Sunday in Chiang Mai found us in limbo as to book an elephant adventure or not. The problem we had was thus… We didn’t want to turn up and see some lovely old smelly Ellies getting mistreated… But we also didn’t want to pay the rather large fee to a specialist company who keep their rescued ‘phants as wild as can be. Its a tough cookie and based on the fact we have done some ele-fun recently we decided against it, save our dosh for a rainy day or something along those lines at least. So with most of the day behind us we did what everyone does on a Sunday in Chiang Mai… Sunday walking street, AKA a market. Although I wasn’t too fused as Georgie had a reason to be there not to just look at every single thing she passed as usual. I also took the camera along to keep me interested because lately with my spare time (toilet time) I have been boning up on how to actually use a camera and the walking street was the perfect place to have a little practice. We glided quite painlessly through the brightly lit stalls and busy streets that Georgie hadn’t already trawled on our last visit to a small street lined with awesome book shops we had missed up to this point. The third and last of the absolutely bursting shops was owned by a slightly sarcastic and short Irish man who liked to make short sharp impersonations of our accents as we browsed. It wasn’t until we left that I mentioned to Georgie how much like a scene from Dylan Moran’s Black Books it was… Back at the remainder of the stalls that make up the bright and lively walking street to solider on with the trademark Georgie market sweep mathod, as we came to the end and were making our way back to our guesthouse a make up stall caught Georgies eye and just when I thought we had escaped she proceeded to get truly stuck in… Huraah… Today Chiang Mai immigration was open and we were up in good time to see Thailands beurocracy in full swing. To be fair apart from several unnecessary trips to the photo copier shed a good 20 yards away it was a pretty painless morning, the staff were nothing but helpful and the forms were pretty straight forward. Although the visa extension queue looked alot more stressfull and painfully slow. We left with an ammended visa stamp as planned although I am jealous about it because now Georgie has one that I will probably never get. Then on to our second task of the day, the post office, which also panned out to be a piece of piss. We were in and out within half an hour and even had our 12kg parcel expertly wrapped by a very cheerful clerk. The last task of the day which has taken most of it has been to sort out where we are headed to next… And more importantly, how. It seems everyone wants to use the sleeper train when ever we do so its back to the good old night bus, not like the sleeper buses of Vietnam where they at least attemp to provide you with a bed, here the fact the bus runs through the night is the sole reason its called a sleeper but with time slipping away we need to get on the road again. After much deliberation, several iced coffee’s and a little nap we arrived at the descision of Koh Tao… A small island famed for its cheap scuba diving courses and lush nearby coral reefs, its just north of Koh Phagnan and somewhere we haven’t been yet so we thought its a perfect starting place and if we don’t like it… We can easily move on. It probably doesn’t sound manic or confusing but today has deffinately been just that but once again we have a plan, it will probably go to shit very soon but at least we tried! We were also planning to stop a few days in the mighty Bangkok before catching our flight to Dubai, but instead now we are going to stop there on our way to Koh Tao in a few days, mainly to break up the bus journeys and also because its been a while since we have been there… And we both love it so…

Immigration… Check. Post… Check. Market… Check was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai… We have returned to the Bangkok of the north for a few technical reasons as opposed to the usual hedonistic ones, firstly Georgie was given the wrong entry stamp when we passed through immigration from Hanoi by a bungling immigration officer, secondly her bag was so massive that for the sake of her back we need to post a box home. Obviously we fully intend to make the most of our stay here and partake in some sort of fun escapades. Yesterday… Also known as Saturday was our first real day back in the lovely city of Chiangers and we spent a large portion of it discovering that immigration doesn’t open until Monday and the post office shuts by midday, but on a lighter note I have managed to pick up a few books (both Michael Palin) for our forth-coming beach bummery… With the rest of our day we meandered from place to place re-acquainting ourselves with the city. Very close by the Same Same guest-house where we are staying is a second hand denim shop selling some pukka things, they also have one of tiniest stupid little dogs I have ever laid eyes on which Georgie loves… And… And one of the largest cats I have ever laid eyes on, almost the size of a lion cub! But alas the two are friends and we didn’t see the cat eat the tiny yappy dog called Tinkerbell. We managed to lay our hands on a cardboard box and began the laborious task of sorting through Georgies clothes mountain to pick things to send home this task is still unfinished but we are half way there and that’s a serious achievement! Somehow in the evening we ended up back at the night bazaar again!…

