On Sunday I set off for Heathrow with my mum, brother, boyfriend and dad (who has joined me for the first week!) all set to go on my adventures. We met my auntie and uncle there and after an emotional goodbye, lots of queuing and an hours delay we were finally in the air off to Thailand!
As we arrived in Bangkok we checked into our first hotel, it was a massive 31 floors and we were on the 29th - this led to an amazing view out over the whole of Bangkok. After spending some time lazing around the infinity pool on the 14th floor over the rest of the afternoon and following morning we headed off on a plane again to Chiang Mai.
Our infinity pool in Bangkok.
Chiang Mai has such a different feel about it. A lot more greenery, moutains and a generally a more countryside feel to it. Again we checked in for a very brief one night stay ready to start our 3 day elephant trekking adventure, at this point I really had no idea what to expect!
Day 1:
After breakfast, we got picked up by our lovely tour guide Mrs Taew in our private vehicle and proceeded to a local market where we picked up some traditional Thai food and got to see what a typical Thai market looks like. The market was huge and there was so much stuff, we got enough fruit to feed a family of 4 along with a few other snacks.
We then went onto Tiger Kingdom, one of the parts I was most excited about! This is the best tiger sanctuary to go to in Thailand as all the others heavily sedate the tigers which is really sad. These tigers are separated from their parents when they are born and raised by the keepers so they get used to people and being around them, hence why we were able to pretty much lie on them!
After the tigers, we went to a butterfly and orchid farm. I'll be honest I'm not a massive flower person but the gardens were really pretty and there are some really beautiful butterflies in Thailand! We also saw how they use the dead butterflies to make jewellery which was really cool.
After the butterfly farm we went a visited the long neck and big ear tribes. These tribes moved to Thailand to earn money from the tourism but it was quite sad to see how they were so used to having their pictures taken and almost felt like I was intruding. However it was interesting to see their environment and also the poverty they live in. Definitely makes you appreciate everything!
We then went and had lunch and moved on to our next activity - white water rafting. Very mild white water rafting I have to say, but the highlight for me was seeing an elephant in the river completely free cooling himself down. It was amazing to be that close to one in its natural environment. I couldn't get a picture as we were paddling past but I did capture the second lot of elephants we came across although these were more controlled. We also got to swim down the river which was a lot of fun!
The elephants we saw whilst white water rafting.
After this we headed off to our main event the elephants. After a brief lesson on some Thai words on how to control the elephant we went down and met them. We had one elephant each and fed them bananas. There were 2 pregnant elephants in the sanctuary - one nearly ready (they're pregnant for 2 years!!!) and one which was only a year gone. We then learnt how to hoist ourselves onto their backs and went off on a trek which was an amazing experience. Finishing in the river the elephants lay down and we washed them and had more pictures before proceeding back to the starting point. It was incredible to be that close and interactive with them and we were the only people in the sanctuary as we went to a much smaller one with only about 8 elephants. The elephants are all taken care of properly so I had no doubts they were in safe hands.
Finally we headed off to our home for the evening, literally a treehouse! Everyone who knows me knows I am not a camper so this was a real test. However we made it through and I somehow overcame all the bugs!
Day 2:
This was a slightly easier day. After breakfast we headed off to the sticky waterfall, also called the 7 colours waterfall or it's proper name buathong waterfall. It's a massive waterfall with big rocks which your skin basically sticks too meaning you can climb up the waterfall. This was all well and good until we got to the top where it was covered in moss and very sticky - cue myself and dad searching for an alternative route - eventually we got to the top!
After climbing up we stopped for a break and the tour guided pointed out a snake in the tree. She confirmed it was poisonous (fantastic) but it was still fascinating to see. We then headed off to the hot springs. In all honesty this was the most boring part, it said there was a mineral pool, which I thought was natural lake but no it was a manmade swimming pool with sulfur in which felt like getting into a bath and also stank of eggs! We saw the hot springs which go up to 105 Celsius and the main attraction is that you can buy a basket of eggs and boil them in the sprigs.
After this we set off on our last leg to our next resort - a tiny, very quiet village in the tops of the rainforest.
Day 3:
The last and most challenging day of the tour. We started our day with a hike through the rainforest (it said optional on the itinerary but we didn't get a lot of choice in the matter!) We geared up in long sleeve shirts and long trousers and wellies to avoid getting scratched on the plants, which is quite a lot of clothes for 30 degree heat, and set off on a 90 minute very hot, sweaty and hard trek. We climbed up and down some very narrow, steep ledges and across and lot of rocky terrain all the time trying to avoid the big bees they warned us about (I was so worried about these, if you make noise they attack you and I'm not one to keep quiet) however to my relief we didn't see any! I am glad I done it but I wouldn't do it again that's for sure.
We then had some lunch and moved onto the jungle zip wires - 30 different ledges all connected by zip wires, this was really good fun and much needed after a hard morning.
Finally we were on our way back to comfy beds and a nice swimming pool - bliss!
And now we are back in Bangkok. We spent Saturday night in the famous Kaoh San Road which I can only describe as absolutely mental. Such a good atmosphere but crazy! We ate a scorpion which was on my bucket list, can't say it was the nicest thing I tried - really salty, crispy and chewy ugh!
Kaoh San Road
Today was our final day in Bangkok and we went to see the Grand Palace. Unfortunately the only entry time available was 1:30 and with me leaving in the afternoon to meet my group for the second part we weren't able to go in so I'll hopefully be able to do that once I'm back from the islands. We got the boat across the river and saw all the sights along the way - Wat Pho and Wat Arun temples and the sky bat from the hangover 2 movie!
The sky bar from the hangover.
And now I'm in my hotel room with my new roommate ready for the next adventure. Will try and post weekly but bare with me as wifi connections are sparse and having the time to write is actually quite difficult.
Until next time!
With love, Lauren x
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