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One of the main reasons we chose Chiang Mai as our first port of call in Thailand was because we had heard that it was a chilled place, and there wasn’t all the hassle, that is synonymous with Bangkok. Plus, there are a great many courses and treks that you can do from here.
And so far it all seems true, the pace here is slow, well, there are some very main roads that take an age to cross, but the actual way of life is pleasant. And certainly, if Bangkok is the glitz, hassle and glamour capital of Thailand, then Chiang Mai is certainly the trek and course capital.
The city is surrounded by miles of jungle and steep mountains which make it ideal for trekking. You can trek on foot, on horse or elephant back, by jeep, on motor or push bikes, or even on some very cool looking quad bikes (the way we think we are going to do it). I dare to say, if you were feeling particularly lazy, you could even get a local to carry you through the jungle on their back.
It does seem that no matter which way you choose to go through the jungle, the itinerary of the treks take the same pattern – though given nearly every restaurant, guesthouse, 7/11, and of course travel agent is plugging the treks, you can do the itinerary in different orders and length of stay at each stage.
The stages, (as far as we can work out, given that it’s hard to examine any of the routes/prices without being accosted by a sales person wanting to sign you up) go as follows:
You make your way through a random part of the jungle that takes you into the mountains.
You visit an ‘authentic’ hill tribe, who dress up in fancy costumes and try to sell you their wares.
You visit one of the animal theme parks, sorry that should read elephant or monkey ‘sanctuaries’ where you get to see elephants playing football, and doing a range of anthropomorphic acts (it means ‘behaving in a human-like way – I just wanted to use the shiny new word I just learnt). I’m not sure what the monkey’s do, but I’m sure it’s equally as exciting.
Then lastly you either come back down the way you got up the mountain, or you can raft, or boat back down and in some places you can even ‘tube’ back down (where you ride the rapids on a giant inner tube) – this latter part sounds the most fun.
If trekking is not for you, and we are starting to think it’s not for us, unless we can take quad bikes up there, miss out the hill tribes and the animals, and tube back down, then Chiang Mai has a range of courses on offer, including:
Thai Language – ours is going great – Sawasdii Krub!
Massage courses – which we might do next
Cooking course – which we might also do next
Thai Boxing
Meditation (10 days in complete silence - a real must)
Yoga
It’s funny but I think part of the reason that Chiang Mai is such a popular place, and is geared towards activities in the way it is, is to deal with the western idea that we have to be active – all the time!
It’s really hard to just do nothing, to achieve nothing, to be ‘unproductive.’ It’s hard, but I’m sure with enough practice we’ll get into the habit of it :)
One person has commented on this article.  1. UntitledAndy, Unregistered"is to deal with the western idea that we have to be active – all the time!"
im pondering on that thought, how very true, sit back and relax in telling myself
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