It’s been a slightly more chilled week for us, but we’ve still done some fantastic activities. We ended our Northern Thailand tour, so said goodbye to our first group, and headed back to Bangkok for the Southern Thailand tour. We also met a new group of people to share this part of the tour with. There are 18 people in the second group, which is very different from the 10 we’ve been used to!

We didn’t mention much about the Thai food that we’ve been enjoying in the last blog, so we thought we would dedicate some space to food this week! We will also include a picture of our favourite dish of the week in future blogs, so we hope you enjoy that. A big concern before we arrived was that the food would be too spicy, however we have been able to find dishes that we’ve both enjoyed, and have so far loved trying new things. Here are some of our favourites to date:

So what have we been up to since the last blog? Keep reading to find out!

Here’s a breakdown of what we have done this week!

Day 8: Journey to Pai. We had a heavy night on day 7, but luckily we also had a late check out the following morning. After a gruelling journey due to the amount of sharp turns in the road (over 700), we reached the border into Pai. Our van was pulled over, and we were asked to get out. Guards then approached us individually and held what looked like a small remote control to our forehead. It was explained to us that this was testing our temperature, in order to test for coronavirus. We arrived at the place we were staying, which is the coolest place we’ve stayed in to date. Instead of a hotel, each room is it’s own mini bungalow, and they’re surrounded by trees and flowers.

Day 9: White Buddha, View Point, Lod Cave/Bamboo Rafting, Sai Ngam Natural Mineral Spring and Pai Canyon. Today has been one of our busiest days yet, with lots on the schedule. We started by walking up 100 stairs to see the White Buddha. As normal, women had to have their shoulders and knees covered, and we had to remove our shoes at the top.

We then drove to a view point in Pai, where you are surrounded by mountains.

Our next stop was the Lod Caves. This experience was one of the coolest we’ve had so far. The caves are in complete darkness, and in groups of three, you are taken through them with a tour guide. The tour guide carries a roaring gas lamp, and points out the stalactites and stalagmites (some of which have naturally formed into shapes, such as a waterfall or teeth). Running through the cave is a shallow stream, so we climbed aboard a bamboo raft, and were taken through complete darkness. The gas lamp provided enough light to see fish below (including a cat-fish) and hundreds of bats flying above our heads! They were continously squeaking to each other, which was strangely peaceful.

Next, we went to Sai Ngam which is a natural hot spring, located in the jungle. The water is warm as soon as you step in, and just deep enough for you to sit down and have the water come up to your chin. We had a calming hour here which was lovely, but we were all bitten by tiny black insects. They left a drop of blood on your skin, and are instantly itchy, so it was a shame this happened in such a beautiful area.

The last stop on our day trip was Pai Canyon, where we went to watch the sun set. There were some stunning views of the mountains, and it’s a breath-taking place to end a busy day.

Day 10: Chill Day. There are no planned activities for the day, so we can do what we want. We decided to spend some time to ourselves, and made a plan for our next step after the tour finishes. We’re going to head to Phuket for a few days, before flying to Laos. We had lunch at The Blue Ox and then headed back to the bungalows to spend a few hours by the pool. Our evening was equally relaxing, as we have a long drive back to Chiang Mai in the morning.

Day 11: Journey to Chiang Mai and Thai Cooking Course. It was back on the terrible road this morning, but luckily Boom had sickness tablets that made us all fall asleep. The cooking course is at a place called ‘The Best Thai Cooking Course’. We cooked four separate dishes from scratch, and even got to make fire with one of them!* We were given a recipe book as well, so we’d love to share these dishes with anyone who’s interested when we get home.

*To watch a video of this, head over to Caitlin’s Facebook page!

Day 12: Grand Canyon Water Park. Basically a giant water playground for adults, today is the last day with our first tour group. It consists of slides, trampolines, climbing walls and massive ducks. It’s difficult to properly describe just how fun it was, but we had a fantastic time. We did however, walk away with a lot of scrapes and aching arms from trying to get back on the inflatables when we fell off…

In the evening we went to the Chiang Mai Cabaret Show, which is performed by around 10 lady boys. We said goodbye to our first tour group, as a lot of them are heading home in the morning. A few are going on to other places, but will be home by the time we get to Laos. We had a few good nights out with the group, and it’ll be weird not seeing them, but talks of a reunion have already begun.

Day 13: Back to Bangkok. We were back on the overnight train in the evening, so we had most of the day to relax in Chiang Mai. We’ve now booked everything for the rest of our Thailand trip, and our flight onwards to Laos. Then it was back onto the overnight train for 13 hours.

Day 14: Bangkok. We were quickly reminded of just how polluted Bangkok is the moment we stepped off the train. You can feel and smell it in the air, and is a complete contrast from some of the places we’ve previously visited. After being allowed to check into our hotel early, we had a quick nap, and then met our next tour group. We visited two temples and travelled by canal boat, and were once again blessed by a Monk.

We had dinner with the group, before the two of us decided to have an early night as we’re back on the overnight train tomorrow night.

Time is going very quickly, and we only have one week left with a tour group. We’re going south now, to enjoy the beaches of Thailand, and will also be having a Muay Thai lesson (a traditional Thai martial art). On the 18th, are heading to Phuket to enjoy two more days in Thailand, and then on to Laos.

If there’s anything you’d like to read about in our blogs, please let us know! It might be more about food or accommodation, or about other cultural changes we’ve had to adjust to. We’re writing these for you as well, so we’d love to write about what you’re interested in, as well as what we’ve been doing.

We’ll answer any questions in next week’s blog, which will come to you from Koh Phangan, and when we’re officially travelling alone! We send love to both our families, and we hope you’re enjoying following our adventure so far.

Caitlin and Luke