Back in Chiang Mai again… was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

Before we left for our jungle fun we booked up a Thai cooking course, although we have already done one in Koh Phagnan we wanted to do another where you go to the market and get all your ingredients and even go as far as to make the curry paste. So we sorted everything out for the day after we returned to Chang Mai, We all woke up good and sore still from the trekking and to be honest I was less enthusiastic than I probably should have been, but like the trooper I am I soldiered on… Luckily its not far from where we were staying so by 9:30 we were at the Baan Thai cookery school. We all had a choice of dishes we wanted to knock up and then complete with a little shopping bag each headed out to the local market. It was a really nice, clean market and after the chaotic markets of Vietnam and the questionable ones in Cambodia it was a breath of fresh air and quite fun to learn what all the fruits and vegetables are from the expert direction of our super camp guide. None of us were in particularly good shape and the heat of the day started to kick in which didn’t help matters, but baskets laden with all sorts of goodies we strolled back to our school like a line of school children out on a field trip. We got a chance to try a fruit plate of things that we probably wouldn’t normally try before donning our pinnies and getting stuck in to our first dish, I think Kat, Georgie and I all made the same dish first and that was stir fried shrimp in curry paste, a really quick and tasty little number. After each dish we all went back to our tables and got to enjoy the fruits of our labour before starting the next. Dish two was soup I think and Georgie and I went for spicy Tom Yum soup while Kat opted for a coconut milk and chicken, both lipsmackingly tasty and even if I say so myself… A piece of piss. Next was spring rolls for Kat and I and shrimp cakes for Georgie, I opted for this one because I had made them when we had a cooking class before and frankly, I wanted to be top of the class… Not sure if I achieved it but they were still good anyway. We had a short break from cooking for an hour and sat chatting to the others in our group, unfortunately I was still feeling the trekking and all I could think about was the massage place opposite. Back to the grind stone and we started preparations for dessert, mango and sticky rice. Preparations and timing is definitely where my cooking abilities fall short but with the expert help of our teachers it was a breeze. Lastly was to make the curry pastes and curries, Kat and I hit up the super spicy green curry while Georgie went for the red curry and ended up putting half of their years supply of chillies in it… It was a pretty big job knocking up the curry paste and it took everyone in the group so unless when we get home there are 10 people to help us we won’t be making that! But both curries turned out well, Georgie’s was so spicy it could probably have been used for rocket fuel but despite the gripping and fiery heat it was damn tasty! By this time we were all gut busted and when the dessert came out it became a struggle, full of fine cuisine and armed with culinary knowledge we said goodbye to our group and headed back to our guest-house… Well to the massage place opposite at least.

Cooking up a storm was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

After yet another good nights sleep fuelled by the excellent beer Chang we woke up good and early for breakfast as we had an early morning appointment with some elephants that needed a good wash in the river… Yet another fine feast was produced by our guide on nothing more than a bucket full of hot coals and after a good filling a few of us headed down to the river to see the elephants having a splash about, Georgie was in her bikini in seconds and helping the mahouts clean the big smelly chilli-whoppers. Unlike when we went elephant trekking on Koh Chang they weren’t made to entertain everyone who came to see them instead the seemed to entertain each other by doing secret underwater farts every time someone got close enough…

