Arrival in Chiang Mai - Oh my...

The team was relieved to find themselves finally off trek and were excited for the remaining week of rest and relaxation. However the five hour bus journey from Mae Sot to Chiang Mai made R and R seem further and further away. After lots of snacking, sleeping and playing with a stray kitten the team found themselves at Ben ‘s Guest House around 2 o’clock. We all split off to explore Thailand’s second largest city after Bangkok in the search of lunch. Some groups were more successful than others by finding the closed night market, others just found the nearest cafe and relaxed and recovered there with the help of fruit shakes and club sandwiches. We all gathered at five thirty for a group meeting and arranged timings for returning and waking up the following morning. Around seven o’clock showered and hungry again we all set off to the huge night market. Me, along with the entire team did not anticipate spending so much money after Bangkok. (Ed. some of us resisted the temptation ;-)). However the night market drew us in and bartering became the new lacrosse as everyone was competing to win by getting the lowest price for goods. The market stretched down the main street and the majority of side streets were packed with individual stalls. The atmosphere was incredible and the rush you get when you buy something for half the asking price is unimaginable. The highs of shopping soon plummeted when we got to our rooms and discovered that we had absolutely no room in our already stuffed bags. We decided to leave the situation for the morning as we were knackered and a good sleep and lie in was in order. Suzie Kelly