White water rafting back to Chiang Mai

Trek: day two took us downhill, past a waterfall and through a Field full of cows that decided to follow us for the last leg of the journey. We were all relieved to see the songthaews waiting to pick us up at the end of the trek, but also really proud of ourselves for what we'd achieved in the last two days.

Trekking

Awesome bug

After lunch, we were rewarded with white water rafting: one of the highlights of the tour! I shared a raft with Team We're Not Going to Die, which included tour leader Steph, Lauren, Kirsten and Ginny. Sure enough, we didn't die, but there were some pretty hairy moments when we had to hit the deck to avoid being thrown overboard...On a calm stretch of the river, each boat tried to take as many hostages from other boats as possible: we quickly lost Lauren and had to initiate a sea Battle in order to get her back.

White water rafting!

Back at the good old Parasol Inn, we hit the walking street Sunday market, a huge market that spans several streets around the hotel, much less touristy and tacky than the daily night bazaar. At one point, the Thai national anthem was played from speakers in the street: everybody froze where they stood, in silence, until the song had finished. It was a surreal moment but just demonstrates the huge amount of respect people in Thailand have for their royal family.

written by

lucy3119 on December 5, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand 2009

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