Chiang-Mai

My wife and I just returned from a holiday trip to Chiang-Mai, Thailand. It is only the 3rd trip we have had as a couple alone since we were married just over a year ago. It was really good to spend time with my wife away from our routine environment.

We found Chiang-Mai to be a wonderful place. The people are generally very friendly and the arts and crafts are beautiful. All can be purchased at a pretty reasonable price as well. For us the highlights of the trip was the visit to the Elephant Training School and the hill tribes village. We took a half hour ride on an elephant through a hill path in the Thai jungle - an amazing experience, well worth the 1000 Bath (for two). We also visited the Sunday night market on Walking Street, which was just a great place to take in the diverse culture, arts and crafts on offer in this region. The tour Guides from Standard Tours took good care of us and were happy to respond to our additional requests. It certainly changed my perception about joining guided tours.

The flight there via Air Asia was very good as well. It was our first flight via a budget airline, but we were impressed by the service provided. In a way we were lucky that we flew on the new A320, so the new interior and leather seats was very clean & comfortable. The flight was perfectly on time to and from Chiang Mai, and the luggage arrived undamaged at the baggage claim in good time. You can't ask for much more when you are travelling by air on a budget fare.

Anyway, we hadd a great weekend, but its back to the grindstone now.