Chiang Mai

The thing that struck me about Chaing Mai is that the people there are much more genteel as compared to the brash city folk in Bangkok. We did not get fleeced or bagered into buying things and the tuk-tuk man who took us places everyday was an honest guy who charged us extremely decent rates. We stayed at the Imperial Mae Ping hotel, and as suspect as the name sounds, it was a very clean and decent outfit complete with carpeted floors, hot showers and 2 complementary bottles of water everyday.
The highlight of the trip has definately got to be the ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) adventure which we went on the day before we left. Due to the threatening skies and rough and tough nature of the activity, we didn't bring our cameras, which was a real shame. We were driven about 40mins out of Chiang Mai to the hilly Chiang Dao area were the adventure was to begin. The ATVs were huge, and after being fitted with helmets and boots, we straddled the monsters, did 2 rounds of their pratice circuit and were off. We drove an hour uphill on proper roads and after that off road on rough terrain. Most of the time it was driving next to the wall of the mountain on the right and a sharp plummet down to mountainous depths on the left. We were warned of the seriousness of the issue with our guide constantly reminding us in an ominous tone "Go left... Dieeeee!". My brother had a real tough time steering on the uneven terrain and forgot to turn the wheel to compensate when he went over ditches which resulted in him almost driving off the cliff. The guide immediately stopped the convoy, got off his ATV, walked over to my brother and asked "Boy! Are you trying to be funny!?". Anyway, the initial hiccups cleared eventually and he was soon enjoying the ride and the changing temperatures. We passed through farming villages and I got to see actual vegetable patches! (It was really a sight to behold for this city girl) Our destination was the peak of the mountain, where we were rewarded with a spectacular view of green rolling hills and mountains amidst cold air and strong winds, a truly spectacular moment. From there it was an easy one hour ride back down to base. All in all the ride itself took about 4.5 hours. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Chiang Mai.

Food was nothing to shout about, the Lanna cuisine is very healthy with alot of soups and curries sans coconut milk. I think my stomach couldn't handle the 'Lanna Special Pickled Sausage' we had on the last night, which tasted like what I would imagine sausage that had turned putrid in the sun would taste like. Going to the markets was also an experience, seeing raw meats for sale, crudely slapped on aluminum trays under no chilling system to speak of, stark and bare amidst the humidity. I saw maggots, I saw bugs. Like I said, it was an experience.

The trip was enjoyable, we were all spa-ed out spoiling ourselves with 2 massages each. My brother did one better and requested for a 30min MILK BATH! after one of his treatments. A simple quiet town for a quick lazy getaway, if you don't harbour grand plans of shopping up a storm. Lazy, being the operative word :)