After going back and forth and trying to decide what direction to go, we finally decided to head north to Chiang Mai and from what we've heard it was the right choice (not a lot of rain). I had Steve pick the first few nights as we landed on his 55'th birthday.We left Vancouver from gate #55 (this is going to be our lucky day ). We had a long first day of travel as it took 26 hours from Vancouver airport until we arrived at our fab hotel in the mountains in the northern parts of Thailand. The 3 flights were uneventful and we were able to catch a few winks and watch a few movies. I screwed up when booking our connecting flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai thinking we had 2 1/2 hours when in fact we had 1 hour to clear customs, pick up baggage, check in, and board our domestic flight. We had to run with our luggage to our domestic check-in but were too late to check in our suitcases. Lucky for us they were carry-on size so we proceeded to security where xrays displayed my professional scissors, straight razor and cork screw. They were quickly confiscated (it is what it is), we were just happy to make our connection! Our hotel shuttle was awaiting upon arrival and quickly had us loaded and off to pleasantville. We checked into our awesome room with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and resort grounds. Full on class, phat suite, king bed, jucuzzi tub, wifi, big deck, sitting areas inside and out, plus pick up shuttles to and from our room. Nice treat, and hey Steve only turns 55 once. The Panviman (hotel)........the panviman can. Rested up there for two nights it was off to the city of Chiang Mai. Slowly we are lowering our standards to extend our stay as well make it real and affordable. Spent a few nights at a mid range hotel and now we are in a cute little boutique guesthouse with wifi, comfy bed, tv, swimming pool, breakfast, great staff, all for $27.00 bucks a night. The first full day in the city Steve went mountain biking on a big double black excursion ride high up in the Chiang Doa mountains. There was three riders and a Thai guide. One guy from Australia, the other from Vancouver, and Steve. Their ride started at an elevation of 5700 feet down to 1300 feet on steep technical washed out single track in the rain. Tough day. For me not so much! I wandered around the old city, in and out of markets, had lunch, and a nice massage. Day two we both went mountain biking, same national park but different area from Steve`s. A long downhill ride for me consisting of blue runs passing through coffee and papaya plantations, orchid farms, opium feilds, down to rice patties in the low lying valley. The tour was mostly downhill with some uphill grunts. There were five riders in our group with two guides. We ended up at a lake, had lunch and a rinse off. Steve swam with the kids. Then back to the city for some Italian thin crust brick oven pizzas. Yummy! Day three in the city we rented a little Honda Blade (110cc) and headed off to see the tigers. Steve went and hung out with the big cats and I with the cute little six week old kitties. I was nervous for him because he sure wasn`t. Perhaps due to his love of cats. These cats were huge! Even though Tiger Kingdom was a bit touristy the animals are not chained or drugged as in Bangkok. Nothing like it back home (liability?). Later that day we hiked up to series of 10 stunning waterfalls in the Doi Suthep-Pui National park. It started out with a little sunshine, as we reached half way the rains came, holy holy, talk about rain. We were determined to make it to the top, 10 waterfalls and soaking wet, but we did it. No one else was around, or as crazy. It took us awhile to slowly make it down, but was so worth the effort. One of my favorite places to hike in Vernon is the B.X.falls, it was the same same but times 10. The following down day had us chillin by the pool with a couple brewskis, ahhhhh!
