A Threesome

[TotallyOz]

One of the things I am learning is that I enjoy doing more of the adventures that each city I visit has to offer. The boyfriend and I wanted to take a day to enjoy the jungle outside of Chiang Mai. We decided to do a 3 way adventure.

 

First, we were picked up at the hotel. PJ's Hotel organized the trip for us. We were taken by van to an Elephant ride in the jungle. The ride was nice and crossed the river a few times. It was about 30-40 minutes total I guess. The park also had an elephant show that was enjoyable and for 20 baht, you can buy bananas and feed to the elephants during and after the show.

 

Next, we were driven to a bike shop and given mountain bikes. We took these along the side of the river up the mountain for 10k. It was not an easy trek up the mountain as the bikes were on gravel roads and dirt. We crossed a few streams with water and up up and away we went. We had one guide with us on the bikes and a van to follow us directly up the river. At any point if we wanted to jump in the van and not ride, we were able to do that. So, this is for anyone to try. Some make it to the top and some don't. It is fun to try and we all enjoyed the ride. It took us about an hour to get to the top.

 

At the top, our bikes were taken and we were given lunch. The food was tasty and good.

 

After lunch, we were given instructions on the ride and safety information. The rafts were put into the water for us and off we went. The rapids were great fun and there were several class 3 rapids and perhaps a class 4 or two. Overall, it was a very easy ride down but very exciting for the guys. The boyfriend loved the water and the rapids. At times, he and his friend would jump out of the boat and float down the river. Our guide was excellent and helped us out of a few sticky situations. At the end, we were given an area to shower and change into dry clothes. We were taken back to the hotel.

 

The day was so much fun and truly an enjoyable experience. Chiang Mai Adventures was the company that took us and I recommend them. They started further up the mountain than the other companies and therefore, we had more time on the river than most. Some companies started downstream of the major rapids and it was mostly a float down the water. I much preferred the challenge of the trip.

 

The cost was 2,000 baht per person and that included the entire day. We tipped our guide and the boat guy.

 

If you are looking for a fantastic day with lots of excitement and a challenging workout with the bike, give this threesome a try.

[Bob]

Have enjoyed your Chiangmai reports, GT......CM being my regular haunt in LOS.

 

Have been there, done that, with the elephant rides and rafting (but haven't done the mountain bike trek). While it's sorta cool to do the elephant ride thing once or twice, I'd had my fill of those beasts.

Every time they step forward (especially if it involves any step in a downhill direction), I always feel that I'm going to fall off the damn thing.

The last time I did the elephant thing, I had hired a driver (Chai) to take me up to Doi Suthep. For some reason (I'm usually not that insane), I let him talk me into an elephant ride. Having been at the bars late the night before, I was hung over like a dog. After getting on the elephant, I told Chai I'd see him in 15 minutes and that's when he told me "oh no, ride is for one and one half hours." I was trapped! What made it worse was it was hotter than hell out (probably an April trip), Mr. (or Mrs. - I didn't look) Elephant smelled very bad, and the tout driving the beast could speak no English and didn't want to bother trying to understand my pidgeon Thai. How I ever managed not to get sick on the back of that beast that day is still a mystery to me. But I did learn something - Mr. Bob will never again sit on the back of the big beast!

[Guest]

LOL. Bob that was excellent. I can relate. The elephant ride was harder on my back than the bike ride was!