We got picked up bright and early again at 8:30am at our hotel, but somehow, after picking up a few more people along the way, and driving through mountainous unpaved roads, we only reached the start of our rafting journey at noon, just in time for lunch. After lunch, our group was joined by a few others and we began to get our "safety lesson".
Considering most of the group didnt understand half of what the guy was saying, i dont think i was that safe at all' although i was sure i would be able to pick it up along the way.
Our boat group consisted of two people from belgium, us two and two people from Israel, our new found friends.
We started off on relatively easy waters, practicing going forward, backward, left tunring, right turning.
Unfortunately, i couldnt take photos while we were actually rafting, because i had to paddle. Brought me back to my dragon boat days :)
Further down stream a bit, it was time for a swim.
My whole boat jumped in. I on the other hand had just seen elephant poo into this river two days prior and really didnt want to go in.
Thanks to coleman though, i was pulled in back-first into the water. What a jerk. But it was fun just floating downstream...i just had this fear that some sort of creature was going to bite me under water. The water was 100% murky and there was no way you could see anything!
After the swim we all got into the raft a bit late, so as soon as the last person got on, we hit some bumps and the other girl on the boat knocked me off, sending me flying back into the water. Fun times.
We had to get out of the raft and walk for about fifteen minutes down stream. I was unsure why at the time,but as we were walking, we could hear the sounds of the water crashing against the rocks. Guess we had to skip the good bit.
A bit more paddling and a bit more swimming...
And then we reached the end of our rafting trip. To me, it felt much, much to short. It was my first time ever white water rafting but it most defintely will not be my last.
Thanks to my group for an aweome time!
Once we reached shore, we had a bit of time to wash up (my white tshirt became brown...in fact, its still brown...all the washing in the world couldnt save it :( ) and have a snack. And we were off....oorrr so we thought.
As soon as we left the rest hut, the van got stuck. The driver tried and tried but couldnt force his way out of the muddy ditch. We saw the pollution to prove it.
I thought it would be like in those movies where everyone gets out to push...but the driver didnt want any of our group to push because it would dirty the van. So we had to wait for forty mins for local reinforcement.
Anyway, they eventually got it out and we made it out of there. The road out was supppper bumpy and a bit scary since out there, there would be no reinforcements. Lol.
Another day awesome day, another awesome sky to come back to at the hotel. :)
Anyway, as i mentioned earlier, we made some new friends from israel. Alex and Eyal (i dont know if i spelt that right but i hope so lol)
Our first mission was to find the restaurant bon kitchen. We had come a couple days prior but unfortunately it was closed for rain/low season renovations. We were the only table there lol
I ordered a passion fruit pineapple beverage. Mmmm...
We decided to share homestyle and ordered all their signaturee dishes. This is pork noodles, delicious
Then we had tom yum soup - i had never liked this souo before...until this day. It was sooo amazing tasting.
Brown rice. This place is all about fresh, healthy and organic ingredients
Lemon grass pork...my mouth is watering as i type this
Cashew nut chicken, a little sweet, and little sour
And last but not least, penang seafood curry. Delicioussssssssssss...the most amazing curry sauce ive had in my life. Actually, i would have to say that this was my best thai meal of my life. If anyone ever ventures to chiang mai, remember the restaurant "bon kitchen"!
After dinner, we headed to a bar that alex and eyal found and loved for some live band music and some pool. Oh look, a canadian flag :)
Meet alex and eyal. Two super fun guys from the beautiful country of israel. They had just completed their military duty ( both mandatory and extra) and were on vacation before they start their new lives.
Israel had always been on my list of to-go countries, but after talking to them, it has defintely moved up in priority. Sounds like an amazing country. As soon as all the politcal issues settle down, ill start planning my trip :)
Local beer...chang and tiger. (chang is the thai word for elephant)
The live band was actually pretty good. The singer spoke english perfectly so i assume he at one point lived somewhere else. They sang all the popular rock-ish songs includinig my fav, wonderwall.
All in all, another awesome day! Crazy rafting, the best food ever, and most importantly, new found friendship. Pretty awesome for our last day in Chiang Mai. Off to Bangkok tomorrow!
Location:Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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