We still had an hour or so until the trekking was due to start and Georgie stayed with them until every one was clean as a whistle, I think she cleaned 5 in the end and except for dodging giant floating shits she had a wicked time. We all got packed up and loaded our respective elephants with our bags before climbing aboard ourselves and heading off up some pretty slim and tough tracks, some parts of the trek would be difficult on foot and when you stare over the elephants hairy head to the floor 8ft below you cant help thinking that there is no way were going to get through there. As we slowly plodded trough the jungle the others on their elephants caught up and we all formed a long train while we trekked. Along the way there was a small bamboo hut on stilts with a lady selling bunches of bananas inside, all the elephants push and shove to get you to the hut and as soon as you get there their trunk is up over their head asking for a tasty banana, feeling all your pockets and pulling at your clothes and even after we left the hut our elephant kept stopping and having a feel around because he knew we had a stash so we couldn’t do anything else but indulge him or else he wouldn’t move on. The old boy knew we had a lovely bunch and he clearly knew we were holding out on him but still he was so gentle and even polite, considering he could have just plucked one of us of and held us upside down and shock the sweet treats out of their hiding place. We carried on along even more intense terrain, so much so that at points the elephants just slid down on their arses until we reached the riverside spot where we would be white water rafting, where we hopped off and had a bite to eat, played with the ‘phants some more and took some pictures as they wandered off probably to do it all again with more tourists. We all got suited and booted in our helmets and life jackets and dragged our boat down to the fast flowing river, jumped aboard and had a quick safety brief… Which mainly consisted of the “captain” saying “if I say hold on then HOLD ON”. At least one of our team had been once before and that was all the reassurance we needed so with that we pushed away from the bank and paddled like our lives depended on it. It was mostly fairly smooth going except for short but ferociously intense and fast rapid sections at which point the captain would scream the key phrase… Fucking hang on. It was top fun and although it was only a short trip of 20 minutes it seemed a lot longer and as we cruised gently to the end we all raised our paddles and had a high five… Oh yeah. The other team were obviously a long way behind our super buff team so we waited for them and helped them out with their boat before getting aboard our bamboo raft for the last leg of our river journey, it was at this point that our greatest attribute, a team of beef cakes… I include myself in that! Became a distinct hindrance because our raft sank… Not all the way, it just kind of half floated just below the surface of the water which must have looked so funny from the river bank, like a buck of people floating past like ducks or something. Georgie took the helm (by helm I mean a big stick that the captain was using to steer) and after a few moments our only form of steering or braking had become nothing more than driftwood, Georgie dropped the bastard and left us literally up the creek without a paddle! Our captain did the noble thing and went in and got it and we finished the journey without any other real hiccups. And that was that, short of another fine feast and some group pictures our 3 day jungle trekking adventure was over… It had been hard at times but always been fun and the main reason for that was the people… Our group and our guides were all such fun and interesting people and there was a real team spirit and that had made the trip without a doubt. Once back in Chang Mai we did sweet F.A. For the rest of the day, except the standard… Super duper massage of course!

Day 3 of our jungle adventure… On the river. was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

