Spring Break Trip: Chiang Mai!

The last stop on our trip was Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is in the northern area of Thailand, and it is completely different from Phuket. While still a bit touristy, it is nowhere near the scale of Patong Beach. Elena and I decided that Chiang Mai is my soul city. I loved everything about the area, and I am definitely going to go spend more time there at some point in my life! When we got to our hotel the first day, Elena and I were so surprised. It was so much nicer than the hotel in Phuket, it looked like an apartment! We definitely lucked out and were super excited that we ended up staying in such a nice place. The first day we just decided to check out the area so we walked around the streets and looked in at some shops and temples. The temples in Thailand were so much more intricate than the ones I have been to in Japan, it was really cool to see the differences! That night we had a relaxed dinner and just stayed in. Toward the end of the trip we were much less motivated to go out and check out the nightlife, so we had lots of early nights. Very different from the start of our trip!

On the first day in Chiang Mai we ate at the Tiger Kingdom restaurant. We kept seeing all these ads to go to Tiger Kingdom and pet the tigers. So the second day we asked the hotel reception, and they said we could just get a cab and go out there! This was by far my favorite day of our vacation. We spent the afternoon hanging out with all different sizes of tigers. I was in heaven! After dinner we found a really cool walking street that had a ton of little stalls all down it. We spent the evening shopping for ourselves and buying little souvenirs for people. That night we decided to check out the bars, but after realizing that most of where we were going were hostess bars, we decided to just go back to our hotel. 

The next day in Chiang Mai was our last day on vacation. We had to pack up and check out of the hotel at 12, so we spent the morning scouring the hotel room for all our belongings. I was amazed at how far some of my things had traveled! The hotel people were very sweet and let us store our bags in a room and use all the hotel facilities throughout the day, even though we had checked out. We spent the afternoon laying by the hotel pool and getting some last rays of Thai sun. We tried to go swimming, but the water was epically cold and we gave the idea up super quickly! That night right before our flight we booked a 2 hour Thai massage at the hotel. I had never had a massage before so I didn't really know what to expect. All I can say is that a Thai massage is different from anything I ever imagined happening. Instead of just rubbing down your body, the ladies were actually moving our bodies into what can only be described as acrobatic, yoga positions. I had the time of my life and thought that it felt amazing. Elena, on the other hand, was less than pleased and told me later that she was in pain basically the whole time. We know who won't be going back to Thailand for a massage! Then it was onto our flight and home to Tokyo! 

That's all for the vacation posts! I hope you all enjoyed my little tour around Singapore and Thailand ^_^

P.S. The tea of the day is strawberry champagne tea ^^