One of the wonderful benefits of being an Expat is that you get to travel to places that wouldn’t be on your radar if you lived in your home country. As much as I love Australia, living abroad has made me very aware that it is is a long way from anywhere. After a fantastic Christmas in Melbourne with almost all our children (4 out of 5 isn’t bad), my husband and I headed to Chiang Mai in Thailand for four days of what I thought would be rest and relaxation. Those of you who know my husband are shaking your heads at this point saying, “you should have known better”. Unbeknownst to me, Chiang Mai is the adventure capital of Thailand. No sooner had we landed, and checked into our lovely hotel, than David was at the concierge planning our itinerary. Day one – playing with the tigers and exploring the town, then heading to the night market for foot massages. Day 2 – Full day elephant training course (complete with 3 hours drive in a tuk tuk to get there and back). Day 3 – Full day zip lining (throwing yourself off a tree and hoping the wire doesn’t break!) through the rainforest canopy with some abseiling and bushwalking thrown in. When I questioned where the relaxation time was, David generously agreed that on Sunday, we would wander down Antique Street in the morning then have an hour or so sitting by the pool reading our books, before leaving for the airport at 5pm that night. Generous!!
While it wasn’t the holiday I was expecting, I loved Chiang Mai. There is a vibrancy and buzz about the city that makes it feel alive. We were there at one of the busiest times of the year and yet it didn’t feel crowded. Restaurants were doing a good trade but you could always get a table. We definitely found that booking the day trips such as the zip lining and elephant training needed to be done in advance. We had done some research about which companies we wanted to go with before arriving, but unfortunately missed out on them as we tried to book only a few days before. I would suggest some prior bookings if you are traveling in a busy period.
Our first day at Tiger Kingdom was lovely. There are mixed reviews about this place, (to do with purity of breeding strains) but as far as I’m concerned it serves an important purpose. Tigers are gravely endangered in the wild, but Tiger Kingdom has a successful breeding program, which will go a long way towards increasing their numbers. According to the World Wildlife foundation, 97% of wild tigers have been lost in just over a century, with only as few as 3,200 remaining. The Tigers seemed well looked after and healthy, it was an awesome experience to be so close to such a magnificent animal, and the babies were just gorgeous. On our second day we headed up into the hills to go zip lining. The countryside out of Chiang Mai is lush and green and certainly worth a exploring, even if your not up for zip lining. The highlight of our day was seeing a mother Gibbon with her baby, swinging through the trees (without the aid of the harnesses and wires that we required). We spent 3 hours happily flying through the forest canopy and launching ourselves off the tops of trees. It was exhilarating and a great way to get a birds eye view of the forest. Our guides were well trained and humorous and safety standards strictly adhered to. Our last big day out was elephant training. Again, it was in a beautiful part of the Chiang Mai hills, complete with a crystal clear stream and cobalt blue sky. We were given pajamas style outfits to change into, as looking after elephants is dirty work. In our matching blue outfits I felt like I was part of a prison gang. The elephants are very well behaved and responded to voice commands without the use of a hook (sometimes called a bullhook or ankl). It was fun riding bareback through the jungle, but elephants have very bony backs and after about 40mins our legs were starting to protest. We finished the day by taking the elephants to the river to bathe. They obediently lay down in the water and we were able to give them a well-deserved scrub after a hard days work. They reciprocated the kindness by squirting us with showers of water from their trunks. It was a lovely end to the day.
Chiang Mai is a destination I would recommend if you are looking for an active holiday where you can try something different. For us it was a great way to start the New Year in the manner in which we intend to continue it…. full of adventures, new experiences and wonderful times together.