We ended up spending quite a long time in Chiang Mai which was great. Steve had a contact who let us stay in a really nice condo he owns for free the whole time and we had some time to just chill and do nothing for a bit! We left Bangkok around 6am Friday morning, arriving at the airport only about 4 hours early because the Steve-loving-ladyboy told us it would take so long to get there with the Bangkok traffic – lies! Anyway, we caught our flight and we were picked up by Martin, the guy who lives in Chiang Mai and owns the condo.
We were knackered so we pretty much dumped our bags and slept for a bit. The weather was really bad the first few days we were there, apparently it hasn’t rained for a long time so the weather was pretty torrential! We managed to explore the city for a bit in between the rain and just wander around. One of the main reasons we came to Chiang Mai was to apply for our Indian visa, we arrived too late on the Friday so had to apply on the Monday and then wait 6 days for processing. It meant that we could spend the weekend printing off our application, getting photos done and all that palava. On Saturday evening Martin let us borrow his scooter – it’s the first time I’ve ever been on a scooter/motorbike/moped whatever the hell it was so I was a bit scared, it took a while to get used to! But we had our helmets and Steve had strict instructions that he wasn’t allowed to go fast and so I got used to it pretty quickly. The main centre of Chiang Mai is a perfect square surrounded by a moat – on a map it looks so simple but it was actually stupid the amount of times we managed to get lost!
On the Sunday we went into a hostel and enquired about some things to do in Chiang Mai – we knew we wanted to spend a day with the elephants and we had done a fair bit of research but we wanted some more help. I didn’t want to pay to go somewhere where they would be tied up and not treated right. They suggested the best place to go to – a small elephant sanctuary with only 8 elephants that don’t let you ride them but let you do all sorts of other cool stuff. So we booked in for Wednesday. That evening was the famous Sunday night street market. I was really excited as this was the one I’d been to before when I came a few years ago and I know it’s just full of stuff that I want to buy but can’t fit in my bag to take home! We arrived when they were still setting up so we decided to get a massage. Thai massages aren’t exactly relaxing but they make you feel really nice afterwards – I’d had loads before from the last time I came but it was Steve’s first time, apart from the touching his feet I think he enjoyed it! After an hour’s massage the market was in full swing. It is absolutely HUGE no way you could even see every stall. We bought loads of cool stuff for presents when we get home. And definitely practiced our bargaining skills it was really fun and a very successful trip!
Monday morning we were up early to go to the Indian embassy. It started off well by going to completely the wrong place but we managed to get there in the end. After the nightmare of China I was pretty nervous but had heard good things about the embassy here – that they were friendly and a lot more laid back than in Bangkok. The embassy itself looked just like a house and when we arrived a man came out to look over our forms. We had everything but he was not happy that we were applying a month in advance. He kept saying we should apply when we’re in Beijing (we had not printed out our new flight itinerary showing we weren’t going to China anymore – I thought they were just look at the entry and exit date, not even bother where we were coming from!) Obviously this was going to be impossible for us and I thought “oh no not again” as he started with more and more reasons to refuse us. The standard India tourist visa is valid for 6 months so we knew we could apply. We argued our case but he was having none of it. The main guy that decides yes or no was inside with someone else who perfect timing just finished. Exhausted with us the man who kept saying no took us in to the other guy so we would be quiet. The main man looked through our papers, saw our passports had lots of other visas inside and shouted at the other man “WHAT IS THE PROBLEM!?” Then proceeded to yell at him in another language. We sat there just a little bit smug. He said he could only give us a 3 month visa but that wasn’t a problem for us – as long as it covered the time we were there we were happy! So reluctantly the other man processed our application with a list of things that we had to bring when we came back (none of which we needed when we did come back). Thankfully though it was all resolved and we left our passports with them to collect the next week.
The next day we hired out a scooter for ourselves. We wanted to go to a canyon about 30 minutes out of Chiang Mai. We set up google maps on our phones and headed off. Amazingly we managed to get there very smoothly without getting lost. We arrived in the morning and there were very few people there, the water was amazingly blue and there were huge rocks which divided different pools. We were desperate to get in as it was something stupid like 38 degrees by this point. We spoke to one guy who had jumped off one of the cliffs which must have been about 15/20 metres high. The water is supposed be 35 metres deep so it should be easy enough but Thailand is not big on safety and we had heard some horror stories online of jumping off the wrong point in this place so I wasn’t feeling it! We climbed down to the canyon instead and took a swim – not so refreshing more like swimming in bath water it was so warm! But nice all the same even if it did dye everything orange. We met a couple from New Zealand and the girl was a bit braver than us – we watched her jump off the cliff which was definitely a bit scary! But she made it out alive so all is good. By the time the afternoon came around it started to become quite a bit busier so we hopped back on the scooter and back into town for some lunch. We then went back the condo which has a pool and jumped straight in. That evening we drove to the night bazaar which had some more markets to wander around.
