Chiang Mai Day 5

My family had plans to explore the city today. I had booked to go on the Flight of the Gibbons which is an adventure where you fly through the jungle of Chiang Mai on ziplines.
A minivan picked me up from the apartments at 9am. There were 6 other people in the van who were staying in nearby hotels. We were grouped together for the whole day.
We were driven about an hour out of town to the mountain, forest area. At the base, we were given a bit of a briefing and fitted with our harnesses. I had impulse bought a Go-Pro before I left so this was the perfect opportunity to use it...

Harnessed and ready to go with my go-pro...

The map of the course which consisted of 18 ziplines...

I'm really glad that I did it... it looked like a lot of fun when I looked at it online. I remember the first line was quite easy and gentle. I felt ok doing that because it was not very far and I was holding onto the top of the pulley. After that one, my guide told me to go hands free and that made me a bit more nervous. I think it was about the third one where I was standing on the platform looking out over the treetops when I just felt sick in my stomach. I'm actually scared of heights so at that point I was thinking 'whose crazy idea was it to do this?!?' It actually took a few more lines for me to feel semi-ok and not too terrified. In reality it's very safe. When not attached to a zipline, you are clipped to a wire that goes around the tree and so you are never free to fall off any of the platforms. Even on the bridges we crossed, we were attached to wires. I did feel very very unfit though on the 10 minute hike uphill towards the nature platform where we were able to see a family of gibbons.

Compilation of pics from the day...

At the end of the zipline course, we were taken by minivan back to the base. There we were given meal vouchers for a Thai meal. After lunch we were taken to the base of a waterfall. It was meant to be a short hike but it did take about 45 mins and the uphill climb was tough... This is where I really felt unfit!
After coming back down, we were all driven back to the city. I got back to the apartment at about 4:30pm and I was well and truly pooped after the excitement of the day... and the two uphill hikes...

Met up with my family and we went back to Jia's chinese restaurant for dinner and then to the night markets nearby for some last minute shopping. I was happy because I managed to buy a new skirt. Packed ready to leave for the airport first thing to fly back to Singapore.

Chiang Mai Day 4

Woke up early to do a bit of a tour of the city of Chiang Mai by motorbike. My guide Tay and I rode around a bit checking out some of the tourist spots. I'm not really into temples and there are so many of them in Chiang Mai but I do admire the architecture.

The old city of Chiang Mai is surrounded by the ancient walls and there were 5 gates that look like this

Then we headed back to the hotel to meet the rest of my family. We set out for Doi Inthanon which is the highest mountain in Thailand. At the top, we went for a short walk and took photos with the highest point in Thailand.

One of the pretty walks at Doi Inthanon

After that we visited the King and Queen's pagoda. The weather was quite overcast so visibility wasn't great. I managed to get a few photos of the grounds and the pagodas. It's a pity because I could imagine that on a clear day, it would look very pretty. The grounds have many seats and places where you can stand and take photos with the pagodas in the background. The gardens are beautifully sculptured.

Queen's pagoda

King's pagoda

 After the pagodas, we headed to a local farm for a late lunch. It was nice driving through the hill countryside. It was a lot cooler and the air was nice and fresh. We saw quite a few plantations and I was reading some information about the King's project. The King has gifted the people of the hill tribes seeds and the means by which they can grow a crop that they can take to the markets and sell. I really like that idea... instead of giving welfare handouts, he's given the people a way for them to make the money and grow their own economies. After selling their crops and handicrafts, they can buy other things they want.

Chrysanthemum plantations in the countryside

Roadside stalls where hill people sell the produce

Thai wine - 3 bottles for 100 baht (about AUD$4)

yummm fresh raspberries and elderberries

lots of packets of dried fruit

 After lunch we visited the Wachirathan waterfall before driving back to the city. 

After such a long day, we decided not to go out at night but just to have dinner at the hotel/apartment. We had an early night...

Chiang Mai Day 3

Today we drove out to the Maesa Elephant Camp. It takes about 1-2hrs to see everything here. We arrived just in time to see the baby elephants being bathed in the river. The baby elephants were so cute and they were really playful as they squirted water at their groomers, showed off a bit and rolled around in the river.

Then we proceeded to the arena to watch the elephant show. The elephants were amazingly talented. They kicked soccer balls into the goal, shot hoops, lifted logs and most spectacularly they painted! I posted videos because I don't think that pictures do the elephants justice. 

Move over Picasso... she is very talented

Take a bow... beautiful painting

The paintings the elephants did in front of us

This one was 6000 baht - about $250 Australian dollars

My new friend

After the elephant camp, we went and visited the Queen Sirikit botanical gardens. My favourite display was obviously going to be the orchid gardens.

