Wet in Changmai, Chilling in Pai

As we had met such a nice group on the Gibbon Experience we decided to head over to Thailand, Changmai with them 2 days ahead of schedule on 11th April and oh my goodness – thank the lord!!

The journey as I said over to Thailand was very quick and easy and the minibus was quick too which took us to a hostel in town. We then needed a tuk tuk to take us to the hostel we had booked and that’s when we got it! The people of Changmai were getting warmed up for Songkran (Thai New Year and water festival) and the festivities to come so needless to day when we hit the main road where the old gate is to the city and the canal running through the middle (for those of you who have been) we got soaked by buckets being thrown through the open back & windows! We’d already bagged up our luggage incase thank goodness as it doesn’t matter if you’ve got your phone and camera and computer or whatever – you get water thrown at you no matter what! But it wasn’t tooo bad and at least we could change as soon as we arrived at the hostel.

After that & doing some laundry we set off to explore where we were and get out bearings. We were down a little back street and by the time we left people had just about stopped throwing water and as we came to the end of the street we hit the market street (which is usually only on Sunday’s but because of Songkran it was on every day for a week! And it was hands down the most amazing market I have ever been to. I had already proclaimed my instant love for Thailand when I had seen Starbucks & Boots from the tuk tuk on the way in – I mean Boots (as in the chemist) I was soooooo excited!! And this market was just unbelievable! The tope end and bottom end of the street is mainly local textile clothing/bags etc and jewellery and knacks and then the middle section is food. And it also runs through the temple in the middle and through another gate! It’s massive and it was like arriving in heaven! It had EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine – of course all the local Thai stuff like Pad Thai noodles and BBQ’d meats and fish, but there was sushi and Chinese food and deserts and Indian and German sausage and…..just sooooo much food! It was amazing. We just went from stall to stall getting a bit of this and a bit of that and just grazing away it was fab! Although slightly worrying for my hip and waist line!! It was a superb first night in Thailand.

The next day we went on a cooking course at an organic farm. It was about and hour out of town and we didn’t have to worry about getting wet as it was too early – hurrah, the last thing I wanted was to be soaking wet all day cooking. Although saying that the temperatures in Thailand are immense so I wouldn’t have been wet for too long! We did a quick stop off at the market so the guide could explain to us all the different rice grain (mainly normal and sticky) and herbs etc, although we didn’t buy anything for the cooking as it all came fresh from the farm so thankfully I didn’t have to see any fish being battered to death like in Battambang!

The course was really good fun. We cooked 5 dished each and I chose: Thai Red Curry, Papaya Salad, Mango with Sticky Rice, Spring Rolls (which are soooo hard to make! Well – the rolling bit!) and Coconut Vegetable Soup. Tymon chose: Thai Green Curry, Tom Kha Gai (coconut soup with chicken) Chicken with Cashew Stir-fry, Banana in coconut milk (which is hardly a recipe as it’s literally putting a banana in coconut milk!) Pad Thai. And – we could eat it all once we were done cooking it!! Yummy!! Although soooo full I could hardly move and we had to have a snooze after the first round of food which was 3 dishes as we were soooo full and sleepy! But, and even if we do say so ourselves, the food was DELICOUS! And for those who have never had the pleasure of Mango and Sticky Rice – I feel sorry for you, I truly do. It is the yummiest desert EVER!! I mean it’s literally sticky rice with mango on top with coconut milk poured over the top with some salt & sugar in – so simple but soooooooo divine!! Tymon got the real deal recipe for Tom Kha Gai which is his favourite Thai dish even since before we came away and has been on a mission since we’ve been here to try it out everywhere. Sometimes having it for dinner days and days in a row! (Although he still says that when he makes it at home it’s the best he’s had! Lols – and I agree!) So all in all – a really great day and we got a recipe book too so again prepare yourselves for some Thai cooking when we’re back!

On the way back to the hostel at around 17.00pm we knew that now we would get absolutely soaked!! We all wrapped up our phones and cameras and the best part was that Tymon had picked up 2 huge umbrella’s from the hostel that morning, so him and Sally, who had gotten the bad seats at the back of the tuk tuk by the open door, opened them up held them against the entrance so if people threw water it wouldn’t come in! Hahaha, it was genius and worked like a charm. And people were cracking up and pointing and some people even got pissed off that they couldn’t get us! Lols – their faces were priceless when they threw the water and then realized as the tuk tuk passed further that it was splashed against an umbrella! But at this point things were still pretty quiet as the festival officially started the 13th! So with our genius contraption we made it all the way back without getting wet! That is until we walked down the back street and the guys sitting opposite the hostel in a bar chucked buckets! Typical eh – but I actually made as I ran past and he missed! Hahaha – unfortunately the other weren’t so lucky!

