Splash!

On the day we arrived in Chiang Mai, it was Songkran, which is the Thai New Year.  To celebrate they have a days-long water fight throughout the entire city, and it is the biggest water fight in the world.  It's also the perfect place to have it, as the Old City is surrounded by a moat, so there is a source to replenish water guns, buckets, and barrels.

It is absolutely wild, and you better believe we joined in on the fun!

Once we were checked in to our hotel, we got ready to get outside and get soaked.  No one is spared when it comes to getting splashed, and I mean no one.  We saw numerous people on motorbikes speeding down the street as other people threw buckets of water at them. Groups of friends and families fill the backs of trucks equipped with barrels of water, and others had hoses hooked up outside their homes and businesses.  If you go outside during Songkran, you WILL get wet.

We made our way down to the Old City (a square within the city, surrounded by the moat), where the most amount of action takes place, and traffic barely moves, but each vehicle is loaded down with people and water.

It was so, so fun, and we were drenched to the bone.  April is the hottest month in Thailand, so it felt refreshing to get a bucket of water over the head.  At night every street becomes a Songkran party, with lights, water spraying everywhere, and bumpin' music.  The water fights and parties last for three days, and we were there for two of them.

When we return to Chiang Mai one day, we'll make sure it is during Songkran, which always falls from April 13-15th.  It's a crazy time, and an absolute blast.

Another day we had one of the most exhilarating experiences of our lives, when we went out to Bua Tong Waterfall, also known as the sticky waterfall in the rainforests of Chiang Mai.

The limestone becomes sticky in the places where the water runs the most, so it washes away any growth on the rock that would make it slippery.  The trick is to step in the places where the rock looks beige, and try to avoid the slippery green parts.  You can then climb right up the waterfall like Spiderman!

When we first arrived we saw this sign:

I asked about the types of snakes (knowing full well that the Thai rainforest is full of pit vipers, king cobras, and pythons, among many, many other types of snakes).  The guide confirmed what I knew.  The trees are teeming with a variety of snakes, and she explained that they come into the water to drink.  Haha!  Okay, let's do this!

We were scared of slipping at first (there are some sketchy parts), but after the first time up and down, we were revved up to do it all again.  The guide left us to climb up and down on our own, and we had the time of our lives, even in the super steep parts.

Going down was actually tougher than going up.

We stopped for some quiet moments to just soak it all in, and listen to the sounds around us.

For a man who isn't fond of water, and said he never wanted to step foot in the rainforest, Christopher could not wipe the grin off of his face; he loved every second of this adventure.

This is an excursion we would 100% book again.  We had a private guide, which I would recommend.  She picked us up at our hotel, gave us the low down on climbing up and down, and came with us the first time, got us lunch, and then took us back to our hotel after.

Two of the happiest people in Thailand:

Another new thing we tried on this trip, was getting our feet chewed on by little fish!

Not sure how pedicured we were after (they seemed a bit softer), but it was a neat thing to try.

What is the most exhilarating thing you've ever done?

Hello Chiang Mai

Yesterday afternoon we got home from the most incredible trip!  We were away for two weeks in stunning Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The moat that completely surrounds Old City. Also a source of water for the largest water fight in the world, which we definitely took part in!

I had a couple blog posts post automatically while I was away, as I didn't want to not post anything for two weeks.

After work on Friday, April 12th Christopher and I grabbed dinner at The Lobby, and then headed to the airport.  We had 27 hours of travel ahead of us, with four flights.

Luckily, our big 12.5 hour flight from Vancouver to Taipei was through the night, and we were able to sleep for a good portion of it.  Our first experience with EVA airways was fantastic!  They are so well-staffed, and super efficient.  We were very impressed with this airline, and would absolutely travel with them again.  We slept well, were fed well, and had a good selection of entertainment.

 

Surprisingly all the flights flew by, and before we knew it we were landing in Chiang Mai on Sunday morning (Saturday night at home), right on schedule.

