Day 38: Tues 23rd Nov 2010 – Day 39: Wed 24th Nov 2010 – Chiang Mai > Chiang Rai

Our time in Chiang Mai was at an end, we had only expected to spend three to four days here but it turned out to be a week. When I first arrived I got the feeling it was going to be a very cool city and I leave with that exact thought. The pace of life in the north of Thailand seems far slower than that in the south making the population that bit more chilled out. The only think I will regret missing out on in Chiang Mai is the kick boxing fight nights. Due to illness for a good chunk of time in the city is was badly in need of sleep every night and never made it to one of the kick boxing arenas. At least this is a reason for me to come back in the future.

Next port of call would be Chiang Rai. We hadn't done much research into this city and expected to turn up and find things to entertain ourselves. We arrived in the evening and had a little explore and found a really nice night market. The morning after we tried to explore the the place a little more but all it has really is the night market, this gave us a good excuse to chill in some bars and read up about our next destination.

Day 37: Mon 22nd Nov 2010 – Water Festival

 

By coincidence we happened to be in what we had been told was the best city in Thailand for one of their biggest festivals of the year. I hadn't read into what the festival is really about but I can assume it's giving thanks for the water that brings life to the land.

In the evening the main streets of the city were swarming with people. Parades come and go with loud music and heavily decorated floats and people in traditional dress. Hundreds of stalls are set up selling food and all sorts of other things that Thai people like. The main even of the festival though was the lanterns. Thousands of people set of lanterns which float into the air and decorate the sky. Charlotte and I sent up a lantern of our own to bring us good luck and health for a year.

We spent the evening walking the streets avoiding fireworks that the locals let off from their hands or just throw into the air. Once our feet ached we headed back to the hostel and were kept awake by the booming fireworks.

Day 35: Sat 20th Nov 2010 – Day 36: Sun 21st Nov 2010 – Elephant Riders

It was an early morning start for our activity of the day which would no doubt be an experience we would remember for a long time. Seeing elephants was something that was on our list to do in Asia and having read about the treatment of elephants we decided the only ethical way spend some time with them was also the most expensive. Originally I had only though we would go for a ride on an elephant and Charlotte had joked that she wanted to spend a day learning to be an elephant trainer, which is exactly what the day we had booked was. We were supposed to join a group of 20 but the main session was fully booked so instead of booking us to a different day the arranged a private session for us.

When we arrived at Ban Chang (Translates to “Home of Elephants”) the owner of the park sat down with us and told us about the park, its vision and future plans. This guy is so passionate about his elephants having rescued them all from old lives logging and walking city streets. The little presentation he gave was quite moving and at points I thought he was about to shed a tear. It was also important for understand the history of elephants in the region and why they need to have rescue centres and the cost involved, for us to appreciate why we had to pay so much to visit.

The first contact with the elephants is aimed at getting them to like you so we were given a couple of hundred bananas to feed herd. In a usual session two people would feed one elephant but because we had our private session two of us got to feed about 18 of them. Its quite a daunting task at fist approaching a group of elephants with bunches of bananas especially as we were told to put them in their mouths and not let them take them with their trunk. Thankfully each elephant at the park has its own mahout (elephant trainer) to keep them nice and calm and not trample us. Every time you would walk past one it would reach out with its trunk and try and playfully pull you over to feed it.

It took about 15 minutes for us to hand out all the bananas and by the end we were fairly comfortable approaching the giants animals. Just as we were feeling at ease the anxiety levels went back up again when we actually had to learn how to ride them. This wasn't exactly going to be a ride at Disney land as there would be no seat to sit on or handle to hold on to. Although daunting to start with it was actually fairly easy to learn how to command our elephant to lie down so we could climb on its neck, and then getting it to walk, stop, turn left and right weren't much problem either. I found it really amazing how easy it was to control such a powerful animal.

