We arrived in Chiang Mai, in Northern Thailand, after a 17 hour journey from Bangkok on the Night Train, we were in top bunks again but this time we were in the posh air con carriage!

We were hoping for a bit of relief from the heat, since up north it is higher so we hoped it would be cooler - no luck unfortunately the 36oc heat hit us as we stepped off the train, but it seems to be a drier heat than in Bangkok so that is a nice change from dripping with the humidity!

Chiang Mai is quite a big city but the main 'old' part of town is all within easy walking distance and used to be surrounded by a brick wall, parts of which still stand, and a moat which is still there!

We had arrived here just in time for the massive Sunday Night Walking Market which stretches from the Tha Phae Gate right along Ratchadamnoen Road, which is well over 1km in length! The road is closed to traffic and lined with markets stalls selling all sorts, food stalls (including the fried insects and other critters!) and street performers. It is obviously a popular event as it was heaving with people, most the time we were just shuffling along in the crowds.

The main reason for coming to Chiang Mai was to attend the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School for the day. The school is run by Internationally renowned TV Chef Sompon Nabnian and we were lucky to actually have him demonstrating the dishes for us in the morning session.

Andrew was really excited about the day, I on the other hand was a bit more nervous, my cooking skills are pretty non-existent and I struggle with the really spicy dishes, but I was determined to give it a good go!

The day started with a visit to the morning food market where they explained all the ingredients we would be using throughout the day which was very interesting. Then we travelled to the Cooking School donned our aprons, picked our work station and we were off!

The first dish we made was a chicken in coconut milk soup, really yummy and this was Andrew's favourite for the day. I put a bit too much chilli in mine and quickly learnt to adapt the receipes for my own taste after nearly blowing my head off!

The next dish was fried big noodles with thick sauce and pork, which was really good and so quick and easy to do. We then made red curry with fish and fried mixed mushrooms with baby corn before we had a break for lunch and tucked into the last two dishes we had cooked. We were getting pretty full by this point!

During the afternoon session we made a papaya salad with sticky rice, this was the only dish Andrew and I were not too sure about, the flavours just did not seem right! Finally we made a steamed banana cake.

The day flew by and I was surprised to find the cooking actually quite easy, most the work is in the preparation then everything cooks very quickly all within 15 minutes, my kind of cooking! Andrew loved every minute of it and said he was proud of me for giving all the spicy food a go, even if I was only putting half the amount of chilli in as him!

We were going to head to Pai today to go elephant trekking but in the night Andrew was come down with a stomach upset, he has been cleaning his teeth in the tap water - big mistake. Hopefully, with the help of antibiotics, he will be well enough tomorrow for the 4 hour journey to Pai along the windy roads up into the hills!

We hope everyone is well.

Lots of Love

Sarah and Andrew xxx