13/12/07 to 20/12/07
Back in Chang Mai... and this time it was so much nicer!
As soon as we got here we went straight to The Rose Guest House, as we did like the place a lot. Since it was already late, we went for dinner (at La Villa Restaurant again), and went to have a chat with Carm and Lee and Peter Paul (since they too, were in Chang Mai) and then off to sleep, determined, to see much more of Chang Mai this time.
The following morning we hired a bike (automatic). Driving it's a little bit more difficult here
since it's not a small village like Pai, but Yakof managed well. First thing in the morning we booked our very first trek!! 3-days two nights, including sleep over in a tribal villages, elephant riding and bamboo rafting.
We set off to Doi Suthep... a beautiful temple and monastery on the highest point of Chang Mai. The long ride was very rewarding as the temple was magnificent. Beautiful buddhas, surroundings, designs...and the view...majestic! Once there, we were blessed by the monks. Janet was blessed by a high ordinance monk and Yakof by their buddha (who is the higher monk). They tied some white threads around our right hand... and performed a blessing, this was meant to bring good luck.
After exploring the temple, Yakof came up with the idea of going to chat with a monk. This idea turned out to be very pleasant. We spoke to a 26-year old novice from Burma and he explained to us some of the Buddha's teachings. Yakof, from his side, was explaining his beliefs, which meant there was not much place for Janet to say a word :) So she consoled herself buy buying a book about Buddhism.
The rest of the day was spent driving aimlessly in Chang Mai until we arrived at a very nice coffee shop/restaurant on the Ping River's bank (Chang Mai Coffee). The place offered a great view, and was full of cats!!
3 days-2 nights trekking
Morning came... time to trekk! The first day was pretty easy. We just rode to a spot where we had lunch, and a 10-minute walk to a waterfall. The waterfall was nice though not impressive. Then we set off to another place and we had an hour and a half walk to the tribal village where we were going to spend the night. During the trek Janet stepped over some buffalo shit (which Yakof had to clean off the shoe later)...yakkk!!!
The stay at the village was enjoyable. We had dinner (not so good), had a 
couple of drinks, a chat with the other people who were trekking with us, and spent some time round the fire, with one of the guides playing the guitar and Yakof singing along....
The following day we woke up early. Did not manage to rest a lot as they place we slept in was a common hut which had no matteresses but just wood!! The toilet was an experience on it's own... a whole in the ground surrounded by ALOT of insects... in fact Janet preferred to pee next to a tree :)
We eventually discovered that we were the only two out of the whole group who were doing three day trek !!!! And our second day was just walking :) !!! But to be honest, though we had a seven-hour walk, it was the day we enjoyed most. During the trek we saw two waterfalls, Yakof swam in a river, and we ended our day in a beautfiul village, sleeping in a very nice hut and having the best Thai Massage ever!
since it's not a small village like Pai, but Yakof managed well. First thing in the morning we booked our very first trek!! 3-days two nights, including sleep over in a tribal villages, elephant riding and bamboo rafting.
We set off to Doi Suthep... a beautiful temple and monastery on the highest point of Chang Mai. The long ride was very rewarding as the temple was magnificent. Beautiful buddhas, surroundings, designs...and the view...majestic! Once there, we were blessed by the monks. Janet was blessed by a high ordinance monk and Yakof by their buddha (who is the higher monk). They tied some white threads around our right hand... and performed a blessing, this was meant to bring good luck.
After exploring the temple, Yakof came up with the idea of going to chat with a monk. This idea turned out to be very pleasant. We spoke to a 26-year old novice from Burma and he explained to us some of the Buddha's teachings. Yakof, from his side, was explaining his beliefs, which meant there was not much place for Janet to say a word :) So she consoled herself buy buying a book about Buddhism.
The rest of the day was spent driving aimlessly in Chang Mai until we arrived at a very nice coffee shop/restaurant on the Ping River's bank (Chang Mai Coffee). The place offered a great view, and was full of cats!!
3 days-2 nights trekking
Morning came... time to trekk! The first day was pretty easy. We just rode to a spot where we had lunch, and a 10-minute walk to a waterfall. The waterfall was nice though not impressive. Then we set off to another place and we had an hour and a half walk to the tribal village where we were going to spend the night. During the trek Janet stepped over some buffalo shit (which Yakof had to clean off the shoe later)...yakkk!!!
The stay at the village was enjoyable. We had dinner (not so good), had a 
couple of drinks, a chat with the other people who were trekking with us, and spent some time round the fire, with one of the guides playing the guitar and Yakof singing along....
The following day we woke up early. Did not manage to rest a lot as they place we slept in was a common hut which had no matteresses but just wood!! The toilet was an experience on it's own... a whole in the ground surrounded by ALOT of insects... in fact Janet preferred to pee next to a tree :)
We eventually discovered that we were the only two out of the whole group who were doing three day trek !!!! And our second day was just walking :) !!! But to be honest, though we had a seven-hour walk, it was the day we enjoyed most. During the trek we saw two waterfalls, Yakof swam in a river, and we ended our day in a beautfiul village, sleeping in a very nice hut and having the best Thai Massage ever!
We spent the following morning relaxing at the village, playing with a monkey, and talking to the locals. Later we set off for our elephant ride. Janet was really looking forward to ride an elephant but the ride did not turn out as she had thought. It's like being on a roller coaster but in slow motion... and she got quite scared as well, especially when we were going downhill. Yakof had to hold both himself and Janet not to slip off. At a particular point the elephant stopped and we didn't know what to expect. The 
elephant rider hit the elephant on his head...poor thing. We ended the ride with the elephant washing us along with it. After that we went bamboo rafting, which both of us did not enjoy due to the fact that Janet did not want to get wet (which is quite a difficult thing when you're in the water...ain't it??!!)
All in all it was a great experience and at least a starting point for the upcoming (harder) treks!
The rest of our days in Chang Mai were spent going round Chang Mai, having lunch at the Ping River's waterside restaurant, shopping at the Central Plaza, watching a movie at the Cinema (Golden Compass) and eating more than we should have. In fact the last couple of days we spent a little bit more than we had budjeted (we ate KFC and Pizza which is a luxury for us here).
In the meantime we were getting our Laos visa ready, and on Friday 21st December we set off to our next destination....Laos...For more pictures click here:
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