Moving on at a very quick pace having only just had one go each at walking our elephant in a figure of eight we were then ready to go for a longer ride up into the mountains. One of the benefits of having a private session was the tour guide became our own private photographer who seemed to have walked the track so many times he knew where to take all the best shots.

Once we had finished out round trip up and down the mountain we need to take the elephant for a bath. Having ridden her into a lake we had to give her a good clean throwing buckets over water and scrubbing with brushes. The end of the bath was also the queue for the end of our condensed crash course in becoming a mahout. As I predicted it really was something I don't think I will forget for a long, long time. All the elephants seem so happy and playful at the park and I really hope the owner can fulfil his dreams of rescuing more elephants and expanding the park to give them even better living conditions.

The day after the elephants was a fairly lazy day in Chiang Mai except for moving to a new hostel. The old one seemed to be making me too ill so we upgraded to a far nicer place to an extra fee of £1 each a night.

Day 32: 17th Nov 2010 – Day 34: 19th Nov 2010 – Chiang Mai

The first full day in Thailand's second city we decided to do the Lonely Planet walking tour. After a few hours of walking in the mid day heat we must have seen 10 Buddhist temples from the outside and 3 or 4 on the inside. My conclusion is that most temples seem pretty much the same except for one. At the back temples usually have a big Buddha statue surrounded by loads of smaller ones. This one temple had managed to acquire a Madame Tussard's style wax work of an old monk that sat among the smaller Buddhas. It took a few minutes to subtle staring to confirm it wasn't a real person.

On the second day in Chaing Mai we got to do one of the things we had been looking forward to doing on our trip. The activity for the day was a Thai cooking course. Like any activity do seem to do in Asia the price always includes pick up from the hostel, usually in a mini bus. The cooking course do it slightly differently and send a lady on a moped to pick everyone up one at a time.

After it taking 10 minutes to be shipped one at a time to the school the first part of the course was a trip to the market which was right by our hostel so we had to walk back to where we had just been. When we got there we learned a little bit about the rice, noodles and tofu we would be using in the class. The market itself isn't too different to what we would have at home except for the hygiene standards. They have no problem at all with flies crawling over the meat and blood running from the stalls into the road. We were reassured that meat we were going to use was bought from a place that sold meat more suitable for western stomachs. Back at the school we then learned about the vegetables we would use in their vegetable garden.

The cooking lessons themselves were a really good experience, we got to cook a meat dish, a noodle dish, an appetizer, a curry (and the paste for it), a soup and a dessert. You would be very surprised how quick and easy Thai food it to prepare. Each time we finished cooking a dish we sat down and enjoyed out creations.

In the evening I had planned to go to a bar that we had seen that sold beer towers (4 litres) and I was going to sit and drink a tower to myself. Before the drinking started we went for dinner and very uncharacteristically for me I had lost my appetite and was feeling a bit ill. I ate as much as I could but was far from clearing my plate. When I said that I wasn't feeling great and wasn't to sure about the beer tower Charlotte seemed to egg me on to go through with my plan. As the picture shows I did order the tower. When it arrived my mood changed and I got stuck in. I consumed the first litre at a good pace but was starting to get the feeling of the beer just sitting on top of my dinner. After 2 more litres I needed Charlottes help and we shared the last one. I'm a bit disappointed I didn't finish it on my own but am very relieved that none went to waste.

When the morning arrived it was clear that I should have listened to my body when I wasn't sure about the tower. At first I didn't feel to bad probably because I was still a bit drunk but as that wore off my symptoms worsened. By the time I got up I was suffering from a chest infection, headache, cold and what felt like my eyes were being pressed into my head. Although the alcohol undoubtedly worsened the situation I think the cause of my illness was the room we were staying in. The bathroom was causing mould in the room, the bathroom door was so rotten about 3 inches of the bottom had disintegrated and if you looked under the pillow case the pillows had gone the colour of a strong cup of tea (this is a warning for anyone thinking of staying in the Malak, Chiang Mai). I spent the whole day drinking Coke and popping pills to try and relieve my symptoms.

