Thailand | Chiang Mai and Bangkok

Bryony and I flew up to Chiang Mai, this time without the company of our tour group. On our first day we visited Phra Singh temple. The temples in Thailand were all stunning, particularly the golden tiling. We got a taxi which took us along the windy mountain roads to Wat Phra Doi Suthep, another great temple. This one has lots of steps up to the top, but it's definitely worth the view over Chiang Mai when you reach the top.

On our second day we caught a minibus which took us to San Kamphaeng hot springs. Despite being a little cloudy, the sun was shining and it was beautiful to just sit an relax after our busy tour. I bought some eggs to boil in the hot springs, although it didn't cook through! That evening we went back to the hotel and explored the night bizarre which was only a short walk.

We had another sunny day and went to Chiang Mai's Grand Canyon, complete with inflatable water park. It was great fun, and the water was beautiful too. We ate at one of the restaurants in the canyon before getting a taxi back home to visit the night bizarre for more shopping!

The next day was one of the highlights of the trip - an elephant sanctuary! We travelled to the sanctuary and met other people in the group, before taking the short walk down to the elephant camp. The elephants were stunning, one was a 10 month baby and more babies on the way. We enjoyed feeding them and playing with them, and then gave them a mud bath. We followed them into the stream to wash them, and ourselves, before drying off in the sunshine. It was fantastic to get close to the elephants, and to know they were safely being cared for.

Our last day in Chiang Mai began with a lovely morning chilling out by the pool which we had to ourselves! We were picked up in the afternoon to go to a cooking class, which was something we were keen to do. We learnt how to make four dishes, including a green curry and spring rolls, which were all really tasty. I've still got to try to cook them back at home!

We travelled to Bangkok for the last couple of days of our adventure and visited Ancient Siam, a replica village of various different temples and locations. The buildings were beautiful- you could easily spend the whole day there. It was good fun to travel around on the bikes too.

On our last evening we made our way to to the sky bar where we had to dress up to be allowed in! The views at the top were amazing - Bryony and I were buzzing all evening. The cocktails, however, were very expensive - I won't be making a habit of spending £20 on a cocktail! We didn't stop there for dinner that evening, we explored another area of the bar with a brilliant jazz band. We made our way down the tower and got in a tuk tuk back to the hotel to pack up our bits for the long flight home.

We had an incredible time away and have got some fantastic memories too. I hope you've enjoyed following me on this adventure!