Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is the inofficial capital of Northern Thailand and also a former capital of the Lama Empire. It's also a gateway to several other locations like Pai and Chiang Rai. Once again we arrived late so we couldn't take a bus, therefore we started walking but at some point got ourselves a Tuktuk to the hostel.
We slept in the next day because we had planned some time for the stop in Chiang Mai. Then we informed ourselves about Elephant experiences that have a strict no-riding policy to book a tour for the next day. Then we explored the nearby area and the famous Doi Suthep, a golden temple overlooking the city. To get there was quite an odyssey as we didn't want to spend heaps of money for a private taxi. Two Songathew (like a shuttle bus) rides and more than 200 steps later we were on top of the hill resting in the coolness of the temple's interiors. On the way down we met a British guy who is running up and down the mountain as part of the training for Muay Thai fighter. For the late afternoon we explored the tourist markets and went to see a Muay Thai fight. Unfortunately we were a bit late, so there were just the kids fights going on.

At 6:30 in the morning we were picked up for the tour that led us about 100km North of Chiang Mai into a valley where there are several Elephant camps/sanctuaries. Our tour led to a so-called sanctuary but there were some things that made us think that it wasn't really "good". One of the guys there did ride an elephant at some point, they sometimes held the ear lobes etc... But it was quite an experience to feed, wash and watch these giants! And afterwards we went for a 5km walk through the jungle to a waterfall to go swimming. The last event of the day was a white water rafting down a nearby river where one of our fellows fell into the water :DRead more