Hi there,

I've been travelling for 3 days and have finally arrived in Laos, travelling by bus, slow boat, fast boat and tuc tucs, with bad gutts for good measure. But hey, I'm ok now after a visit to the pharmacy and I'm now on solid foods again. Here's an update.....

CHIANG MAI

It was an action packed time in Chiang Mai. I arrived at 7am after a 12 hour bus journey. The journey was pretty good and I even watched 'Night at the Museam'. My hostel, (Nice Place 2) was great, I had a large room where I could swing 2 big cats. I had two very comfortable beds with nonlumpy mattresses and without bed bugs. The staff were really helpful and they organisied a 3 day trek with the hill tribes, VIP seats a Thai boxing match and a Thai Cooking course. In between all that I also treated myself to thai massages each day, which were fantastic.

Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand. It was founded in 1296 and has a long warring history with Burma. I met a group people from the bus and during our first afternoon we went to visit the Wat Phratthat Doi Suthep Rajvoraviharm, the buddist mountain temple just outside the city. It was hair-rising experience, climbing and negotiating hair-pin bends in the back of the truck/taxi. We also got to learn that it was comimg up to the thai festival of 'Songkran'. (a water festival). This meant that people waited on the sides of roads/streets to throw buckets of water into the traffic, with olympic standard accuracy. Its a free for all, massive water fight that last for 3-5 days. People on bikes, tuc tucs, scooters, vans, buses or innocent passers by get a soaking, no-body is exempt, not a soul..... And yes, there are many accidents.

The thai boxing was interesting. During the fights they played very strange violins which could put you into a trance like state. It was a very organised affair even with the gambling which is illegal. I won some money, I think it equalled to 40p. Boys from 7-25yrs competed. We met a Danish girl who was also fighting, she won but was not happy because her fight only lasted 30 secs and she had been out there training for 2 months.

The hill trek was good, enjoyed the challenge of walking in the heat and humitity. We trekked through 4 villages. It was strange to see amongst the thatched roofs and bamboo fences, satilite dishes and boys walking around with mobile phones. Most villages have limited electric, if any at all. Our first night was spent in a thatched hut. We were entertained by group members playing the guitar and singing. I don't think anyone of us knew the words to a full song. But hey, we had a laugh trying. In return, the women of the village performed their own traditional songs. On our secong night, we sampled snake soup! It had the texture of chicken..... One of the guides was deaf but a very confident young man, who liked to pinch your bum! He showed me the different herbs and spices that grew in the villages, lemon grass, ginger, garlic and lime. The tribes mostly grow rice and corn, with a few exceptions of those who grow opiuim. Our elephant ride was fun, they are such graceful animals and I loved watching them have a bath. The trip ended with bamboo rafting. It was very wet..... It turned into a competition of who could capsize a raft the most. Sadly, my raft didn't win.

My thai cookery class was eventful..... I learnt to cook thai green curry, pad thai, tom yam gung (spicy soup), fried chicken and cashew nuts and sticky mango rice. Our teacher was very funny. I'm sure she was a sargent major in a previous life, some of the lads on the course were terrified of her. They seemed to be the butt end of her jokes. I got a cookery book AND a certificate!

JOURNEY to LAOS

My thai cookery class not only gave me the certificate etc, it also gave me food posioning! My journey into Loas was not the most pleasant and I'm still feeling the after effects. From Chiang Mai, we caught a bus to Chiang Kong, (5hrs). It is on the boarder to Laos. We spent one night there and the following morning we crossed the boarder to Huay Xai. From there we caught the slow boat the Pakbeng, which took 8 hrs. We were very lucky to find a seat, it was overcrowded, mostly with other travellers. Once we arrived at Pakbeng, a small group decided that we would catch the fast boat to Luang Prabang the following morning, turning the 10 hour trip into 2.5 hrs! I just couldn't face it, neither could my stomach. I have to say, I felt very smug flying past the slow boat. The views along the Mekong river were spectactular, it was like a step back in time, watching the long boats and fishing boats doing their business and seeing the small thatched villages nesstled into the steep hills.

Well, I'm still in recovery mode and glad to be on solids again. I haven't seen much of Luang Prabang,as I have been confined to my room much of the time. From what I have seen, many of the westerners have taken over in the water fighting and have bought water guns and alike and are having huge water fights with the kids.

So until next time.

Take care as always

Love Annie