Chiang Mai, Thailand

Elephant Nature Park, Hill tribes

We spent a full day at Elephant Nature Park, helping out with the feeding and bathing of the elephants and learning how they ended up at the park. The park is a sanctuary for elephants who have suffered as a result of the tourist trade in Thailand. Elephant trekking, for example, often...

written by

lucy3119 on December 5, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

Shamans, spirit gates and a lot of sweating

Before our two-day trek into the hills began, we stopped off at the Lisu shaman's House for some lychee wine and a bit of a sit-down. Our trekking guide, Charlie, also showed us the giant swing, which represents freedom to the tribe, and the spirit gate, which we were forbidden to touch in case...

written by

lucy3119 on December 5, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

White water rafting back to Chiang Mai

Trek: day two took us downhill, past a waterfall and through a Field full of cows that decided to follow us for the last leg of the journey. We were all relieved to see the songthaews waiting to pick us up at the end of the trek, but also really proud of ourselves for what we'd achieved in the...

written by

lucy3119 on December 5, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

Canyoning!

Today was a free day to spend as we liked: most of the others took part in a tour of Chiang Mai's temples while four of us - Andy, Lauren, Sam and I - went canyoning. This involved sliding down waterfalls, wading and jumping into pools, and rapelling 100 metres down a huge waterfall! This...

written by

lucy3119 on December 5, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

Caving and yet more 'reggae' bars

Caving and abseiling today - although after our incredible canyoning adventure yesterday Lauren, Andy, Sam and I found it a bit of an anticlimax. The best (and most terrifying) part of the day was a tyrolean traverse across a huge, deep cavern followed by an abseil (we were pretty much...

written by

lucy3119 on December 5, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

Sleeper train to Bangkok...or is it?

This morning, Lauren, Andy, Sam and I decided to check out the temples of Chiang Mai: we'd missed the temple tour the other day while canyoning. We discovered a really ancient-looking temple right next to our hotel, which was pretty interesting. In the afternoon we were meant to be...

written by

lucy3119 on December 5, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

Spa days and cooking class chaos

We spent a divine morning at the luxurious Legend Spa, built in a stately home. After a full body massage I ill-advisedly chose to have a mineral mud body mask which involved stripping, being covered in mud and wrapped in cling film, unable to move for twenty minutes while desperately needing...

written by

lucy3119 on December 2, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

elephants, oxs and bamboo rafting

i have just ridden on an elephant! the day started with seeing the elephants and having your photo taken with them, before watching them washing in the river. i was surprisingly intimidated by them! they were so big! we then had an elephant show which was very touristy and quite cringy. the...

written by

Clairesj on November 27, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Clairesj's Travel Blog

boy scouts, bad leads and being locked out of my room!

one drive day to the border of Cambodia, and a sigh of relief when we got across (as we got there 2 days early and BiRT was permitted to enter and leave Cambodia on pre-decided dates) but luckily the Cambodians are laid back enough to let us through and into Thailand. we slept by the road again...

written by

Clairesj on November 26, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Clairesj's Travel Blog

A cycling guide’s worst nightmare…

It’s day 2 of our Tribal Trekking group. We are much happier with this group than our last one as it only has 5 students compared to the 16 we had on the previous trip. We have just got our bikes and are ready to go out for a warm up ride. The next two days will be long, strenuous days and we...

written by

brookejason on August 14, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

Viewing 11 - 20 of 85 Entries
first | previous | next | last