Little did we know that this trip was about to be one of the most amazing, memorable, joy-filled experiences of our lives.  We fell in love with Chiang Mai, and although we have loads of other places on our travel list, it's going to be a challenge for us not to just keep booking trips to Chiang Mai over and over again.  On the internet I had read a few times that four days was enough in Chiang Mai; in our opinion, that couldn't be further from the truth.  We feel as though we barely scratched the surface in this city within the two weeks, and it just left us wanting more.

The people were the nicest, kindest, most helpful people we have ever encountered anywhere.  We've also never experienced the quality of service that we had in Chiang Mai, anywhere else we have ever been; it was incredible, and at times unbelievable.  

A driver was waiting for us in the airport to take us to our hotel.  He gave us cool cloths and bottled water for the short drive to the fabulous Akyra Manor Hotel.  We arrived at the hotel around 10:30 a.m., and were instantly greeted by name by a few different staff members, who handed us beverages, and told us our room was ready.  Akyra Manor is an all-suite, boutique hotel, that has accolade after accolade, all so well-deserved.

We had a king sized bed, which was so comfortable, a giant tub outside, and then a full bathroom beside that.  The room had eight full length mirrors!  Eight!?!

There are four different shades that come up or down around the tub on all sides, each with the press of a button.

 

 

 

 

 

The tub was great to relax in and look out at the mountains, while having a spa afternoon with Christopher (complete with face and hair masks, beverages, and tom yum flavoured Pringles).

There were many little touches that we loved about our room.  There was a pre-loaded ipod with a day mix and an evening mix, with a Bluetooth speaker.  Both music mixes were SO good!  We particularly liked this No Scrubs Remix, this song called Jimmy, and Man on the Moon, but they were all great.

There were two turn-downs done each day, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.  In the afternoon they always brought a complimentary savory snack, as well as the ingredients to mix up the drink of the day.  In the evening, they brought a sweet snack, and put good-night drinks by the bed.  Each day we were also left crispy rice cookies that were so tasty, and a bowl of fresh fruit, with either dragon fruit, marian plums, the best mangoes ever, or mangosteen, which we tried for the first time 💗. 

Our room was a great place to enjoy a morning espresso, late night pizza room service, or take-away fried chicken.

Truffle Burrata Pizza - swooon

Half Chiang Mai pizza, half carbonara.  The Chiang Mai pizza might be my most favourite pizza ever.  We had it three times.

We loved the dark, moody hallways, and the beautiful rooftop pool overlooking the mountains.

We spent many afternoons lounging by the pool, and enjoying the refreshing salt water.  With an average temperature of a balmy, tropical +40 each day, the pool was a sweet treat.

I read three books on this trip, which was glorious.

The best one I read, and maybe my new favourite book, was The Molecule of More.  If you are in to brain science, I highly recommend it.

At night the rooftop pool area became a popular hangout to watch the sun go down, and enjoy two-for-one prices.

Breakfast was included each morning (more on that later).

But, the very best part of this hotel was the outstanding staff.  We have never been anywhere where we were treated like royalty.  Every employee somehow knew us by name, and knew our room number without us telling them.  They genuinely seemed so happy to see us each day, to give us suggestions, and help us with anything we could possibly need.

On the night before we left, they asked to take a picture with us, and then gave us a couple different gifts!  We cannot get over the service at this place; it was above and beyond.

The hardest part was saying goodbye to the people in Chiang Mai, who made us feel special each and every day that we were there.  If you are ever in this city, I cannot recommend Akyra Manor enough.

Our travel home was even longer than our travel to Thailand, with really, really long layovers, but because of our time traveling abilities we left Friday at 11:30 a.m., and were home by 1:30 yesterday afternoon. Miraculously, we are back on Regina time with no jet lag.

Check back each day this week (maybe twice a day) to hear more about our Chiang Mai adventure!

Tell me what you've been up to lately!  

How was your Easter?