Wednesday came around and it was one of our most exciting days of the whole trip. We were up early to get picked up and taken to the elephant sanctuary. About an hour out of Chiang Mai, we had opted to do the full day experience – double the price but I’m SO glad we did it. We started the day by changing into our Mahout outfits. The elephants are familiar with the smells of this fabric so it comforts them, our guide (who also was a ladyboy but a very nice one this time) explained that if we wore our own clothes the elephants may find it distressing as it is unfamiliar which can lead to them becoming aggressive. There was only a group of 6 of us (plus a 2 year old – why you would bring a baby to play with elephants 20 times the size of it I’m not quite sure) so it was quite nice and we had good opportunities to ask lots of questions. We sat on a mat and were given huge bags of tamarind (full of bugs and flies!) and big bags of salt. We had to squish the sticky tamarind together and cover in salt to make balls that we would feed to the elephants. It acts as a kind of medicine for them that they get apparently every few days. After packing up our tamarind balls we went to visit a female elephant about 19 years old with her two month old baby. Soooo cute! The mum and baby were tied together with a long piece of rope but the Mahout guides explained that this was only because if they didn’t the baby would run off everywhere (imagine an uncontrollable toddler!) into other elephant territory and the mum would get aggressive and the whole thing would be a nightmare! So poor mum had to follow baby around everywhere it wanted to go. The baby could still only have milk so we all fed the mum the tamarind which she loved. We got to stroke them and rub their trunks – our guide took our gopro for practically the whole day which meant we got some amazing photos but got to really enjoy being with the elephants without worrying about capturing any of it on camera! After feeding the mum, the baby decided it wanted to play in the mud bath, which was so funny. Everyone else in our group was a bit wary I think (understandable, you forget how huge elephants actually are and when there’s no fence and they decide to change direction or come near you you have to really run and jump out the way to avoid being squashed!) but me and Steve jumped straight in this horrible groggy mud pool with them. We scrubbed their skin and covered them in mud to keep the mosquitos away. The baby was rolling about everywhere and it was such a great experience. Afterwards we collected some corn for them while the other elephants came to where we are and then left them to go have some lunch of our own.
We were given some nice traditional Thai food and a chance to relax and escape from the heat. (Also to try and attempt to wash off the mud caked top to toe on us). Afterwards we got back into the minivan and were taken to a sugar cane farm. Here we were given a knife and had to chop down the sugar cane which we’d give to the elephants. We also got to chew on a few pieces too which was strange – so sweet! Then we were taken to our next meeting place where we were reunited with mum and baby as well as one more fully grown elephant and a very playful 5 year old elephant. We walked with them through the jungle to a big river which they ran in. It was amazing to see how much they loved it. Elephants don’t sweat like us so they get extremely hot – the river must have felt amazing for them! It was like playing with children they were dunking themselves, falling over sideways, swimming and wallowing while we splashed them and got squirted in return. It was so much fun I can’t even explain! As we headed out of the river though something bit my toe in the water (the water is brown you can’t see anything) and OW I could feel it going through my foot. It hurt so much the guides came running over while Steve held me up dramatically hobbling. After 2 minutes though it faded completely but very strange! Something also wrapped itself around Ste’s foot – God knows what that was! Anyway, after that minor trauma we walked the elephants back up the river again. After a shower and change it was the end of our day and we went back home. An amazing experience that I’ll never forget.
The next day we laid by the pool and did absolutely nothing – heaven! Thai people avoid the sun at all costs so we basically had it to ourselves. On Friday we hired a scooter again and went to Doi Suthep, a famous temple at the top of a mountain in Chiang Mai. Every monk must visit this temple at some point in their lives so we were keen to see if it was as impressive as it sounded. The road up the mountain was very very windy which took some getting used to but again we made it there no problem. Like everywhere in Thailand, foreigners are charged to get in so we paid (like £1) and had a look around. The detail like most temples was really intricate and the whole place was quite impressive. The views of Chiang Mai from that high up were also really nice.
We still had a few days until we could collect our visa and leave so we spent most of the time just chilling and exploring. Martin took us to a lake for lunch one day which was very calm and quiet and we visited all the markets again. We booked our flight to the Thai school I stayed at in 2013 for only 4 hours after collecting our visa so I was praying the whole thing would go smoothly. It did and we caught our flight no bother.
We’re now in Phu Kradueng and it’s been so great to see Ratchanee again and spend time with the kids at school. I’ll let you know about it all soon!
Chiang Mai I think is one of the nicest places in Thailand – a definite must see if you go!
Abby x
Abby Goes Travelling! 