Our first morning in the jungle around Chiang Mai was not too bad, we had all got a pretty good nights sleep, partly due to the walking and partly because of the Chang Beer! It was about 8am when Georgie surfaced and breakfast, more importantly coffee wasn’t far behind. Considering the pokey and limited kitchen facilities breakfast was nothing short of a triumphant feast of pancakes and fruit all with the backdrop of the misty morning mountains, which looked a lot less like a challenge from up on top.
By the time breakfast was finished our now smokey clothes had finished drying in the morning sun and by 11am we were all suited and booted and ready to head out again, Georgie was still a bit worried about how she would manage another days trekking but our guide assured her it would be easy and if not he knew a short cut…
We headed off out of the village and our super hung over guide let us follow the path while he dragged himself along behind. As promised it was a lot less steep, much more down hill action which seems a lot easier… After maybe half an hour we arrived at our first stop much to the relief of our suffering guide, a small village with great views across the surrounding hillside. There was a bunch of happy little children knocking about that all came for a good old stare and Georgie got right in there showing off her piercing… Which they stared at open mouthed for some time. While enjoying some snacks we could all hear a squeaking noise coming from under the wooden floor, so I bent down to see what was going on and on a shelf just under the house a dog had recently had puppies, they were the size of hamsters at best! Of course Georgie and most of the others nearly shat themselves but we didn’t have time to linger, we said our goodbyes to the people and carried on down the hill.
We kept going until the early afternoon when we had been promised a swim in a waterfall and some lunch, the terrain down was less like a gruelling slog and more an obstacle course which Georgie loved and so did I. The setting couldn’t have been any nicer, in a small valley with a waterfall at one end and a small group of simple wooden huts. Framed by a river running alongside and towering jungle covered hills all around it was beautiful and by this time we were all feeling the heat and the pools under the waterfall were icy cold… A few of the local boys came for a swim with us and showed us the best rocks to jump in off and we had a good old splash about with them for best part of an hour before having a wicked lunch of instant noodles.
Feeling refreshed, clean and full we let our dinner sit for a while then got dressed for more trekking. The next section of walking was the biggest of the day and although we stayed pretty much with the river there was a fair bit of up and down which started to wear Georgie down. It was a gorgeous day and the jungle was beautiful but by the time we had reached the next waterfall we were pretty done in, all the down hill walking had turned our legs to jelly and as we plonked down on the rocks for a rest one chap in the group made a joke that he had been there for a while and was ready to head off again, this did not sit well but luckily Kat got in first with a polite but firm “we are going to enjoy the scenery for a while” before me or Georgie could reply probably with violence, certainly foul language. Our guides sensed the tension I think and opted for a morale boosting swim in the beautiful sparkling water. It was the perfect way to refresh, teamed with Redbull and nut bars Georgie was in top shape to continue on the final stretch to our nights accommodation and so was I.
The last leg was almost completely all hopping across rivers on stepping stones and climbing over root balls and under fallen trees, it was the most fun part of the whole walking part of the tour and we passed several other small camps with other trekkers in, stopped for a little chat and carried on to ours. By this point the light was fading and we picked the pace up a little but within no time we were striding into our flashy riverside camp, the group had closed up over the last part due to the difficult terrain and as we arrived at camp Georgie ran ahead and started wooping about being first… Solely to annoy the chap who had been so keen to press on at the waterfall and make it clear he was the best trekker in the world… Very funny!
Our accommodation for the night this time consisted of another long-house but with only beds in and the wall facing the nearby river completely open to the jungle and the fast flowing river below, it was still bamboo but just as rustically nice and cosy. We had a separate dining room which was more like a roof on stilts but still had all the charm and boy scout feeling of the previous nights diggs, after a swim in the river to wash the days smells away we headed down for dinner and another fine sing along by candle light. Although this time there was no guitar or hilarious songs about the royal family it was still a very fun night in an amazing setting with a bunch of awesome and interesting people…

Day 2 of our jungle adventure… Waterfalls galore was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

I’m awake at 7:30, sore and tired because the last 3 days have been pretty intense, we spend them in the jungle on our 3 day Chiang Mai jungle trekking adventure tour. Which turned out to be pretty damn good actually.
Our first day we headed down to the travel agent at 9am we booked with to store our bags and valuables and with only the bare essentials we hopped aboard the truck and picked everybody up from various places in Chang Mai. With our group complete we all headed for our first stop while we got to know each other, and what a lovely bunch of coconuts they all were… That really makes all the difference when doing something like that because if everything goes bad or you really start to not enjoy it at least you have good company you know?
Anyway our first stop was in fact a hanging orchid garden which was pretty cool I suppose, didn’t really see why but hey. Then off to stop number 2, a snake farm. Which again wasn’t mentioned when we booked but we kept an open mind, it was a dire display of how not to keep snakes and what’s more I have a real aversion to things like that because I have seen enough shocking movies on the Internet to give me a healthy respect of dangerous animals especially for instance, massive king cobra’s in a cage and one of the staff kicking the mesh to make the thing react!!! No thank you, and when they started walking around with them to put on people I am certain to keep the fuck out of the way! After a while walking around the cages looking at the various slippery beasts we were ushered inside to watch yet another shocking accident video in the making, a snake show with an old man fucking around with cobra’s and all sorts. The commentary for the show was hilarious but the rest of it was a little brutal for my liking and I think I would have found it infinitely more entertaining if he had taken a dose of venom but he didn’t and the snakes went back in their respective sacks until the next tour group arrives.

