Chaing Maiii ooohh my!

The trip from Bangkok to Chiang mai was beautiful. From the taxi-guy that was cheering for Dutch soccer, to the train-lady that said "goedemorgen" and that I'm pretty like a thousand times, to the guy from the restaurant in Chiang Mai that ran for a taxi because he didn't wanted me to walk in the rain. Although I was alone for the first time during this trip, I felt so happy. Especially with these Thai people, they make me smile all the time.

The next day I arrived (two and a half hour later than I was supposed to) in Chiang Mai. I went to Kikie's hostel, it was recommended by a friend. The dorm was full but there were single rooms, really cosy and clean for only 250 baht!

Only two minutes walk from the hostel there were many nice places to eat and hang out so I went for some good thai food and later a beer on a terras where I met a really cool Australian couple. They actually had a third glass on their table and a huge beer-tap. They really wanted someone cool to join them at the table and they told me I was the first cool traveller they'd met during their trip. Wow, thanks mate! We did had really good conversations about music, travelling.. everything! Good times, time flew by.

Chiang Mai has sooo many beautiful temples, they are really worth seeing. Annique, my friend from Holland, also arrived in CM. We decided to book a two day trip together to go hiking and see the elephants. At Kikies hostel they informed us well about which trip is the best and also which one is the most animal friendly. PLEASE PEOPLE, DO INFORM YOURSELF ABOUT THIS BEFORE TAKING ANY OF THESE TRIPS!! There are so many elephant trips were the elephants get abused, walking around with uncomfortable chains and people sitting on their backs all day. It makes me really sad and I don't want incorporate with any of these business!

The two day trek was indeed fan-tas-tic! We went hiking for three hours through the jungle and then we arrived at the elephant camp where we were going to ride the elephants and cook, eat and sleep. We had a cosy night with music by the campfire. The huts and sanitary were really basic but I just love sleeping in the jungle. All the noises of the animals, and I even heard the elephants trumping. Magical.

The next day we took the elephants for a bath and a scrub by the river and I was so lucky that I could actually sit on the back of one of the smaller elephants. No bench, just like that, I really felt like Mogli from junglebook!

This camp had many elephants and they were free to walk around in the nature. How it should be! Happy elephants, happy me!

Later that day we went to the waterfalls, swam there and enjoyed some food picknicking at the waterfalls. After that we went wild water rafting and bamboo rafting, which was more fun than I had ever expected it to be!

Annique is my childhood friend whom I grew up with as a child. We didn't see each other for maaaaaany years. It was so good that I had this experience with her. Bringing back childhood memories while sitting in the  jungle..

I'm going to Pai tomorrow and she will soon go to Vietnam. I wish her all the best on the rest of her trip! And thank you for making so many great pictures with your awesome camera!