Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is AMAZEBALLS!!!!!!!
Sian and I had a bit of an adventure getting onto our pre-booked overnight bus to Chiang Mai (ofcourse). Turns out they overbooked the bus, so they were going to put us on a VIP bus and give us free food etc. So no probs. We get to this bus, and nothing about it is VIP, and the beds are simply reclining coach seats...nevermind. We figured we'd just snuggle up and be out like a light due to our previous night's lack of sleep. Well, we were...but unfortunately so was our bus driver and we got in a bit of an accident three hours into our journey. We're fine, everyone is fine, the bus is not fine...and neither is a pickup truck that we crashed into...or the centre divide. Sian and I really kept the crowd calm with our swearing and screaming. I had my eye mask on and ear plugs in, so had no idea what was goin on. When we realised everyone was ok, we calmed down and turned a bad thing into a good situation by sparking a conversation up with the two guys sitting infront of us. Dan and Dave are from San Francisco! and we're hanging out with them here in Chiang Mai. We got off the bus and followed the boys to their hostel to book in before exploring the city. Its so nice to be somewhere really calm where no one is honking a horn or trying to sell you something. We went to a market in the town centre and Sian had a great game for us: we split up for five minutes and buy the craziest looking food item for everyone to try (there's a lot of stuff I've never seen before so this was going to be fun...along with the fact that a lot of the locals don't speak English). The food we chose was...interesting. Last night we chilled out and went for some AMAZING thai food which was kind of hard to find. I popped into a bar to use the toilet and Sian and I found ourselves in a strip bar which was a bit unfortunate. When I saw a sign that said "girls" I assumed it was the WC, but no it was the changing room for the strippers. Oops.

fun time market!

was tempted...but no

delish!

sexy

the running jump didn't quite hack it!

Today was the most amazing day I've had so far. Sian and I booked in an elephant treck for the whole day and headed off early this morning. We learned all the commands, and then practised how to get on and off the elephants...I was PETRIFIED! There wasn't a harness or anything, and nothing to hold on to except their ears and skin...sounds bad but they're so thick they can't really feel it. I was actually shaking with fear which I didn't think I would be. After lunch Sian and I boarded our elephant for the day and headed out for a walk. At first we were petrified and had to calm our nerves by singing some Britney, but after a while we were fine! We walked along a river through the jungle and gave her a bath, then walked around some more and into a mud bath where we ended up having a mud fight with the guides. We were sitting on the elephant and couldn't believe we were doing it, and how much we loved it. The scenary was AMAZING, very green and lots of hills...kind of what I had pictured Thailand to be like. I'm so glad we did it! If not for the experience, then atleast for the cute outfits.