Charming Chiang Mai
If ever there was a place one could call paradise then it is Chiang Mai, Thailand in it's winter. Perfect weather, perfect place and the people shine with national pride. The city is clean but retains it's character, no hawkers to constantly annoy you. Plenty of night markets and sightseeing and massages!
We travelled from Perth to Bangkok then an hours flight took us to Chiang
Mai. The hotel we stayed in was the Amari Ringcome and was like a beach
resort in the city, perfect. The staff were friendly and courteous and
continuously gave excellent service. The idea was to have a day on day
off rotation which started pretty well. Full sighting days followed by
a chill day of massages, pampering and gin and tonics. We booked our
tours through Chiangmai Cattleya Tour & Travel Services
Tel:
053-223991 fax: 053-243668 website: www.chiangmaitour.com
e-mail: ccatts@loxinfo.co.th.
I'm so glad we did, and went to the Mae
Ping elephant camp first because it was a wonderful introduction to the
elephants. It was a happy camp with cheeky mahouts, at least the one
we had who was a lot of fun and took us on the road less travelled, even
dismounting at one point and saying bye as he left us to our own devices
on the elephant.
We
had other elephant rides which were wonderful, through excellent mountain
scenery but didn't have the same happy atmosphere as this one. After
the ride a bamboo raft takes you down the river to where oxen carts are
waiting to take you to the resort where a sumptuous lunch is laid on.
A kantoke dinner at the old cultural centre was excellent but I have to say although the Thai dancing was elegant and beautiful, I enjoyed the hill tribe dancing more.
We took a day trip to the Burmese border to see the long neck hill tribes, this took us high into the mountains and the scenery was glorious to say the least. The hill tribe village, however was a little disappointing due to the fact commercialism had taken over which is understandable but it was just one big market really. Even so, we did enjoy seeing the long neck women in their traditional dress and the children playing. Not so exciting was the amount of steps you had to navigate to get there!
Although it didn't seem to be advertised freely, the night safari really
is a must to see. I saw more animals there than I did in South Africa's
Kruger Park and you get a chance to be photographed with a tiger cub.
Light and sound shows are never a favourite of mine but the one at the
Night safari was excellent. 
Chiang
Mai's night bazaar is huge and so full of tourists it is hard to move.
Much better was the night market near our hotel where mainly locals go,
but have the same stuff on sale. near there was a restaurant named the
Buffet House which was wonderful value for money.
A trip to the zoo showed us the pampered panda, what a beautiful creature and you could hand feed the hippos believe it or not! The monkey training centre and snake farm were great side trips. The snake farm in particular was very entertaining, unfortunately in our case we were the targeted entertainers! Not so happy being up close and personal with snakes!
Apparently you haven't seen Chiang Mai unless you take a trip to the temple complex of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep which is one of Thailand's most famous pilgrimage sites. The temple lies at an elevation of 3520 feet (1073 m) and holds a relic of Buddha. It also has many steps (350 I think) but we wimped out and used the lift. The Winter Palace is also a lovely site with it's beautiful gardens.
Toni took a jungle trek which was an adventure she enjoyed, although during the river rafting part they were tipped into the water a few times so if planning on doing this make sure you can swim and don't have any valuables with you including hanging on to your glasses if you have any!
All in all it was a wonderful break and the nice thing was you could
book a Thai massage right in your hotel room where you could just stay
and enjoy the moment. On the days we weren't taking full day tours we
hired a young man who took us around, it is very handy having someone
who can negotiate the language for you. he also organised a trip to an
orphanage where we took some needed things like nappy's and milk and
spent time with the children who call all visitors mama or poppa. They
are loving and enjoy the hugs. Not only does he do tours or take you
anywhere you want to go, he also will find anything for you. He was able
to obtain the dvd's we wanted but couldn't find at the markets. He comes
well recommended by us and his details are: Mr "Korn" Tel:
085-711-39-24 email: Paisanreturn@gmail.com. So if you want
a local to show you around give Korn a go, he is very reasonable with
pricing and a personable young man.
To see the photos or send some postcards, check out the postcard
and photo gallery.