So – the day arrived! It was war time – with water. We loaded up our guns that we had brought back in Laos before we crossed the border as protection (even though we never used them until this day) and off we set to the main street. What a difference. The place was rammed! The streets were full of people and off course as soon as we stepped outside our hostel we got soaked. But it felt much better to be able to squirt back! Unfortunately though our guns weren’t exactly top of the range compared to a bucket just didn’t hold their own at all. So needless to say after about 15 minutes they were ditched and we brought a bucket each. Most bars and café’s had huge barrels out front being constantly filled with water from a hose out back so we found one of them and got stuck in with the group chucking water at passersby in the back of trucks (who had their own party’s in the back with drinks, music and big barrels of water to throw at people on the streets) and on scooters and in tuk tuks. He first few times is brilliant. I’ve never felt like such a child and so naughty! I mean it’s pretty nasty. You just lob a massive bucket of water at someone and with quite a bit of power as well. I’m amazed they didn’t fall off their bikes sometimes – although we did get extra points for knocking glasses off the face! Haha, as long as you picked them up and gave them back too. Oh the whole thing is just madness! Total and utter madness and complete FUN! The whole time we just kept saying how nothing like this could ever exist back home as violence would ensue immediately but there was no trouble whatsoever, it was all literally all good hearted fun. Although some ‘wars’ did occur when someone smashed you hard with a bucket you made sure you got your revenge and so on! The worst thing was though that not only warm normal temperature water was thrown. The real cincher was to get a massive block of ice in your barrel and melt it down so you had ice cold water! Now THAT was nasty as. Oh it was damn cold if you had a bucket of that chucked over you! And by the end of the day as the sun starts to set and you get a bit cold walking around town and you’ve had a session of those ice buckets over you – you are ready to about slap someone in the face with a block of ice! Although of course when you have the ice water it is SOOOOOOOOO much more fun!! :0)

So – that was our first day at war. And the next 2 days just got busier and busier! Infact we heard that because of all the trouble in Bangkok, Songkran had been cancelled there and everybody had come up North to Changmai , and even though it’s the place in the country where it is most celebrated so it’s always busy – this year was the biggest turn out ever! Which I can believe there were 1000’s on the streets and the volume of water being used was insane. You do have a moment where you think of all the water being wasted and of places like Africa and think – this is so bad – what are we doing? But then you get splashed so you splash back and it goes on! I’ve also just heard that during Songkran in Thailand, all the water wasted is the same as what the UK uses in a year! That’s a LOT of water – but again, I can believe it! So we had an absolute blast in Changmai – what with the water fights in the day and the party’s and markets at night – and we also watched Miss Songkran 2010 be crowned! Brilliant! At first I though it might be a wet t-shirt competition! Haha, but it was a full on pageant and the winner won EUR 5,000! Which in Thailand is a hell of a lot of money! It is soooooo cheap here. The cheapest by far so far in Asia – I love it. Thailand is AWESOME!

By the end of the 3 days we had met up with friends we’d made in Vang Vieng, Laos and parted way with the Gibbon crew, although we were only a day behind Sally & Becks to Pai. We wanted to get a new camera (and phone as ours had gotten wet, surprise surprise and blanked out on us!) so on the 16th went to a shopping mall out by the airport. Now, Songkran officially runs 13-15th but it was already starting days before hand so I thought that on the 16th there would still be stragglers on the street and water still being thrown, but as we walked to the end of the road from our hostel and to the main street it was like we had woken up in a different city. It was deserted. The streets were all spick and span like someone had just hoovered, all the barriers and stages were gone, the market was gone – it was eery! But soooo nice to be able to walk down the street without getting wet. After 3 days it gets a bit tiring! So we went to the mall, but helaas they didn’t the have the camera we wanted. Not as good quality as what we had as it was too much and it was breaking anyway, but another water proof one that a mate of ours had had with video too. But the mall was great. Another I love Thailand moments!

