Ello,

This a a quick blog to tell you about the photos and videos for Lampang the return, and also Lop Buri the return as we travelled down from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.

On Wednesday last week we got the bus to Lampang and went back to the Tip Inn to see Cliff Richard! That night we went out for tea and Hayley decided to see how spicy the Coconut and galangal soup is compared to the one Dan made in the cooking course....after 45 minutes of sweating and drinking lots of sweet Lemon Tea (another good find) she managed to finish it lol. Guess they used more chillies...

While Dan watched films i was writing the last blog in the guest house for 4 hours.(Seems weird writing about this now). Dan got talking to a French/German couple (Chistophe and Madeline)... Hi guys if you're reading this!!! We ended up going to the Elephant Conservation Centre together the next day, as they weren't sure of the way.

We bought another 2 paintings as both the ones being painted in the show we loved! so we ran up to the guy practically as the elephant finished the last stroke and threw money at him to reserve them. These things go fast! Both paintings were posh ones that took a bit more training to get the elephants to do, so we were lucky to get them then, as they would have doubled in price once they reached the shop!

We also saw the baby elephant on this visit, see pictures, which was the first birth from artificial insemination in Asia. His name was Ai, and his mother had adopted him after his biological mother ignored him. It was lucky timing that she had just finished nursing her own calf.

That evening we had a beer together and said goodbye to Chris and Madeline (who were heading for Chiang Mai). Later it poured down with rain so i read my book by the window and enjoyed the sound of the rain, which we really havent had a lot of. Hayley even had socks on! The good thing about rain is no mozzies too.

Friday we got a bus to Phitsanulok and stayed overnight in the same hotel so we could have the chicken burgers and chocolate cake that we loved so much at the cafe next door!

Saturday we got the train to Lop Buri looking forward to our Proper English breakfast the next morning when we realised that the place was a guest house too and very cheap so we stayed 2 nights here. The first night we met Richard who was teaching English out here, but was originally from Gloucester. He then introduced us to other teachers: Jo, Zoe, Ana Paula, Anne marie etc who you can see in the photos, and simon another guy from England. We sat drinking with them all night and they invited us to go jetskiing with them the next day at a nearby lake where there would be a BBQ and lots of beer. So we did and oh my god it was the best Sunday afternoon of my life! Great food, great beer, great company and jetskiing was amazing as they had 2 seater ones that were like armchairs! and they were fast too. So much fun. The lake was like bath water too but we didnt go in after we saw a snake in the water eeek.

After getting a lift on a mototrbike there and riding in the back of a pick up back, we then got another ride on a motorbike to a restaurant where we all met up for tea. They really did do the best chicken pie in the world! If i hadn't eaten so much at the BBQ i would have scoffed the lot.

The next day (monday) we got a train to Bangkok...

I'm out of time so will write the next blog purely on Bangkok and wrap it up just before we head out to Borneo...

Hope everyone is ok, Mum you havent said anything for a while are you ok?? is Bex in Cambodia yet?

Love to all,

Hayles and Dan