Day 31: 16th Nov 2010 – Hong Kong > Bangkok > Chiang Mai

Today was our flight back to Bangkok. From there we planned to head to Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand but didn't have a route planned. When we landed it was too late to get a bus so we headed to the departures area of the airport. After about 15mins of touring the airline desks we had a flight to Chiang Mai booked leaving a couple of hours later.

Day 28: Sat 13th Nov 2010 – Day 30: Mon 15th Nov 2010 – Hong Kong

We spent Saturday morning doing a little exploring on foot. As the city is situated on the side of a mountain this involves a lot of walking up and down stairs which I'm sure must keep the locals very fit. During our wandering we found a carnival being set up so decided on going there in the evening. Before we could enjoy the festivities though we had a mountain to get to the top of. We had read that it was a hard two hour plus walk to the “The Peak” (the top mountain on Hong Kong Island), this didn't sound too appealing so opted to get the tram instead.

The views at the top make you really appreciate just what an amazing city it is. There are literally hundreds of skyscrapers making up the skyline. The view on other side of the mountain its the complete opposite all you can see if green slopes and sea. Having thoroughly looked in every direction we decided to make our way down on foot. During the ascent we were very glad we didn't walk up as the people who were seemed to be well kitted out in running gear and still gushing with sweat.

The evenings entertainment was the carnival we had seen earlier in the day. The roads were lined with stalls selling food and drink, it very much reminded me of Notting Hill carnival just a bit classier. We had some drinks and watched various stages with entertainment and had a merry time. When it started getting late he headed back to the apartment picking up some beers on the way. This is when the drunken silliness really began. Michael had acquired and inflatable hammer which inspired us to start playing drinking “Mallets Mallet”. This obviously worked well at getting us very drunk and causing the next thing to happen. Michael asked at 4am if he could trim my Mohawk. It had been getting a little long so I agreed even though I though his clippers would make it a bit shorter than I would like it. Before he went in with the clippers he wanted to trim it with scissors, bad idea, very bad idea. With in 5 seconds he had done irreversible damage that meant I had to shave my whole head down to a 0.5 grade. The clippers would only thenn work for about a minute at a time before the battery would run out and they would need charging. During the charging time we had some more beers to numb the pain of losing my prize hair cut.

The whole of Sunday was spent recovering from the previous nights partying.

On the Monday we opted for a more fun than cultural day. We headed to Ocean park, a theme park a short way out of the centre of town which like most things in Hong Kong is based on the side of a mountain. We had a good time on the rides but did realise how spoilt we are at home with our big, high budget parks. I did find though that roller coasters there seemed to go slower but that actually seemed to make them more scary, the rides at home are so fast you cant really tell what's happening.

Day 27: Fri 12th Nov 2010 – Hong Kong: Big Buddha

On our first day in HK we agreed with our guides Michael and Sandy it would be a good idea to do something touristy. Sandy had a friend working today at a cable car which takes you over a small mountain to a giant statue of Buddha. When we heard about the friend working at the cable car we didn't quite realise how handy this would be. The queue just to buy a ticket was similar to what you would expect for the best ride at Thorpe Park in the middle of summer on a nice day. We walked past it all and cut straight to the front. Once we bought the cheapest ticket going we then got to skip another long queue to actually get on the cable car. We rode in a VIP car with glass floor which was supposed to cost a ridiculous amount. The trip was nice and the glass floor was less scary than you would think. This has been our first chance to see what HK is like from a natural point of view and it seems very different to the other parts of Asia we've been in. The mixture of rocky slopes and stiff looking shrubs reminded me a lot of the Scottish Highlands.

By the time we reached the other end of the cable car we were all ready for some lunch. Part of going to see the Big Buddha is going to the Buddhist restaurant which serves the kind of food monks eat. The meal was made up of several dishes all of which were vegetarian and none of them especially strongly flavoured. I enjoyed them as vegetable dishes but a growing lad like myself really needs some meat with every meal. Overall the meal must have been very low calorie so I can understand what you rarely see a fat monk.