After the mall we went to Tiger Kingdom which - is a tiger park. I’d hardly call it a Kingdom as it wasn’t that big and I was dubious about going as I don’t really like these kind of things but I also wanted to interact with some tigers and after doing some research as to whether to go to this one or Tiger Temple further South near Bangkok we decided to go here. Thank goodness we did research as Tiger Temple, which is run by monks had absolutely terrible reviews! Horrible mistreatment of the tigers and neglect and just downright fake promotion. It’s the one that Animal Planet have been promoting for years but sadly it’s less to do with the tigers as it is about new digs for the monks. And I think you all know where I stand on the whole monk think so I am really glad we went to Tiger Kingdom instead. Here they are not pretending to be anything they are not. They’re are not a sanctuary as such but they have taken injured and orphaned tigers in the past which has now led to the rest there being bred in captivity which is now a business. It would have been nicer if the park itself was bigger and that they had a lot more cage space and I’m not sure why some were in such tiny cages anyway and why they didn’t all have garden space access at all times, but they all looked very well. Sadly you do have to wonder how they keep these huge wild animals so ‘tame’ but they didn’t looked drugged or anything. So basically you get to choose which age group you would like to interact with and we chose to do the youngest babies of 3-5 months and the biggest which are 10-12 months. You get 15 mins cage time with each. We did the babies first and oh my god – sooooooo cute!! There were 3 in the playpen which you got to rotate around with which was lucky as the one we got first was fast asleep! He was dead to the world as they sleep about 8 hours a day and more awake at night. When I first stroked it it was actually a lot courser that I expected. I thought it would be all soft and cuddly but it was a lot tougher – but I still wanted to pick it up and cuddle – which sadly I couldn’t do but our guide did pick him up and put him inbetween my legs. Oh I just loved it. They are so adorable and their bellies are yummy!! When we rotated the other one was wide awake and playing for a while which was great. Their eyes are so young and playful and their markings are so beautiful. Unfortunately too quickly our 15 mins was up and we had to leave to go and see the big ones which quite honestly I was absolutely petrified about. You have your own guide with you at all times and they have these bamboo/wooden sticks which they use if the tigers gets a bit out of hand but still – I’ve seen enough ‘When Animals Go Wild’ and ‘I Shouldn’t Be Alive Programs’ to take it all lightly. And with the big ones I did feel a bit bad about being there. Some were pacing and I mean when you think about it it is completely unnatural for them to have so many people around them all the time and for tourists to lie down on them!! Which we did not do!! I was a lot more reserved with the big ones and just wanted to more observe their majestic print and eyes. They truly are magnificent creatures and it breaks your heart that they have to be here like this! Our one was lying down at first so we could stroke it but then it was on the prowl and growling so we stayed clear a bit – haha. Then it sat down again and Tymon, so he could get some good shots layed down opposite the tiger. It was watching him the whole time and as he went to get up the guide said slowly as he already got up a bit fast and the tiger stood up in a second and took a few steps toward Tymon! It was a quite scary moment but unfortunately the guide then whacked it really hard on the nose so it growled a bit and then he pushed it’s head so it would sit down again and it went grudgingly into complete submission. I hated this but then at the end of day if they were in control we wouldn’t be in there! It wasn’t going to attack but basically the guard said that if you are on their level lying down they don’t distinguish any difference and if you stand up to become bigger or move quickly they think it’s either a threat or invitation to play – which is the last thing you want to be doing with a tiger!! Overall it was a great experience and wonderful to be able to interact with them and I am glad we went, but it’s still laced with guilt and sadness too.

And that was it – next destination Pai. Pai is a smallish town with a quaint feeling and a bit like you’ve gone back to the 70’s. A lot of hippie stalls of an evening and making jewellery – that kind of the thing. It’s also not far from the mountains and has excellent trekking (which we didn’t do – too expensive and hot :0( ) So we spent a couple of days drinking and chilling – for a change! :0)

Our first night we thought we would go for drinks with Sally & Becks as they were off to the islands the next day but we all did the internet and by the time we were all done it was nearly 1am. But Tymon & I were still up for going out as we’ve got into a bit of a night rhythm since Changmai so we’re sleeping late and going to bed late. We went to the Riverside Bar, which is…on the river and it was lovely. All lit up with lights and teepees. We got a rum bucket and sat on the floor cushions and talked and talked. About my acting when we get home and his painting and us and stuff. We talked for hours and it was sooo nice. It was like one of those nights when you first meet someone and you stay up talking all night and giggling. Needless to say I wasn’t giggling the next morning. Seriously I can’t deal with hangovers any more. They just get worse and worse and worse. I thought I was going to throw up! It’s my stomach that gets me – queasy as until I stuff it with grease and stodge! Had a burger and fries for breakfast which did the trick! While we were at breakfast we met a local artist who was having a beer (it was lunchtime) although I have the feeling it didn’t matter what time is was to him. He was really friendly and said he had a studio nearby town and he invited us the following day to go with him to have a look and he would cook us some food. We accepted before having a mooch around town then crawling back to the room to lay on the bed under the fan.

