Chiang Mai!
Okay firstly apologies for the delay in this blog, I was simply having too much fun!! It was NOT because I was intentionally neglecting my blogging duties!!
Ok so we are now in Chiang Mai, up North, it is an old walled city, and quite westernised in its restaurants, cafes and feel!
We arrived to our hostel by a limo style SUV, talk about arriving in style to a below budget cost hostel!!
Our hostess was pleasant enough and gave us a detailed map of the city which was very helpful!
She explained to us that our room was 'a big bed in a small room'....well she didn't lie! It was tiny but comfortable and clean!
We excitedly start unpacking so we could get out quick and explore the city at night!
I saw Daniels face turn white and his eyes grow twice the size, uh oh what is it??
'The wallet, its not here, I don't have it, its not in this room'
I remained calm hoping it would translate to him .After thoroughly searching all the bags, it was clear we didn't have it. I rushed down to reception to check there, nothing, I then asked if I could make a few calls, which she very kindly obliged. I called all Air Asia, Chiang Mai airport and tried Krabi airport too, to no avail unfortunately. I was still confident we would get it back though. The Thai people are honest and kind and I knew whoever found it would give it to the necessary person.
We decided to be proactive and go to the airport ourselves. So off we went. We ran around to all places we had been, taxi rank, taxi office, information desk. We even ransacked the taxi we had been in.
We then found the AirAsia office, within a few seconds a brown wallet was being waved in the air. We nearly didn't believe it was ours. Such relief/adrenalin waved over us and we literally jumped for joy!
There was 500 baht in the wallet which would be about 15e. So we gave it to the lads. It was so funny the guy we were trying to give it to stood there fists clenched unsure of what to do. He eventually exclaimed 'We can get pizza'
Happy heads all round.
Starving we went out for a stroll and found a great place along the river, pretty much eating your Pad Thai on the road, but the food was so good and it was bustling, we may have treated ourselves to an awl Chang!
The next day we strolled around CM and it was a pleasure to do. Its very clean, no smell, modern and super places to hang out, including a beautiful park. Full of yoga practitioners standing on their heads and acrobats!
CM also has a hellluva lot of temples, over 200! They are called 'Wat......' and they are a place of worship and also where men and women can go to practice and be ordained as monks, there are plenty strolling around and you are encouraged to speak to them, if you are a woman speaking to them however, they must have another monk present, and you cannot directly hand something to them, it must be placed down for them to pick up!
The first we visited, I had to be covered head to toe in cloth as I was wearing shorts and a spaghetti top. One of the temples I could not enter due to a 'men only' sign outside it, the reason women could not enter being due to the fact that we menstruate! #nocomment
Two of the other temples had two monks, passed, who were embalmed and encased! Could not stop staring, expecting him to blink or a finger to twitch!
One of the nights we visited the night bazaar....goes on for miles, selling all sorts of good stuff. Food, clothes, Birkenstocks, local handmade crafts, jewelry etc.
Along one of the streets we walked down were a few bars with young thai girls and lady boys dancing and luring men in. Seemed quite seedy but a fairly lucrative business!!
We booked ourselves in for a day tour to Doi Inthanon National Park. One of my favourite things we did on the tour was visit a tribal village who settled there from Burma after WW11 for fear of being executed in their country. When they first arrived they grew Poppy to make Opium. They made money from it and also took it and became addicted and a nuisance for the country. The government then sent charities up to the tribes to teach them how to grow crops, coffee, scarves etc and make money and become valuable to the country. I was at first unsure about how I felt about tour groups coming in and disturbing the tribe, like spectators at a zoo but I asked the guide do they mind and he laughed and said absolutely not, its an opportunity for them to make money! We succumbed and bought some of their Arabica coffee. Was lovely!
They speak their own language separate from Burmese and Thai.
We also visited a local market where we were able to sample local wine (not good) and dried fruits (very good)
Doi Inthanon also has the highest point in Thailand which we visited too and then ended the tour at the Pagodas dedicated King and Queen. They are beautiful, standing tall, you climb stairs or the escalator(chose the latter!!). They sit amongst beautiful grounds and surrounding views.
While we were in Chiang Mai we also decided to do a Muay Thai class (Lucy we blame you!! haha)
Was just the two of us so there was no where to hide!
High intensity and fast paced. We struggled but definitely enjoyed it. Our bodies ached for days after!
The Thai cooking class was a particular highlight for me. Located on a farm where everything they use is grown on their land.
We learnt 4 dishes, A curry, stirfry, soup and spring rolls.
Great atmosphere and learnt so much about thai cooking and the ingredients.
We were so full after the first course we couldn't finish the rest so took them away with us for later!!
They also gave us a cookbook to take home, So no excuse when were back to cook up a thai feast!!
Really enjoyed our time in CM and tried to fit in as much as we could!
We now take our bus to Pai further up north in the countryside for a bit of calm!
Ok so we are now in Chiang Mai, up North, it is an old walled city, and quite westernised in its restaurants, cafes and feel!
We arrived to our hostel by a limo style SUV, talk about arriving in style to a below budget cost hostel!!
Our hostess was pleasant enough and gave us a detailed map of the city which was very helpful!
She explained to us that our room was 'a big bed in a small room'....well she didn't lie! It was tiny but comfortable and clean!
We excitedly start unpacking so we could get out quick and explore the city at night!
I saw Daniels face turn white and his eyes grow twice the size, uh oh what is it??
'The wallet, its not here, I don't have it, its not in this room'
I remained calm hoping it would translate to him .After thoroughly searching all the bags, it was clear we didn't have it. I rushed down to reception to check there, nothing, I then asked if I could make a few calls, which she very kindly obliged. I called all Air Asia, Chiang Mai airport and tried Krabi airport too, to no avail unfortunately. I was still confident we would get it back though. The Thai people are honest and kind and I knew whoever found it would give it to the necessary person.
We decided to be proactive and go to the airport ourselves. So off we went. We ran around to all places we had been, taxi rank, taxi office, information desk. We even ransacked the taxi we had been in.
We then found the AirAsia office, within a few seconds a brown wallet was being waved in the air. We nearly didn't believe it was ours. Such relief/adrenalin waved over us and we literally jumped for joy!
There was 500 baht in the wallet which would be about 15e. So we gave it to the lads. It was so funny the guy we were trying to give it to stood there fists clenched unsure of what to do. He eventually exclaimed 'We can get pizza'
Happy heads all round.
Starving we went out for a stroll and found a great place along the river, pretty much eating your Pad Thai on the road, but the food was so good and it was bustling, we may have treated ourselves to an awl Chang!
The next day we strolled around CM and it was a pleasure to do. Its very clean, no smell, modern and super places to hang out, including a beautiful park. Full of yoga practitioners standing on their heads and acrobats!
CM also has a hellluva lot of temples, over 200! They are called 'Wat......' and they are a place of worship and also where men and women can go to practice and be ordained as monks, there are plenty strolling around and you are encouraged to speak to them, if you are a woman speaking to them however, they must have another monk present, and you cannot directly hand something to them, it must be placed down for them to pick up!
The first we visited, I had to be covered head to toe in cloth as I was wearing shorts and a spaghetti top. One of the temples I could not enter due to a 'men only' sign outside it, the reason women could not enter being due to the fact that we menstruate! #nocomment
Two of the other temples had two monks, passed, who were embalmed and encased! Could not stop staring, expecting him to blink or a finger to twitch!
One of the nights we visited the night bazaar....goes on for miles, selling all sorts of good stuff. Food, clothes, Birkenstocks, local handmade crafts, jewelry etc.
Along one of the streets we walked down were a few bars with young thai girls and lady boys dancing and luring men in. Seemed quite seedy but a fairly lucrative business!!
We booked ourselves in for a day tour to Doi Inthanon National Park. One of my favourite things we did on the tour was visit a tribal village who settled there from Burma after WW11 for fear of being executed in their country. When they first arrived they grew Poppy to make Opium. They made money from it and also took it and became addicted and a nuisance for the country. The government then sent charities up to the tribes to teach them how to grow crops, coffee, scarves etc and make money and become valuable to the country. I was at first unsure about how I felt about tour groups coming in and disturbing the tribe, like spectators at a zoo but I asked the guide do they mind and he laughed and said absolutely not, its an opportunity for them to make money! We succumbed and bought some of their Arabica coffee. Was lovely!
They speak their own language separate from Burmese and Thai.
We also visited a local market where we were able to sample local wine (not good) and dried fruits (very good)
Doi Inthanon also has the highest point in Thailand which we visited too and then ended the tour at the Pagodas dedicated King and Queen. They are beautiful, standing tall, you climb stairs or the escalator(chose the latter!!). They sit amongst beautiful grounds and surrounding views.
While we were in Chiang Mai we also decided to do a Muay Thai class (Lucy we blame you!! haha)
Was just the two of us so there was no where to hide!
High intensity and fast paced. We struggled but definitely enjoyed it. Our bodies ached for days after!
The Thai cooking class was a particular highlight for me. Located on a farm where everything they use is grown on their land.
We learnt 4 dishes, A curry, stirfry, soup and spring rolls.
Great atmosphere and learnt so much about thai cooking and the ingredients.
We were so full after the first course we couldn't finish the rest so took them away with us for later!!
They also gave us a cookbook to take home, So no excuse when were back to cook up a thai feast!!
Really enjoyed our time in CM and tried to fit in as much as we could!
We now take our bus to Pai further up north in the countryside for a bit of calm!
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