Why oh why did we leave Chiang rai?

We arrived in Chiang rai from the border not too long after they had said we would. This was a huge surprise as our bus had averaged around 2km/hr at the start of the trip I swear. We were sitting in the back telling him to Pai pai pai! Go go go!

When we got to the Chiang rai bus station and sat down to figure out a plan of attack. Our aim was to get to a hippy town called Pai where we would maybe do some treks but otherwise just relax. We'd been pretty lazy recently and figured we deserved a good rest up.

We saw some fellow 'falangs', two Dutch girls, sitting on a nearby bench and so we asked them what Chiang rai was like and what they could recommend. They were also heading off to Pai where they assured us the best trekking was to be had. Awesome.

Then we met two kiwis who told us it was cheaper to stay in Chiang rai than mai so we figured we'd pass a night here then head off. The Austrian girls had also recommended a good place to stay so that was easy.

The accomodation was sublime too. Really flash, not too pricey ($2 ea) and came with free net and coffee and tea - over here free stuff really begins to add up.

On the whole we loved this city and both wish we had stuck around a bit longer. The day market was awesome too.

I had gone for dinner the first night and ended up with a group of locals all laughing at the Falang wandering around in the local market eating their food. They were trying to pursuade me that the food was no good for me, just for them as i would get sick but they were giving me free samples and i ended up buying dinner from them. It was really good too. Sticky rice with some beef and chilli stir fry and a heap of different desserts made from varying rice recipes.

So we stayed a night and then headed for Pai. You pass through Chiang mai on the way (switch buses) and we ended up meeting the Austrian girls again.

Definitely be going back although to be honest, unless you go trekking there probably isn't a whole lot to do and leaving so quick probably was the right decision after all.