Chiang Mai

We left Bangkok (BKK) by our favourite mean of transport ,a sleeping train (12h), as it was long time since we last travelled by train. It was quite different from other sleeping trains, as each wagon had around 25 beds in one room actually. Dima got a slight cold due to the a/c :p It was indeed freezing. Early in the morning we reached Chiang Mai (CM) and we were lucky to find a room by Julie's guesthouse, according to Venla's tip. Julie is by far the best value for money place we have stayed during the whole trip.
CM is the second biggest city of Thailand, but you can still call it a town. A huge square wall embraces the old town, where small buildings and anarchic narrow streets go across it. Just outside the wall man can find huge 5* hotels, shopping malls, the infamous night bazaar next to the river. From north part, only 10km from the city, starts a real jungle with so dense vegetation and one of the highest mountains of Thailand (peak at 1650m).

We went through around that area, as we picked up mountain bike for an outdoor activity. It has been sometime with inactivity of walking or trekking. We reached by songtheaux the height of 1500m and then cycled back to the city at 200m height. An elevation of 1300m is not that easy as it sounds. It was a unique experience as we crossed jungle, rice fields ,coffee fields, streams. 80% downhill-20% uphill, but still it was so hard watching a steep uphill and u couldn't even make a half paddle. For those interested more on our route of 35km click here. I was also stupid enough after a scenic lunch to say that we would rather go back to town by bicycle instead with the pick-up car and it was 15 more kms. I had already regreted this decision so many times on the way, as it has been long time since I last felt so exhausted. Dima though, as a well trained city-biker, he had no problem except that he broke his chain 4 times!! Professionals or passionate mountain bikers said that CM is considered a paradise for mountain bikers, but not only them ... gliding, buggy riding, bungee jumping, Gibbon flights, kayaking, rafting, elephant or horse riding and any other activity can be found here.