The Buddha statue is sat at the top of a hill with a staircase leading up to it. Climbing those stairs showed me that my fitness levels has already taken a missive nose dive since leaving home less than a month ago. At the top of the stairs there's a 360 degree viewing platform with some really good views of the mountain islands protruding from the sea.

With the day moving on quickly we headed back into the city to see another fairly unique attraction. Every night the Hong Kong skyline lights up with a light show which lasts for about 15 minutes. After standing in the cold killing time the show started and in all honesty I was pretty disappointed. Its hard to tell if the conditions weren’t right or if it was just a bit crap. Oh well at least I can say I've seen it. To make up for it though dinner was at TGI Fridays which cost us 2 days travelling budget each for a burger and a couple of beers, oops.

Day 24: Tues 9th Nov 2010 – Day 26: Thurs 11th Nov 2010 – Koh Samui > Bangkok > Hong Kong

Over the past few days there has just been one thing to do, get the Bangkok airport in time for our flight to Hong Kong. Hong Kong wouldn't have usually been in our plans as it's a fair way from all the other countries we're visiting which means flights are pricey. On top of that it's a very expensive city to be in. However, my brother has recently moved there which means free accommodation and hopefully some subsidised fun.

The journey from Koh Samui to Bangkok was a little bit of a marathon. We started on the morning of the 9^th getting a mini bus which took us to a coach, which took us to a boat taking us back to mainland Thailand, we then got another mini bus that dropped us at the train station to get a sleeper train to the capital. All seemed to be going well until Charlotte opened her bag on the train and realised things weren't in the same order she left them. She did some rummaging and found she'd had her handbag, belt, perfume and a pair of pants stolen. Although there was nothing of great value gone I still had to do a fair amount of consoling as she did not like that people had been going through her stuff. When we arrived in Bangkok I found I'd had a tiny bottle of aftershave and half a small bottle of mouthwash nicked, I was just glad they didn't know some of my t-shirts and boardshorts are probably worth a weeks wages to them.

Our day in Bangkok was spent replacing some of the things we'd had stolen. In the evening we went to Chinatown and had a meal at a night restaurant that had its tables in the road. In the morning we got a taxi to the airport link train station. Only then did we find out that a taxi costs about half what the city’s metro charge to get around. At the airport I looked for a thank you for having us gift for my brother but decided against spending the £15 they charge for a box of Celebrations or £10 medium sized Toblerone.

We arrived Hong Kong city centre late in the evening to meet my brother, Michael. We dropped our stuff at his Apartment, met up with Michaels girlfriend (Sandy) and headed out for food.

Day 22: Sun 7th Nov 2010 – Day 24: Tues 9th Nov 2010 – Koh Samui

The journey from Koh Lanta was a long one including many bus changes, a bus running out of petrol, a mini bus driver that had to run all his errands including picking up his laundry which passengers then had to sit with on their laps, a boat and then Charlottes stomach bug that she picked up in Phi Phi (what we had thought was a hang over originally) making her boff in a taxi. So after 12 hours on the road without a meal we were welcomed with rain. We were however lucky again as our only full day in Samui managed to produce a fair few hours of sun. As we we're leaving the beachy southern islands of Thailand the next day we spend every single one of those hours at the beach topping up the tan.

We spent the evening eating drinking and watching wrestling on the main strip of the resort we were staying in. I get the feeling Samui would be a great place for a lads holiday with all the themed bars, loud music and happy hours.

Day 20: Fri 5th Nov 2010 – Day 22: Sun 7th Nov 2010 - Koh Lanta

The Thai weather hasn't been great as of late it has regularly been raining for several hours a day and at unpredictable times and when its not raining it is usually very overcast. Our only full day in Lanta was the overcast type but this didn't affect our plans for the day. We had read that the best way to explore the island was by motorbike. We got up early and paid our £4 for 24 hour hire of a florescent orange scooter. The whole day was spent zipping around the island looking at the scenery and nature. We would ride until our bums went numb then get off and check out the area then get back on and go again.

