Chiang Mai

Hello everyone,

We have just come back from the North of Thailand. We went to Chiang Mai after spending the weekend with our friends in Mae Sot. John and Nisha gave us a place to stay and we had a great weekend with them. We even went to the Burmese border and saw all the people swimming in the river that separates Myanmar from Thailand. We talked a lot about the last few months and all that we have experienced. It was very interesting

On Monday, we took another bus ride to get to Chiang Mai. We had a great time there and visited the old city which is full of tourists. We went to a market and even rented a motorbike for the last day. It was a fun adventure to drive on the opposite side of the road (England Style). We drove around a National Park and went to see an elephant park. The elephant park was interesting but we really didn't like it too much because it really just a big tourists trap and we didn't feel the elephants were treated well. They were chained up all the time and had to preform in a show. It was a little disappointing but it was cool to see these huge animals up close. We even saw some babies. We did some hiking that day too. We drove to the top of this mountain and then climbed the last two kms. Our little 125cc bike had a hard time on the hills but we made it up. It was long day but we really enjoyed it.

Chiang Mai was cool because you could find any food you wanted. We even found hummus something that we have been craving since we left Ottawa. We are know back in Chiang Mai for one more weekend and then we head to the island in the South of Thailand. Don't worry we are not going to anywhere where there is fighting. We are probably going to spend a week in Ko Tao or Ko Pha Ngan and then make it back to Bangkok for our flight to New Zealand. Bangkok is safe at the moment. Nothing has happened there since New Years.

To all my family and friends in Canada, we hope it's not too cold. We have been lucky and have had good weather for a while. It's been between 25 to 30 in Thailand. It's awesome but sometimes I do wish I good get out and play some hockey at the rink. Actually, I am really enjoying this weather.

Wish you were all here,

Christian and Karina