Once in Chiang Mai (50Baht for a tuktuk from the train station; don't get sucked in by taxis offering to take you to their hotel for a cheap price) we wandered for a while before settling on a small guest house that had a double room for 200Baht a night. This is roughly $6.70 Aus a night. Seriously though, for us it is very easy to travel comfortably for $30 a day. The room is central, clean, it has a shower and western toilet and a comfortable-ish bed.
I think I made it 4hrs in Chiang Mai before I got sick and had to stay in the room for 2 days. Dave was very respectful of my need to be alone but he also was kind enough to bring me water/berocca when I wanted...thanks Dave. He also managed to find a supermarket, which translates to David heaven. Armed with fresh baguette, Gruyère cheese, peanut butter and olives, he managed to make me (and himself of course) feel even better. We finished that day by opening the bottle of red wine I had brought from Aus.
Still not completely recovered, I decided I couldn't sit in bed all day and I needed to eat. So we rented a manual scooter (150Baht a day), filled it with fuel (which is roughly $1 per litre here) and we drove 45mins out of Chiang Mai to Mae Rim to see the tiger kingdom. This is a very touisty attraction but who can resist the cute little tiger cubs and who can resist having a photo of you cuddling cute tiger cubs?!
Mae Rim seems to be the adventure part of Chiang Mai. There are countless elephant camps, snake farms, extreme sports (like dirt bike riding and bungy jumping). There are also waterfalls (entry is 100Baht per person), orchid farms and a charming little tea garden in the middle of no where where Dave and I sat and had scones. On the way home I found myself being the subject of intense ridicule/hilarity of passers by as it was me riding the scooter with David pillioning. I can imagine it looks funny when a 5 foot 5 woman is riding in front of a 6 foot 6 man who has his knees around his ears – both wearing funny Nazi replica helmets.
Back in Chiang Mai, we rode to the night Bazaar and I perhaps spent over my daily budget on a set of chopsticks and placemats. Dinner was again very cheap at around $1.50 for a stir fry and rice. I still don't like Thailand very much but it is becoming easier to enjoy myself here now that I am in the swing of things.
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