Beautifully sculpted gardens

Each enclosure had a feature landscape

Love orchids!

Who knew cactii could be so nice...

After the botanical gardens we had some lunch before visiting the Bai Orchid and Butterfly Farm. There isn't much here but I love both orchids and butterflies so it was worth popping in here for me but I can see how some people would think it's not worth visiting.

One of my favourite orchids at the farm. Pink dual colour... pretty!!

My other favourite orchid

Such beautiful creatures... pity about the short life span...

After the butterfly farm, we headed back to the city. After a brief stop at the hotel to freshen up, we went to a Chinese restaurant in eastern Chiang Mai named Jia Tong Heng. My uncle visited last time and loved this restaurant. It was very busy and the sign boasted that it was the nicest Chinese restaurant in Chiang Mai. The fried tofu and fried prawn balls did not disappoint me but the rest of the dishes weren't really my taste. Nearby there is a pasar malam (night market) that I quickly browsed for 15 minutes whilst my family finished dinner. What what a busy day... I was pooped at the end of the day!

Chiang Mai Day 2

Today we went to a 3D Art museum. I was just expecting a museum where you just walk around and admire the art. But this was an interactive museum and the absolute requirement was some camera skills and a sense of humour. 
Some of the displays show you where to stand to pose in the display and where the photographer should stand to take the photo. It's a very clever concept... and sooo much fun!!

Outside the 3D Art Museum

"I can show you the world..." watch me fly!!

Starts singing "Bye Bye Bye" by NSync... Remember that song?

Yes there's a song for every photo... "Out of the sea, Wish I could be
Part of that world...." The Little Mermaid

Hakuna matata?

Just a little cramped in here...

This was one of my favourite photos

Ever seen the movie 'The Ring'

I promise I never killed anybody...

Yup I even made it onto the cover of National Geographic...

After the 3D Art Gallery, we stopped for lunch before visiting a local shopping mall to pick up a few things.

In the early evening we visited a boarding house for girls/women studying in Chiang-Mai. The boarding house is for people who come from rural areas to stay whilst they are studying either in high school or university in Chiang-Mai. One of the people who stays in the boarding house but is not a student is a friend of my cousin. She co-ordinates the study program of the girls who live in the house and also talks to them about Jesus. Many of the girls at the house are Christian and are involved with the local church.
It was fun to meet the girls who came to talk with us. It was great to hear about where they are from and what they are studying. One of the girls brought out a guitar and it was also fun to sing some Christian songs with them.

After that we visited a Cultural Show called Khum Khantoke. It seems to be a popular place to visit for tour groups. But the food and show were really not great at all and I thought that the whole place was a massive waste of money.
The dinner was a set menu consisting of: banana fritters, clear soup, pork curry with ginger and tamarind sauce (Chiang Mai style), deep fried chicken, grilled young chilli paste, minced pork and tomato sauce with steamed vegetables, crispy pork skin, stir fried mixed vegetables with sticky rice or steamed rice. Dessert was a crispy rice noodle with fresh pineapple and watermelon. The menu is meant to be typically northern Thai but the food was mass produced and was the worst meal we had in our time in Chiang Mai.

Selection of Thai cuisine

We had not booked a table so were seated at the side of the stage area. They assured us we would still be able to see the show as it was not on the stage but the rectangular open space below the stage. This was not true. When the show started there were some musicians and traditional drummers on stage. A lot of the dancing performance was in the open area. The acoustics what awful and the pamphlet said that the dancers costumes represented the tribes in northern Thailand but we could not hear the announcer and so could not hear any of the introductions to the dances. The show itself wasn't great either. Some may find it interesting but so many people walked out, including us... I've seen many cultural shows in different countries. This one I definitely recommend you give a miss...

Chiang Mai Day 1

We arrived late on Sunday afternoon. On Sunday nights they turn the main street of Chiang Mai into a walking street market. The whole of the central street is closed and people set up many stalls selling many things from handmade goods to various food and drinks. You can bargain a bit at the markets too. Bought a few things to eat because I wanted to try them. We also came across a stall selling fresh juices and they were really nice so mum bought a lot. Luckily we have a big fridge in the apartment we are staying in.

Vegetable and redbean dumplings 'bao'. Not as nice as the Chinese ones

Beautiful umbrellas for sale

Other handycraft items for sale

Quail eggs

I'm all for trying new things but could not bring myself to try silkworms, crickets or grasshoppers...

10 baht (40 cents Australian) for freshly squeezed juices - the corn and guava ones were the nicest.

One of the many stalls with men cooking chicken wings, and fishballs on sticks