wat Pho and the Royal Palace. They were beautiful, both physically and spiritually something to behold. Day two we headed up North to check out Chatuchak market and after some quick bartering for some new tank tops we took the train all the way back down South and hopped on a Long Tail Boat for a quick river cruise up to Khao San Road. April 12-14 is Thai New Year or Songkran. Songkran is celebrated with water, a traditional washing away of the old year with hopes of a prosperous new year (we are paraphrasing, but that is the gist). In present day once the ceremonial side has been completed Songkran turns into the worlds largest water fight, and we were right in the middle. We had a blast walking up and down the streets squirt guns in hand partaking in the festivities. The clay on our faces is supposed to be good luck for the new year so we are hoping that translates to the rest of our adventure. Day 1 is in the books and we are officially time travellers. After a quick 1.5 hour flight from Calgary to Vancouver, some brief fun with a $25,000 bottle of scotch and the aquarium, we were able to meet up with some friends during our 4 hour layover. 6 Mimosas, 3 mojito and a few Heinekens later and we were off on our 12 hour voyage to Shanghai. The flight was uneventful and was full of excellent entertainment, including VIDEO GAMES! Following a short layover in Shanghai, we took a smooth hop over to Bangkok, that neither of us remember, apparently it is difficult to stay awake after 22 hours of travelling. We landed in Bangkok around 11:00 pm local time and made it to our hotel by midnight. The cab ride to the hotel was by far the most "adventurous" part of the journey and included a traffic jam, a "shortcut" and a brief drive by of some local "merchandise". Needless to say we are not in Kansas anymore, but we are excited.
So we have come to the conclusion that Jen is the planner and Andrew is the "last minute" type guy. Jen has been making lists and shopping and planning for weeks. Andrew says he'll pack his bag Sunday (we leave Thursday) and "figure it out". We both tend to overpack (Jen waaaaaay overpacks) so this is going to be a difficult task for the both of us. Either way a lesson will be learned. Only so much fits into a back pack (and of course you will have to carry this backpack for 6 weeks). Jen has purged about 6 times and we think the picture above is the final cut. There is a pile just outside the picture of clothes that did not make the cut. We gotta make room for new purchases! Yes yes we will bring you all back something nice ;) Overall we are so excited to be going on his big adventure to learn many things about new cultures, each other and ourselves. Lesson number 1 get a bigger back pack! Just kidding! Take the bare minimum when backpacking through South East Asia — it's an adventure! We will be sure to keep in touch (wifi permitting) and share our fun stories, so follow along on our big adventure! - The Tucks |