Wandergaels: Chiang Mai (Thailand)

We arrived into Thailand by plane having flown from Hong Kong. Most of our first day consisted of finding our feet around the town (with a trip to a couple of temples thrown in for good measure), and in the evening we went to see some Muay Thai in a local stadium. We saw six fights including a couple of underage (maybe 16 or 17 year olds) and a ladies fight, and it was well worth going to. (We also had a little incident just before going into the stadium where Aisling got 'viciously attacked' by a rat. Note to selves: don't stand beside open sewers in Thailand). On day 2, we went on a one-day tour of one of the many elephant sanctuaries in the area, which also included white-water rafting and a trip on a bamboo raft. We left our hostel early to catch the tuk-tuk to the sanctuary, which was just over an hour outside Chiang Mai. Firstly, we were introduced to the three elephants at the sanctuary, and immediately got on their good sides by giving them a good feed of bananas and sugar cane, which they eagerly grabbed out of our hands with the ends of their trunks. Once fully acquainted, we were able to hop up on the elephants' backs for a little walk-around, after which we went for a dip into the adjacent river with the elephants to wash their leather-like skin with some wood brushes that we had made earlier ourselves. Aisling somehow ended up on one of the elephant's backs in the river, but didn't last too long there after the elephant started shooting water back over its head and soaking Aisling in one quick flick of its trunk. Unlike some of the other elephant sanctuaries in the area, the one we visited didn't use hooks or chains to control the elephants, and we were only allowed to sit on the elephants for no more than a couple of minutes each. Once finished with the elephants, we had lunch and headed off for a trek. This brought us along a muddy path through a jungle area, where we passed through a couple of villages populated by local tribes (we also met a tarantula hiding in a little borrow along our path). At the end of our walk we arrived at a secluded waterfall where we went for a swim and an all-natural shower to cool us off, after which we went white-water rafting down a nearby river. We finished up our river experience with some bamboo rafting, during which I ended up putting my foot through two shoots in my raft. Luckily, the raft was unhurt!

Overall, Chiang Mai is a very chilled-out, easy-going place with lots of bars, restaurants, coffee shops (we got our breakfast in 'Bubbles Live' every morning), and Thai massage parlours (and lots of middle-aged Western men with young Thai women on their arms). It's an easy place to spend a day sitting in a bar or coffee shop looking out at tourists cycling or scooting past. Now off to Laos...