Coming back from Laos we had to spent the first night in the border town of Chiong King. Giving us the chance to see a small city without all the tourists. Although, soon we had to figure out that this place can be quit calm. The only place we found to get a drink and perhaps something to eat was closing down just in the moment we arrived but opened again later on just for us!

The day after we moved to Chiang Mai with the plan in mind to see the Yi Peng festival – a buddhist festival during the full moon time in November. Unfortunately we missed hundreds of thousands of lanterns going up into the night sky! It was already to late to go to the place by the time we came back from dinner. Thats the price you pay if you don’t plan. Instead we headed out for the nearby night market which was packed with people. Getting some cheap snacks and to do some windows shopping.

Chiang Mai has many temples around the centre as well as in the surrounding. One has a bamboo wat and another temple is built in tunnels well hidden in the nearby forest.

To escape the intense heat and humidity in the centre I went to a jungle trek. Unfortunately just for one day but enough to see at least some of the jungle around the city. First stop was at an orchis nursery and butterfly center. Getting taught how much it takes to create some of those flowers. Would you have guessed it could take several years till you get to see the beauty of it?

Later on I jumped on an elephant like the guys in the picture. Perhaps the most touristy thing I’ve done the last two years. Somehow I expected the ride a bit more adventures but it was a slow and shaky ride. Even though, our elephant over took all the other ones 😀 Good fun was the command ‘bon banana’ which means ‘give me your trunk and you’ll get a banana’. The only command he was really listening to as you can see.
The rest of the trip contained a short hike into the jungle. On the way there we were discovering interesting plants and butterflies. One of the plants –Mimosa– collapsed it leaves as soon as you touched it – awesome. Finally we took a raft and went down the river. The ending with the bamboo raft was a failure since we were too heavy …

After four nights in Chiang Mai I was looking forward to something out of a city and decided to go to Pai. A place four hours north. The place consists of two a few roads and numerous guest houses. Nevertheless, it is a really small and laid back place just a bit over ran by foreigners.

Since the place was quite small it only took a few minutes to get out of it and into the green. Waterfalls, a canyon or rice fields are just a few things which make this place so relaxing. Even though most people discover it by scooter it is easily possible to hike to the suggested spots. If you don’t mind the sun. Shame on me that I spent four nights in Chiang Mai instead of one more in this beautiful place!

Unfortunately, I already had my flight for the first of November to Yangon – Myanmar. A new adventure is waiting out there 🙂