The following day we met up with this artist whose name was Puchai. I felt a bit bad as he had said he was going to cook for us but we had just eaten at the restaurant as we were starving and it was already 13.00pm (plus the food there was really good!) and you never know with these things when you’ll eat. But as soon as we arrived at his house, all 3 of us on his scooter, he brought out a whole fish that he had BBQ’d for us. We were absolutely stuffed but ate the fish as well so we didn’t seem completely rude! His artwork was nice and mainly made by using a lot of giggles to make the lines and images. A bit like the way Mr. Messy is drawn in the Mr. Men! He’s an old hippy and was telling us how he’s a political refugee, how he has 2 wives, the one that was inside the house and who wouldn’t come out to say hello to us and another in Bangkok, he brought out an old folder full of newspaper and magazine articles on him. He certainly has lived. He still plays his guitar on the streets of Pai every morning and evening busking and works his way through a bottle of rum as we talk. He gave us lots of gifts too which was very nice of him, although unfortunately we couldn’t really keep many of them as it just wasn’t practical to travel with them for the next 4 months! It was a strange but nice afternoon and nice to talk to an interesting guy.

That afternoon we went for a walk around town and back to the room. Tymon went out to take some photos during the hour of power while I read before we went out for dinner. On our way out we passed a tattoo place that we had popped into the day before to watch a guy getting a tattoo and he was still in the chair so we went back in to see how he was getting on. It was a big tattoo on the top of his arm and he’d been in there for about 10 hours the day before! (It was a bamboo tattoo) and he was just getting the finishing touches done. They say that a bamboo tattoo hurts less than a regular needle one, but I’m not convinced! They use a stick of actual bamboo that looks a bit like a paintbrush but has lots of tiny needles clustered together on the end of it. They then hold that against the skin and with another stick tap the end so it hits the skin over and over. It’s very skillful and you need an extremely steady hand. We watched the guy work and it was art! His other half (Nikki, his name was Mark) had had her tattoo done earlier that day which was a lovely pattern in black and red on the back of her top arm (on the bingo wing but she didn’t have bingo wings!) and as we chatted we found out that they were on their honeymoon! The tattoos were their wedding present from their friends and family! They would be finishing up soon so we agreed to meet up with them for dinner and some celebratory drinks at getting their tattoos finished! We had a great night and got on really well with them. The beers flowed and flowed and flowed and we went back to the Riverside bar and continued drinking into the small wee hours getting extremely drunk! Although I did exercise some caution towards the end of the night as I couldn’t bare the though of feeling like I had 2 days previous! But overall a great night! It’s so nice when you meet people who you genuinely get on with. They were only on holiday for 3 weeks and already I wanted them to quite their jobs (police officers in Manchester) and come travelling with us! :0)

The next day, I patted myself on the back for exercising that caution as I didn’t feel hung-over at all which was good as we had agreed with Nikki & Mark to get scooters and travel around the area. They were definitely worse for wear ;0) as they both ride motorbikes back home Mark got a cross bike sort of thing with a big engine. Tymon has been wanting to try this out for ages but it’s a pretty powerful bike and it certainly wasn’t the right time for him to try it with me on the back so we stuck to our normal scooter, although there was no way we could keep up! Lols.

We headed out to a waterfall which was nothing spectacular but the surrounding hillside was gorgeous and then back out through town to the other side to a temple and canyon. Not that it was really a canyon. I was expecting something amazing like the Grand Canyon, but it was really a hill side that has been carved naturally into ledges with large cliff side forest holes between them. It did have nice views and you could go climb up and down between the cliffs which we did which was adventurous, although Nikki & Mark by this time were suffering a bit so sat it out. They left us at the top to head home and shower up while we waited it out for sunset so Tymon could get more shots through the hour of power.

We had dinner with them again but no drinking before retiring to get an early night – even though we still were up till about 3am reading and watching TV.

Then we were leaving. We got the overnight bus down to Bangkok as we needed to apply for our 30 day visa – which is what leads to me sitting on an aeroplane to Hong Kong right now! But that’s for next time.

Hope you’re still awake! ;0)

Till next time
x