The Land of a Million Rice Fields

After our 12 hour bus ride through the arctic (the bus was freezing) we arrived in the lovely town of Chiang Mai only to be corralled to a guest house run by the same people who drove the bus. Once we escaped we wandered the city in search of a place to take a nap since there wasn't much sleep to be had on the bus. We eventually settled at Your House Guest House, which was nothing special, but at least they had a room available.

Following a short nap, we went out in search of the Oasis Spa because one of Julian's good friends, David Raghavan, got us a couples massage there as a wedding gift. It was super nice and relaxing and just what we needed after a long day/night of travel. Mattie fell in love with the hand-painted tea cups they served us tea in and can't wait to get back to Bangkok so she can try to find them in the massive Chatuchak Market.






We finished our pampering around dinner time so we headed over to Mike's Hamburgers, the best hamburger in Southeast Asia. It was pretty decent.






For the rest of the night we just hung out and wandered around to get better acquainted with the city!



*yes that is a real fish in a real tv*

The next morning we left for our Flight of the Gibbon tour, where we got to zip line through the jungle for 4 hours! It was awesome and our guides were really funny... They kept trying to push Mattie off the platforms, but luckily she was secured. Our camera battery died about an hour into the trip so another couple let us share their camera. Thanks Lee and Ed!


















*We even got a little visit from mamma and baby gibbon!*

Monday night we booked a 3 day trek (Tuesday through Thursday) through the jungle including elephant riding, white water rafting and a home stay in one of the hill tribe villages... But we are going to write a separate post for this :)

After we got the trek booked, we went to see our first Muay Thai Boxing match! We got ring side seats and got to see 8 Fights ranging from 10 year old kids to blind men, but they weren't really blind, just blindfolded. It was quite an experience! The fight of the night featured an Aussie vs a Thai fighter - it didn't end well for the home team.









When we returned from our trek on Thursday night, we secured a bed at the MD Guest House and rested up.


Friday morning, Mattie went out for a full day of cooking classes out at Sammy's Organic Farm. She learned how to make green curry paste, green curry, Tom Yum soup, a chicken and cashew dish, chicken in pandanus leaves, and mango sticky rice. If you're nice, maybe she will cook for you when she gets home :)



*Coolest bathroom ever!*








The following morning we hitched a ride with Laddawan (a local who had been helping us book all of our adventures) and her friend Allen to Tiger Kingdom where we got to play with and pet baby and full grow tigers! Julian was scared and I suppose rightfully so seeing as we both got bit by the baby tigers... But they were still pretty adorable, giant kittens.

*As this video starts, the baby tiger is bitting Mattie's leg...*

*Apparently Mattie wasn't to his liking, so he decided to take a chunk out of Julian, too!*

We then joined Laddawan for a traditional Isaan lunch at her friend's "restaurant" by a local market. It was delicious, although Mattie was scared to try the fish...





After lunch they dropped us off at the bus station so we could continue on to Chaing Rai! We wish that we could have stayed longer, as is the case with most towns, but the rest of Southeast Asia awaits!!!

- Mattie and Julian

Location:Chiang Mai, Thailand