My Oh Mai!

We're in Chiang Mai and it is very safe here indeed. So far anyway...

Yesterday was a pretty epic travel day. We left our hotel in Luang Prabang at 7am in a tuk-tuk. We were taken to a jetty where we boarded two luxurious yachts. I say luxurious yachts, but if you can imagine a gondola with a speed boat engine, you're half way there. We were in for a bumpy ride. I don't know what the first clue was that it would be bumpy, the mandatory life vest or the optional crash helmet. Seriously, we were wearing crash helmets!

Its not as bad as it sounds, we were only in the boats for about 6 hours. Charlotte felt right at home in her life vest. We had a couple of stops and at one of them we went to a little village where hilltribe people live and got to wander round and see puppies and piglets. We were like animals in a zoo as alot of the people have never seen white people before. They got a fright when Charlotte started screaming and chasing them, shouting "I am the white devil!"

That last bit didn't happen.

Or did it..?

After our 6 hour cruise up the Mekong river we met Sunny at the Thai border. He is a local tour guide who would have been joining us at this stage anyway, but is now more or less filling in for Mim. She should be joining us later this week in Chiang Mai or when we get to Bangkok. Asuming all goes well!

Last night we stayed in the middle of no where in a little guest house outside a town called Chiang Saen. It was so quiet, we were surrounded by trees and fields and hills. It was a welcome change to hear insects and animals as opposed to car horns and music.

This morning we left for Chiang Mai. En route we stopped at the golden triangle, which is where Thailand, Laos and Burma all meet. This is part of a famous Opium smuggling route. As gambling is illegal in Thailand, there are casinos on the Laos and Burma sides of the Mekong. After this we visited the Opium House, which is an Opium Museum. Opium production, trafficking and possesion is illegal in Thailand, however, if you want to know how to grow, harvest, prepare, cook and smoke opium, this is the place to come to for a step by step guide. We all got free samples at the end...

After this we stopped at a Temple like no other we have seen so far. It is called the White Temple and as its name suggest, it is white. An artist, who seems to be Thailand's answer to Dali decided to build this and pay for it himself. It is quite traditional but with a really modern twist. Inside the temple all of the walls are painted with crazy pictures. One wall is a massive face with all sorts of things making it up, superheroes, petrol pumps, Star Wars, Weapons, the Twin Towers, skulls, buddha, an aztec pyramid and a volcano. Its pretty mad. Even the no smoking sign outside is a skull with lots of hands holding cigarette packets!

Eventually we arrived at the Smile House Hotel in Chiang Mai, its quite nice, although our room smells of damp. This Evening Sunny took us to the Night Market for dinner which was pretty awesome and cost like 2 quid for both of our meals! I also got new flip-flops, as my others broke, and new sunglasses to replace the ones I lost to Poseidon.

After this came one of the highlights so far (for me at least, although Charlotte really really really enjoyed it!). We went to see Muay Thai, or Thai Boxing. It was amazing. In thai Boxing knees, elbows, punches and kicks are legal, headbutts are not. Its pretty much anything goes. The first fight was a wee bit off-putting as the combatants were like 13 years old. However in the latter fights they were much older. There is a great atmosphere as there is a band who play along to the fights and the music gets quicker and louder as the fights get more exciting. At halftime there was a four-way blindfold match. It was pretty immoral but highly entertaining none the less.

We are now back at the hotel about to turn in for the evening. Tomorrow we are away for a two day trekto stay with a hill tribe. This also includes an Elephant ride and a shot of bamboo rafting, which we are assured is very safe! Probably won't be back online till Wednesday evening or Thursday. If anyone wants to top up my phone it would be much appreciated. Its on Vodafone and you can do it at a cash machine. Cheers. Love you all, hope everyone is ok!