I loved Chiang Mai. It has got a river flowing thru the city, with trees on each side. Visit the night market something I forgot to do, it is a must see. The next day I took a one day trek to Mae Tang area. Original quote was 1000 Baht, I paid 700. Visit 3-5 travel agencies and bargain hard. Note that these travel cos are only agents, the tour is organised by a tour co.
We were a group of about 12, 3 from France, 4 Thais, 4 from Europe, 1 from India, 1 from U.S. The SPV picked each one of us from the hotel. We had a guide, first went to a Butterfly farm and then drove for nearly an hour - walked for 30 minutes to an elephant farm (5-6 elephants). You see group members going for a elephant ride.
Members from France on the elephant. The walk is maximum 30 minutes and honestly quite a disappointment.
You see couple from Slovania, elephant walking through a stream. I was on an elephant behind and had quite a time balancing to click this picture.
You see elephant getting of the stream.
We had lunch at the elephant farm after which we walked for nearly 20 minutes to the vehicle. After that we drove for nearly an hour, then trekked for some 30 minutes through deep forests to reach a waterfall.
The Guide told us that the waterfall they normally took tourists to had dried up, this one was a poor cousin.
After that we went to a village, villagers with their daughters. After that we drove for nearly an hour to reach the starting point for river rafting. We did that for about 30 minutes (had a great time but had to leave cameras in car) and 10 minutes for bamboo rafting. Overall the tours over promise. 700 baht was value for money for one day but I would have expected more adventure and longer time rafting.