We woke up this morning to have a beautiful complementary breakfast at our hotel, Chedi Home. We thought we’d only get to have one dish each, but they brought out enormous plates of fresh fruits as soon as we sat down which was enough to fill us up without ordering anything! Joey went with the banana and honey pancakes and I ordered the ham, tomato, and onion omelet…both equally delicious!
After having too much to eat, we hopped on our rented scooter to head towards the Mae Wang River for a fun filled day of bamboo rafting (truthfully it was just as fun weaving through the mountainside of Doi Suthep-Pui National Park and Doi Inthanon National Park on our scooter, so we highly recommend doing the scooter option…both for fun and for cost, as a songthaew can cost up to 3,000 baht for a ride out there + waiting + ride back and a scooter is about 250 baht for the entire day). Going up the mountain, we kept our eyes peeled for signed towards Chai Lai Orchid, which is where the bamboo rafting starts.
We had mapped our route at the hotel and everything was going smoothly until half way through our hour trip the map disappeared! Luckily we spotted a Chai Lai Orchid truck and assumed we could follow it to the hotel…we lucked out. Once there, the bamboo rafting trips can last from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the height of the river (current/speed increases as the river height increases). Our trip lasted about an hour because of the high water, but it was such an amazing experience nonetheless! We had a guide that navigated us down the Mae Wang River and through the small rapids, and thankfully we had him because I think we would’ve had a little bit of trouble trying to control the raft in even the smallest rapids!
After gliding swiftly down the beautiful river, we headed back into the old city of Chiang Mai to have a famous bowl Grandma’s khao soi for lunch. We heard of Khao Soi Khun Yai ( which translates to Grandma’s Khao Soi) from other fellow travelers, and we are so happy we took their advice! It’s opens at 10AM and serves until they run out of khao soi, which is usually around 2PM. Now we’re no expert on khao soi, but this was absolutely delicious with a little bit of kick to it…I’ll be honest, A LOT of kick to it!
Our high school friend met us for lunch, and once we were all finished with our khao soi, we hopped on our scooters again to go on our next adventure to Si Lanna National Park and Bua Thong Falls (Sticky Falls). We never though we’d ever climb waterfalls, and we were still skeptical when we arrived and walked down to the base of the falls, but the rocks that form Sticky Falls made it all possible! The mineral deposits are so unique and the water itself was so nice and refreshing… just what we needed on this VERY hot summer day of scootering around!
We made our way back into the city, but as we got closer Joey said he was hungry and I knew just what we needed…fruit shakes! And not just any fruit shakes, but Ms. Pa’s famous fruit shakes!!! She is actually a master of fruit shakes and has it down to a science. She will tell you which fruits go together and which don’t. All you have to do is mention a fruit you like/want and she will recommend potential combinations. I particularly wanted something with mango in it and she said, “passion fruit or coconut milk,” and I went with passion fruit! I’m so glad I trusted her because this was probably the best fruit shake I’ve ever had in my life. Joey went crazy and ordered dragon fruit, passion fruit, mango, pineapple, and lime, but it was equally delicious.
Ms. Pa’s fruit shake stand was within a local food market just along the southern city wall, so Joey ordered a papaya salad from a nearby stand. The stand owner clearly saw the excitement oozing out of Joey’s face, so he invited him back to make it himself in the big clay pot!!!
After having a small bite to eat at this food market, we all headed back to our hotel rooms to freshen up before going to the Chiang Mai Ladyboy Cabaret Show. The cabaret show only runs once a night from 9:30 – 10:30, so make sure to get there on time to grab a good seat and get your moneys worth. We tried to go last night thinking that there would be multiple shows a night, but we arrived just as it was ending. This was such a fun and entertaining show to watch and actually participate in. The elaborate song/dance combinations and the interactivity were definitely something worth experiencing while in Chiang Mai!
After the show, we went back to our hotel to rest up before our big day tomorrow. We will be waking up bright and early to spend the day playing, feeding, bathing, and learning about elephants…so stay posted!