We arrived at the base camp where we would get some lunch and prepare for our first day of trekking after about an hour, by this time we were all getting on pretty well and although a little spaced out from the exhaust fumes of our struggling truck, ready for a good trekking… Even Georgie! We were all given lengths of bamboo as hiking sticks and told it was to hit the wild dogs with and then away we went into the jungle. It was about a 3 hour trek and pretty tough going, it started fine and as we got higher the going got tougher, we had a short rain shower which helped to re energize everybody but it didn’t last too long because shortly afterwards it was baking heat. After about 2 hours Georgie was set to turn around, she was running on empty and completely exhausted but with help from some Alpen bars and a Redbull she kept going… Despite swearing that trekking is the most ridiculous thing in the world and she would never ever do it again! But thanks to a few of the others being so supportive and our guides she soldiered on. As we climbed higher the views started to open up and become ones of pretty dramatic hillside and jungle greenery but it was spoiled slightly by the super hard going because the best we could manage was to stare directly at the floor to keep moving and not fall, only stopping a few times to really take it in. As we neared the hill tribe village that would be our home for the night the clouds rolled through the valley below us and let loose a pretty big rain storm, we had gone from being dripping with sweat and ready to drop to almost shivering and soaked to the bone within a minute…
But the end was in sight and with a soundtrack of utter despair from Georgie we made it to the village and to our bamboo long-house, within minutes a fire was alight and we were stripped off huddling around it trying to dry off. The long-house was really basic but really nice, it had 3 rooms, one a kitchen/staff area, a kind of sitting room with an open fire pit in the middle and one side open to the hills and lastly a big bedroom. Outside was a large porch area and the whole thing was made from bamboo even down to the floor covering.
After a few hours the weather lifted and the views down across the hills and valleys was pretty spectacular, we all sat around chatting and drinking some beers while the guides knocked up some top grub. We all sat around the fire swapping travel stories and eating for the evening and it was starting to all seem worth the effort of walking there, one of our guides who had been particularly quiet all day had perked up a treat and with a few of the villagers got out a guitar and a old water can and started to get a sing along going. It was really fun and the guide was on top form really going for it, but after exhausting all their English songs he started making them up… Our favourite was one centred around the royal family with a few classic lines like “prince Charles loves Camilla too much” “prince William, went to Iraq, to find Bin Laden, but only for a week, then he went home, because its very scary”
Hilarious!
A few of the village women were offering massages and we weren’t about to refuse… Kat and I got a treat of 2 women each while Georgie bless her only got the 1, but after that we were suitable relaxed and I shortly after we all headed off to bed before the snorers got going…

