Fri 17th Oct

We grabbed a mini bus back to Bangkok from Kanchanaburi to catch the over night train to Chiang Mai. The day felt brutally long, taking 2.5 hours to bangkok, then sitting at the station for a few hours all before our train departed at 10pm for our 15 hour ride to Chiang Mai. Boarded a very, very, VERY hot train to set ourselves up for the night in our 'bunk beds' - wasn't as bad as expected but a little cramped! Our beds were both the upper bunk which was good so we could speak to each other but with no window and just 1 fan on the ceiling it was very hot and sticky with the first hour of the journey spent sweating more than sleeping! It did get much better as the train started to move though. The train swayed was pretty noisy but we both managed to get some sleep (Emily more so than I). It really didn't help that I got super hot when the fan decided to die! FANtastic! By sunrise the lower bunks were made back into seats and Curt enjoyed watching the scenery as we were passing through many villages and mountains.

Sat 18th Oct

Arrived at 1.15 into Chiang Mai desperate for a shower and to get clean, and given that they only had squat toilets, Emily kinda needed to find a real bathroom! Went back to AOI Garden Home to drop our stuff off and met the American lads that we met in bangkok. Chilled out for the afternoon, mainly at the hostel and feeling so much fresher after having a shower and changing our clothes. In the evening we decided to head to the night bazaar market and going to a Cabaret ladyboy show - 100% Emily's idea!!! Actually turned out to be a really good show, very well done with some great music, over the top costumes a a few beverages of course. Went back to the hostel and found a couple girls from Alaska that are also volunteering at the elephant sanctuary on Monday for the week!

Sun 19th Oct

Had a fairly relaxing morning and a great Skype session with Ed and Hannah after not talking for over a month! And headed out to walk around Chiang Mai - spent the day walking around the Sunday Walking Market - a really lovely market along a 1km road closed off specifically for the market and pedestrians. Stalls full of locally made crafts and amazing food! After walking around all day headed back to the hostel for a deserved nights sleep ready for our busy week ahead!

C & E