Chiang Mai - A change in the weather 🌧

 Although it wasn't raining when we arrived in Chaing Mai, it started in the night and then continued. However, it didn't dampen our spirits in what is a very interesting city. It doesn't feel like a city, nestled next to jungle and mountains with its extremely friendly people, it has a quaintness about it. 

We explored the city on the first day visiting some of the the temples which are extremely impressive and colourful structures. You cannot help but feel peaceful as you enter, as well as gaining shelter from the rain. The Old City still has the moat and remains of and old city wall which are in a perfect square if you look on Google maps. This offers a good walk with fountains and mighty trees. 

We enjoyed an evening at the Night Bazaar which is endless stalls of all the souvenirs you can think of and a number of food markets offering a great selection. There was live music on and cheap Chang beer so it was easy to let the hours slip away there. As great food is right up Matt's Street we'd booked ourselves on a cooking course the next day. We were picked up in the city and drove out to Sammy's Organic Thai Cooking School where we cooked up a number of dishes on his beautiful farm.  Sammy is a delightfully giggly man who wants to share great Thai food with people, we had a great time and ate very well. The toliet was definitely worth the visit aswell! 

Another day we headed out to Doi Inthanon National Park. The day started with good walk though the forest seeing  snakes, spiders, waterfalls, and rice terraces. The National Park is home to tribes who came to Thailand looking for refuge and then set up opium farms. They were later visited by the last king of Chiang Mai who offered them a home, and all the rights of the Thai people, as long as they stopping producing opium. As a result they now sustain themselves growing coffee, rice, flowers and basically other legal things. 

We made it to the highest point in Thailand and although we were basically up in the clouds we visited the Pagodas built for the late King and Queen of Chiang Mai, who people revere for protecting the nature of the area. 

We'd been torn about elephant sanctuarys whilst on our travels. I do love elephants and the chance to see them isn't one I would like to miss. So after a lot of research we joined a tour to the Living Green Elephant Sanctuary. Here we could see some elephants and got to feed them some bananas and sugar cane. There was the option to wash them in the river but we chose not to, just sticking to being able to see and watch the majestic creatures. 

We've really enjoyed our time in Chiang Mai and not only because our hostel had kittens. Our Thailand adventure continues to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. 

Lots of Love, 

Lisa and Matt 💕