In the evening we went to a restaurant that we had seen did a fish barbecue as I fancied trying a whole fish as I'd never had one before and felt this would be the perfect time. I chose the fish I was going to have and it was taken off to be cooked. While we waited the rain started coming down really hard and all of a sudden the power went. As the restaurant was on the beach we could see all the others had lost power too. This was bad news for me as when my whole fish arrived I had to try and figure out how to eat it without getting a mouth full of bones with only the light from a candle. I got there in the end and really enjoyed my red snapper.

Day 17: Tues 2nd Nov 2010 - Day 20: Friday 5th Nov 2010 - Koh Phi Phi

Having left Phuket where we seemed well below the average age of the current holiday makers we were very pleased when we arrived in Koh Phi Phi to find the reverse situation. Most of the island just seems to be backpackers with only a few things in mind; drinking, chilling out and for some a little bit of diving.

We originally only booked into our hostel for one night but ended staying three. As we had been travelling that day the first night we just did a little tour of the area which really doesn't take long in Phi Phi. You could fit the main part of the island into a football pitch and this includes the majority of bars, restaurants and hotels. We decided to go for a few drinks in a bar that had a good happy hour on and I bought my first bucket (like a bucket a child would have at the seaside but filled with alcohol) for a couple of pounds. We sat drinking our drinks and got taking to a couple because the guy had just ordered the bars challenge meal. The challenge was if you could eat 3 beef burgers, about 3 potatoes worth of wedges and 2 onions worth of onion rings in the thickest batter known to man in half an hour the meal would be free. Needless to say the bar won and I ended up eating loads of the left overs. On the down side it seemed my bucket had next to no alcohol in it. We left the bar to go and see what was going on down at the beach but the heavens opened, we had to head home to dry ourselves off and ended up crashing.

The next night we headed out for a proper drinking session. Having realised the buckets were a bit of a rip off I decided to take some of my own vodka out with me to top them up nicely. This turned out to be a great idea. We spent the whole evening at beach bars watching light and fire shows, meeting lots of people and dancing.

I have no idea what time we got home from our night out but what ever time it was it meant I woke up 5 minutes before check out so I had to rush to reception and book in for another night. Our last full day on the island was spent in the room with Charlotte emptying the contents of her stomach several times an hour.

We both loved Phi Phi and my only regret was not taking a boat trip around the surrounding islands to see some more of its beauty, who knows though I may be back there before I go home.

Day 13: Thurs 28th Oct 2010 – Day 17: 2nd Nov 2010 - Phuket

We had decided to book into our hostel for 5 nights which is quite a long time to stay in one place for travellers, especially if there's no activity planned. As this is our first break from work in over a year we both thought we deserved a little bit of holiday style beach time and decided the paradise island beaches of Phuket would be very fitting.

There's not really a whole lot to say about our days in Phuket as it was very much like the standard summer holiday. We spent our first few days on the beach sunning it up then heading out in the evening for dinner and some drinks. I got a nice bit on sun burn on the first day at the beach but it didn't stop me going back. Annoyingly the last couple of days were really rainy so we just lazed around having some well earned rest. Even more annoyingly is that I had planned of taking my photos of the place on these days but as it was grey and wet I didn't see the point as it wouldn't make any of you jealous.

I found Phuket quite a strange place to visit as it obviously caters to a huge number of holiday makers from Australia but as it wasn't a holiday season for them the place was pretty dead. The hundreds of bars that lined the streets all sat empty except for a a few young Thai women sitting at the front of each trying to entice men in. I assume this is how middle age men meet their young Thai brides. On the last couple of days when it rained we were itching to meet some like minded people that we could sit and have a few drinks with but it seemed Phuket really wasn’t the place for us to meet other backpackers.