Chiang Mai, Thailand

The 10 hour bus journey up from Bangkok to Chaing Mai actually went pretty smoothly. The overnight buses have super reclining seats and we even got blankets and snacks. We were glad we managed slept pretty much the whole way but still got in a little nap upon arrival to our boutique budget hotel, Battery Park. We had a lovely stay there, it was clean, modern and located in a perfect location right off the old town square.

Chiang Mai is a great place for travellers to rent motorbikes and explore around the city - something Jake was super excited about. After our power nap we did a bit of googling and found a lovely restaurant a short bike ride away for an early dinner.

The next day we went over to Doi Suthep Pui National Park as Jake was keen on visiting the waterfall. We got there and there was no water, dry season doesn't cater for backpackers. We then decided to head up to the mountain, it was a pretty long windy whindy road to the top. Once we reached the point of no more bikes, we went on foot for what we hoped was an amazing view. It was a bit of a trek and when we reached the summit, we were just surrounded by trees and a sign. So we had a waterfall with no water, and a mountain with no view, successful day all in all. On the way back down we did see a sign for the view point and headed over to see what we were missing. Turns out it wasn't much, the view was okay but definitely not worth the mission. We made our way back down and we're hoping to go over to the Grand Canyon, a massive canyon filled with water - perfect for cliff jumping. But it was getting a bit late and we would have got there in the dark which we figured wasn't such a great idea.

I did a bit of pinteresting and we made our way over to Dash for dinner. A really lovely restaurant located just off the square with delicious Thai food and live music. On our way back we stumbled across the Sunday market, full of traditional Thai street vendors, and dressed up dogs to draw in the travellers. It was a great alternative to the overly tourist Koh San Road of Bangkok and we spent a bit of time just browsing the street before we made our way back to our hotel, to get a good nights sleep before our next journey further up north to Pai.

Pav & Jake

xxx