Jungle trekking day 1. was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

This morning was beautiful in every sense the weather was perfect, I had got the first descent nights kip since we got back in Thailand (thank you Chang beer) and what’s more I gave Georgie a good thrashing at blackjack. Oh and I felt 100times better than last night!
We all got sorted and headed down for breakfast then headed straight out while we still had our mopeds to the umbrella village, only 8k’s out of Changers centre it seemed like the perfect field trip but we must have taken a wrong turn or something because we found ourselves in a sleepy little ghost town-esque kind of place. There were a few hand painted paper umbrellas for sale but it was a mile from the romantic images we all had in our heads. So we turned back and then happened upon it, and it was a really nice little actually and pretty much more what we were expecting. A small shady gathering of old wooden houses and buildings some making the wooden skeletons of the ornate brollies, some with hundreds outside letting the hand made paper and paint drying in the sun and some selling the finished article… It was the kind of place that made you wish you had 2 bags to be honest but we managed to escape with just one small but beautiful umbrella…
Next stop on our way back to the city was at “The worlds biggest jewellery store” and I must admit it was pretty damn big, we were ushered into a small dark home cinema type room first where they played a short and bazaar film to us about the origins of the precious stones we were about to see as if to brain wash us into buying some. After the movie we were taken into a workshop with loads of people all making pieces of finery by hand at little work stations and booths and told all about the work that goes into each piece which was pretty cool… And then the showroom… Well that was a sight, row after row of elaborate sparkly jewelry huge aquariums with sharks swimming back and forth and just when you thought your eyes couldn’t take any more twinkle… More jewellery. We wandered around in a daze for while but didn’t linger as the mopeds had to be back.
We went back to our guest-house for naps and some Internet usage, booked up a 3 day jungle adventure trip, im sure quite what the details are because I was half asleep but from what I can remember there is elephant trekking, hill tribes, boat rides and jungle trekking. After being so productive we decided to hit up the nearby massage place… Again, and yet again they delivered a corker!
Feeling super relaxed and on top of the world we had a few drinks at our hotel then took a wander in the direction of the nearby Sunday walking street, which essentially is another market selling exactly the same as what we had seen so far but we indulged as it was so close to where we were staying, half way along it started to piss down with rain which was a bit of a blow for Georgie so we ducked out for a spot of pizza while it passed. Then by the time it had stopped raining I was pretty much done in so I wandered back to our hotel to pack ready for our jungle adventure and left them to it…

Umbrella village. was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

Yesterday morning around the 7ish mark we were woken up by a knock on the door and who should it be but or friend and all round lovely person Cat, it wasn’t a surprise in as much as we planned to meet up but it was cool to see her anyway. We woke ourselves up with a stiff coffee of course while we all caught with each other, it was mega to see Cat and I think Georgie really liked the prospect of having a girl about the place again… So after a while just chatting and stuff we changed rooms to a much nicer 3 bed room and then headed straight out eager to show Cat the sights, I was feeling a lot better too and getting out and about was exactly what I needed. We decided to take a fairly descent walk to Warorot day market just outside of the old town because we had heard good things and even though it was yet another market I was now out numbered and severely out gunned!
Turned out though to be complete crap and stunk of fish, it had a pretty cool downstairs section to it with a lively food market selling all sorts of colorful herbs and spices which was a treat for both the eyes and the nose but that was about it. So we took a nice slow walk back to the old town and all its bohemian loveliness. Cat had had a strong recommendation to go and see a temple called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep so we figured out that it was half way up the mountain that Georgie and I rode down the day before and based on the super fun windy roads we hired some mopeds and got our burn on.
Riding a moped in Thailand is just a breeze after doing it in Vietnam, so civilised and calm, the road up the mountain was just as fun on a scooter as it was on the mountain bikes the day before but this time Georgie was a lot more at ease and also thoroughly enjoyed it. The Wat itself was beautiful all golden and peaceful with giant bells that I think you make a wish then ring all over the place, with an amazing view out across Chang Mai from up on top of the hill and a really nice square around it with museums and massive gongs it was literally a “top temple” and well worth the extremely nice ride up to it to be honest, also a nice change of pace from shops and stalls.
I spoke too soon because out voted again we stopped at a natty shopping mall and ended up wandering around there for the rest of the afternoon, luckily there was plenty to keep everyone entertained (mainly swensens ice cream parlor) so it wasn’t too bad…
By the time we got back to our guest house time was getting and after a few drinks we decided to show Cat around at the night bazaar, it was a pretty cool place to wander and as Cat was there that means I can sit about having a smoke or looking at fun boy stuff while they do the girl thing, which suits me! We didn’t actually last too long there because I started to feel super shitty again and decided I needed bed or a massage, so thats what we went and did… A massage, only a foot one because I couldn’t take much more than that but I think after all the ground we had covered during the day everyone was pretty up for the same. It was just the trick and made our feet feel brand new, only problem was it highlighted just how crap the rest of me felt so I went and bought some beers to send me off to the land of nod and Georgie and I played some cards on the roof terrace until they were gone…

