Day 4
Trip Start
Mar 14, 2009
1
4
Trip End
May 02, 2009
Pai, Thailand
Thursday, March 19, 2009
We arrived into Bangkok early on Sunday 15th March. We had planned on getting a train straight up to Chiang Mai, but the sleeper trains had sold out and we didn't fancy 3rd class seats on a 12 hour night train; luckily a travel agent told us we could get a flight for about 45 pounds, so we opted for that. We had a few hours in Bangkok before our flight so got a tuc tuc (great fun) to a park and just rested for a while.
We arrived in Chiang Mai that evening and were met by john's cousin who leaves there, who took us to a hostel his friend had reccomended. It was basic, but perfect for 2 pounds per person. We slept for most of the 16th, but walked around town for a while and saw a temple. John's cousin picked us up later and took us for a meal which was nice, we then saw the night market and then had a couple of drinks in a bar before bed.
On the 17th we booked an excursion to a high wire/zip wire centre in the forest, which was really good fun and was a great way of seeing the forest. They served us a lovely lunch and then we visited a nearby waterfall before being taken back to our hostel. As it was john's birthday we booked into a slightly nicer hotel with a pool and air con for that night. We rested for a while before heading out to celebrate John's birthday. John's cousin took us to a few bars including an irish pub as it was St. Patricks Day; we all had a fun night. This morning (or more like this afternoon) we went and hired an old suzuki jeep and we drove to a town 100km out of Chiang Mai called Pai, which is where we are now. The drive was great fun, and the views were absolutely amazing, there are just densely forested mountains for miles. On the way we saw a signpost for a waterfall so we thought we'd check it out. Luckily we were rewarded with a breathtaking waterfall, that was easily 100ft tall in dense tropical forest with a large pool which we swam in and stood under the waterfall. We arrived after sunset in Pai so haven't seen much of the town, but we got two really nice rooms by the river for 3 pounds each, and just went for a really good meal, the best so far. Tomorrow we plan to head back to Chiang Mai and either head off that night to the Laos border, or the next morning.
