Hi there, Val here.

I thought the title of this blog was a joke but it was not, even though Banana was laughing when briefing us before we started our tour of the National Park.  He was such a funny guy.  However, I couldn’t bring myself to address him as such. It just didn’t seem right.

It is  Sunday today as I write this,  sitting on the balcony of our room on a beautiful sunny day, overloking the pool.  Our time is coming to an end in Chiangmai and we fly frightfully early tomorrow for Mandalay via Bangkok.

In retrospect, we needn’t have spent two weeks here. Three or four days would have sufficed but it gave us a chance to unwind and chill out.  Chiangmai as a city is quite different to Bangkok in that it doesn’t have skyscrapers, the volume of people and vehicles, the noise and the hustle and bustle. We explored Chiangmai old city on foot and I thought there was a calmness about the place. Of course the country is in mourning for a year for their King, Bhumipol, who died last October. Quite a lot of Thais wear black as a way of demonstrating their sorrow.  Also, a lot of public buildings and temples have garlands of black and white fabric to show they too are in mourning.

Moving on, this city has thousands of food stalls and restaurants. The stalls in particular can be found almost anywhere whether they be in purpose-built areas or it is just empty space. It also has several long street markets displaying a whole variety of goods from wood carvings, shoes, toys, ethnic scarves/shawls and fabric, silver jewellery, food, bags and so on. There was also a stall selling coloured contact lenses!

Pollution is big bad business here, usually carbon emissions from their multiple passenger taxis and tuk-tuks. Loads of people wear masks to prevent breathing in the fumes. We had an unfortunate experience riding in a taxi which sounded as though it was on its last legs spewing out the most noxious fumes.  Its driver was equally ancient.

In terms of its people, you couldn’t ask for a friendlier lot.  English doesn’t appear to be spoken much and even where you would expect the opposite like hotels, restaurants and tourist spots, you would be hard put to find good, if not fluent, speakers. They are generally friendly and happy to help you. AND they are always smiling which lights up their beautiful faces.  I love looking at the little ones -they are so gorgeous!

You have seen the photos of our hotel. It is tranquil and in lovely surroundings.  The staff are fantastic and nothing is too much trouble for them. I wanted a knife to cut up a mango I had bought and as they were not allowed to give guests knives, they took it away and brought it back skinned and sliced.

We did two tours, one half-day long and the other a whole day.  John will no doubt be covering these.  As like all Asians, the Thais love taking photos at every opportunity and selfies at that. It was so interesting observing them arranging themselves (hair, clothes, face and facial expression) before taking the shot.

John and I will remember Chiangmai as a happy place with very nice people and great food. We may not be back but would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of heading this way.