Kat, Mopeds and temples… A winning team was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

Our third day here in Chang Mai was all set to be a pretty super fun one, we had our trip up the nearby mountain and back down via mountain bike all booked up and despite not really getting a good nights sleep we were both keen as mustard. It was wicked because I had been looking forward to do it for a long time and the fact Georgie was up for it to or at very least humored me enough to do it was mega. Although was aching all over and felt like I had had a car parked on me all night… We headed downstairs bright and early to wind coffee and a descent breakfast into us before the off road truck arrived to take us on our mountain bike adventure. Our first stop was the office to get our safety gear fitted and pick our bikes, also a short briefing which only made Georgie even more tense about it, but like a trooper she soldiered on and before we knew it we were chatting away to some Israeli tourists in the back of the truck winding our way up the mountain. Luckily the others were beginners to which helped put Georgie at ease, we arrived at the top of the top and all had one last safety talk and then got on our bikes and had a ride around so the guides could get the measure of our abilities, we had signed up to do a downhill dirt road but after they had seen everyone ride they recommended that Georgie and the others from our truck did a more simple route… Back down the smooth tarmac road, of course being the pro that I am they said I should tackle a more difficult one but I wanted to stay with my girl. So with that our group piled back into the truck to be taken further down the hill to the starting point while me and one of the others were deemed capable enough to ride down, It was mega being back on a bike and I got to razz of with one of the guides down the sweeping hills and winding roads at break neck speed, I loved it. When we arrived at the starting point for the others we waited until they caught up, had a short break then headed off down the road. Georgie seemed a little tense so I stayed close by while we swooped around the long corners, she actually done really well and was going pretty quick and the more comfortable she got the better she was… Until I started popping wheelies and fell off quite spectacularly and rolled down the road while she screamed her head off and called me things I can’t possibly repeat. She was not happy and it didn’t help to relax her much either.
But apart from me we all managed to get down the hill in good time and unscathed so we once again piled into the trucks and headed for a nearby lake which was beautiful and peaceful for one last ride around it before some grub. We were promised more flat ground which made Georgie happy but there were a few hills but by this point she was getting right into it and we were all having a lark about and she even went as far as doing a spot of off road extreme riding… We all sat under some lovely rattan pagodas that wouldn’t look out of place on a beach and had some wicked if not a bit spicy food and chatted away, it was at this point that I started to feel pretty damn rough as I had in the morning but this time alot worse…. By the time we got back to our hotel the best I could manage was lay on the bed while Georgie nursed me with her concoctions, That’s where I stayed…

Mountain bike extreme was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

As if that much shopping hadn’t killed the urge, our second day in the mighty Chang Mai we woke up, had breakfast booked some downhill mountain biking for the following day and then headed straight for the air conditioned lovely-ness of the central airport shopping plaza!
And it didn’t disappoint, it was filled to bursting point with all the things you could ever need. So yet again we hit the shops good and hard as only Georgie knows how. Although some good did come of it we found a wicked little Thai hairdresser inside and both had a much needed haircut!
I spent hours either trying to convince Georgie that she didn’t need another one of those or convincing myself that I didn’t need any more tech geek nerdy stuff.
We spent most of the day bimbling around the mall buying stuff we probably don’t need and certainly can’t carry but hey…
After that we went back to our guest house and chilled out for a while I for one needed to relax after all that shopping and then we popped around the corner for some more super cheap and super tasty Chinese doughnuts from the little food market but no sooner had I finished than I realised that it wasn’t fatigue I was suffering from but I was actually feeling rough and poorly, so we went back to our room and at least tried to sleep…
P.S. I am still feeling rough and that’s why I’m a few days behind and probably not on form.

Super new haircuts in Changers was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog