Days 19 - 23 - Ayutthaya & Chiang Mai

Day 19 & 20 - Ayutthaya & Chiang Mai
Following our internet spell, we headed over the road to a lovely restaurant for dinner. I had Thai Green Curry (finally!) and found a small caterpillar was also trying to enjoy it! It's not been a good day...

It was exchanged and the second curry was delicious. Dave had chicken with cashew nuts which was equally yummy.
Then it was time to start thinking about the overnight train to Chiang Mai. We'd seen showers at the station but I wasn't keen to use them. Fortunately we found a little cafe that was advertising showers for 20 Baht (about 30p) so after I'd thoroughly inspected it, we both showered in readiness for the journey. We were both grimey and hot and bothered from the days adventures.

On to the train and we found our berths. Very exciting! We sat and chatted for a little while before the guards came and told us it was bed time - it was about 9:30 after all!
We both slept surprisingly well - the rocking motion of the train obviously condusive to sleeping. The air con was cranked up to the max so we were both a little chilly. I had the top bunk which had a couple of ropes strapped from the roof to the bottom of the bed - I had visions of falling out during the night!

We arrived in Chiang Mai at around 11:00am where we were met by the local TAT office. Whisked efficiently to the office, we were told about the trek the following day and what we would need to bring with us - not much as we were having to carry our backpacks for the trek.
Once at the hotel, we checked in and were shown to our room - lovely! Really nice and clean and decorated in traditional Thai style. The hotel also had a pool so we quickly changed and headed down to lounge there for a few hours. Well deserved after our long journey! We even managed a few lengths in the very cold pool.

Fully revived, we set off to the Sunday walking market. Two of the main streets are closed off every Sunday evening and stalls are set up selling everything you can want and more. We were even able to get a massage for about 2 GBP. Dave had a foot massage whilst I had my back realligned by a kindly gentleman - felt great!
Ratana's kitchen was recommended as a place to eat by Lonely Planet and they were right - great food although the apple pie for dessert was a bit manky.

Back to the hotel and we packed our bags for the trek - so excited!

M xx

Day 21 - Jungle Trekking
Up earlyish for breakfast (not great) and finally picked up around 10:00am for the trek. Met with our group (Olly & John from England, Jase from Singapore, Francoise and her daughter from France and 3 Korean ladies from... Korea!)
About an hours drive North, stopping off briefly at the market to buy a torch, and we soon arrived at the Elephant Station.
For 30p we were able to buy a huge bunch of banana's which the elephants loved. Then we were introduced to our elephant and told to climb aboard. We decided he looked like an Alfred, the largest of the group and obviously the leader as he headed off of his own accord without a guide.
Not the most comfortable form of transport but caused great amusement as he threw his trunk over his head to 'ask' for bananas and sugar cane.
All too soon, we had to leave Alfred and start walking for ourselves.

First challenge was to ride in a cage over a river on a rope! It didn't look too safe and reminded me of a challenge you would be expeceted to do on 'I'm a Celebrity Get me out of here!'. Unfortunatley we weren't able to get out of it so in we climbed and were whisked across the river. Not too scary really.

Quick break for lunch of fried rice and water then the serious walking (and sweating) began. Very steep climb in parts through beautiful jungle scenery, past waterfalls and trees. We had a crazy guide who kept us entertained.
Soon we were able to see the camp ahead so our steps quickened at the thought of a rest!

Our accomodation was a little basic (10 very thin futon type matresses on the floor of a bamboo cabin on stilts) but the view from the veranda was amazing (1040m up).
A very cold shower revived us all and we were soon watching the sunset and starting on our feast of Thai curries with rice. Yum!
A fun evening of games ensued - the best being a new game we were introduced to called spoons. So much fun and helped to break the language barrier as there was no need for speaking other than to tell the loser to paint a black mark on their face.

A really great but exhausting day. Bed was calling around 10:00 and we fell asleep to the sound of crickets and pigs and the occasional cry of a cockerel - I thought they were only supposed to 'call' in the morning!

M xx

Day 22 - Trekking
Awake early (about 6:30) and welcomed by the most beautiful view from the veranda of clouds sitting in the valley.

Had a brief wander around the village where we saw little piglets suckling for breakfast, puppies scampering, chickens fighting and lots more wildlife.
Back at the cabin we had breakfast then it was time to cover up with mosquitoe spray, sun cream and set off on the trek again.

Thankfully it was mostly downhill today and we were soon at a waterfalll where we were able to have a very refreshing 'shower'. I was scared I might be knocked over with the force of the water but Dave took full advantage and felt greatly invigorated.

More trekking along the river was beautiful. We commented that there was no way such a trek would happen in the UK as it would have been classed as being far too dangerous and closed down!


Next we were kitted up with life jackets, helmets and paddles and set off down the river in our white water raft in a friendly competition of Europe vs Asia! Needless to say Europe won and a great time was had by all. A bit hairy in places as we headed directly towards rocks but all came away unscathed.
Transferred onto our bamboo raft (a traditional Thai form of transport down the river) for a much more leisurely cruise to lunch.
Pad Thai not great but we were able to buy photographs that had been taken of us on Alfred and in the white water raft - great souvenirs!

Transport back to the hotel and we said goodbye to our new found friends and checked into our Deluxe free upgrade. Great!
Plans to head to the pool were scuppered as we both fell asleep after doing some washing.
Headed out around 8:00 to find a pizza restaurant (another Lonely Planet recommendation) which was no longer there! We settled instead for the Red Brick Cafe which served lasagne and spaghetti bolognaise and returned to the hotel via Tesco where we bought supplies for our return train journey to Bangkok the following day.

M xx

Day 23 - Cooking School
Breakfast again at the hotel (still not great) and checked out. Picked up around 9:30 to be taken to our Thai cooking school. Very exciting!
We stopped off at the local market where we were shown the spices and vegetables that we would be using in the recipes for the day and sampled a sticky rice and banana snack. Delicious.

Once at the school we were given aprons, a cleaver, a chopping block and a cloth and talked through a number of different recipes. Once we'd decided on the menus we wanted to cook, it was down to business as we chopped, fried, rolled and sliced our way through 14 recipes (7 each). We were able to eat all the food that we cooked and were pleasantly surprised at how good everything tasted. Pretty stuffed by the end of the day we were able to take our Thai curries home in doggy bags - great as we had bought pot noodles for the train so we no longer needed to eat them. Brilliant!

Menus have been emailed to us so we'll be able to let you all try our wonderful culinary delights!

The day over, we were transported to the train station for our night train. With 90 minutes to kill we popped in for a 60 minute foot massage for about 2GBP which was wonderful after the trekking the days before. D was a bit ticklish but I loved it. The lady kept tutting at me though as my calves were so tight from the walking and laughing as she wobbled my legs around. Nice!

Finally it was time to board the train. As it was an earlier train than our outward journey we had a few hours to kill before we were made to go to bed. Fortunately we'd managed to buy some playing cards so set into a serious game of rummy. Final score 10-8 to Mandy. Yay!

Both had top bunks this time but had packed more clothes so we weren't cold.
Lights out (well, not really as they leave them on blinding you through the night) at around 10:00pm and soon the sounds of snoring could be heard from the berths around me - including Dave's!

M xx