To Chiang Mai

My first stop in Thailand after leaving Lao was Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is situated in the Northern part of Thailand and offers a more laid-back Thai experience. The city of Chiang Mai and the area surrounding it offer a variety of things to do. You can visit the numerous Wats, take a Thai cooking class, practice Muy Thai (Thai boxing), take a Trek to the local hill tribes or just hike in the mountains.

I was in Chiang Mai for 5 days and while I was there I stayed at a cool guesthouse named Julie's Guesthouse. Julie's offered good accommodations, cheap food and a chill common area which made meeting people really easy. It seemed like all the people that I met there had been staying in Julie's and Chiang Mai for at least a couple of weeks. I think the allure of Chiang Mai was that it offered the best of both worlds - the hustle and bustle of the city and the outdoor activities of the mountains surrounding it. While I was in Chiang Mai I visited a local disco and I heard Thai versions of songs by popular American hip-hop bands like the Black Eyed Peas, pretty funny. Also, I went on a one day trek into the mountains that were south of Chiang Mai. Along with visiting the local hill tribes and swimming in a waterfall, the two main highlights of the trek was riding an elephant and bamboo rafting. I was looking forward to riding an elephant but the experience was only okay. The elephant didn't seem too happy and I realized that if the elephant fell over which almost happened, I would be smashed flatter than a pancake. I have to say there is about a 72% that I will not ride an elephant again but you never know. On the otherhand, bamboo rafting was a blast. The raft was made out of about 10 long bamboo poles and four of us navigated down the river. At the end of our rafting, we got into a massive water fight with about 30 kids and we lost miserably but it was good times.