Chang Mai

I've had an amazing time in Chang Mai. It's a relatively quiet place and most of the bars, etc, close around 12ish. It's such good fun just walking around the city - mostly getting lost! - and just stopping here and there for a coffee or beer. Obviously its main attractions are outside of Chang Mai. I didn't get a chance to do a trek but I have good reasons. Firstly, the trek seems exactly the same as what I did in Kachanaburi with the walk/elephant ride/bamboo raft, so it didn't seem worth forking out the money for. Secondly, from what I've heard about the trek, you can do a 1, 2, or 3 day outing, which apparently are all exactly the same just spread out over more days or compacted into one. It wasn't cheap either. There were loads of other things I'd have liked to do in Chang Mai had I the chance. You can rock climb, white water raft, bungee jump, all sorts. Also, everyone in Chang Mai is either Dutch or French (or French-Canadian but that's the same thing really).

The downhill/cross-country mountain biking was fricking awesome! It was a lot lot harder than I anticipated and I fell over many a time. We were first grouped up for the different routes. There was one easy route that was being taken by the French family that showed up. This filled me confidence because they were kids, so I was sure I'd be fine on an intermediate level. I can ride a bike! So I met all the Dutch people on my group and the one other English guy,,and we got a tuk tuk to the top of the mountain. We all got on really well, though I was getting a bit worried when I found out all of them had at least some experience in the sport. When we got to the top we had a lengthy safety session and a talk about the technique behind downhill mountain biking - put your arse back as far as you can! We set off on the 'Smokey Hill Route', which was a road to start off with. It was quite slippery but all downhill so we whizzed through that bit. We got onto the first downhill bit and I found it really easy, picking up loads of speed and throwing my bike over fallen branches and rocks, it was so cool.

Then we stopped off at an amazing viewpoint where there's a little hut which grows and sells its own coffee. After a quick coffee break we started a cross country bit. It started off okay then the rain hit us - hard. It got so slippery that you couldn't get any grip trying to go uphill at all so I and most of the others had to push our bikes up. When the downhill started again I found it much harder. It was single track, which basically means no space whatsoever. With all the rocks, tree routes, and slippery mud I was falling over every 10 minutes! Most of the time it was a simple "Ah shit, BAIL!" and I was fine. At the end I was so tired and had managed to twist my ankle, was covered in cuts and bruises, and was still pumping with adrenaline. The end of the ride was at a big lake that had some awesome scenery around it. We were caked in mud so, fully clothed, dived straight into the lake to cool off.

It turned out I had sprained my ankle and by the next morning I was finding it really difficult to walk. I was supposed to be doing a motorbike ride of the north but decided not to risk it. Instead I chose to leave for Koh Phangan to find Briony and Andy for the full moon party. Arrived in Bangkok this morning. I forgot how much it smells. It has a sort of rank, stale, piss and vomit smell pretty much all over the city. I decided to waste most of the morning going on a long walk, which was cool but its so hot.

I think I'll get a massage this afternoon.