Oh My God!!!!!! We are alive but only just - white knuckle doesn't even begin to describe the journey on the speedboat from Laos to Thailand along the Mekong. There were 6 of us crammed into a boat 3 feet wide and the seats were no more than 2 feet deep per couple. With our knees almost wrapped around our necks this was the most uncomfortable journey we have had. And we sat like this for 7 hours. At least they took some care with the safety angle, as we were all kitted out with life jackets and crash helmets - from the stories we had heard of boats flipping over in the water they were obviously needed. We heard from a dutch couple that their boat flipped over at high speed and all their baggage now rests at the bottom of the Mekong. Each boat was brightly painted and had their own design of go faster stripes along the side. The huge engine was perched on the back with a long shaft into the water for the propellor. We were convinced that the engines were basically just lifted out of a Toyota car and adapted for their new craft. You can imagine the power these gave such small boats but we can't begin to describe the deafening noise they produced, which reverberated through our whole bodies for the 7 hour journey to the Thai' border. But ours was not to be a smooth journey. Three hours into the journey and just a few minutes from our first rest stop.....you guessed it, we broke down (we are beginning to think we are jinxed). Another boat was dispatched from the nearest town to pick us up, along with all our luggage and shepherd us back to the rest stop for a well earned breather and leg stretch. By the time we got to the Thai border we were bruised and stiff from the constant seating position and bumps as it bounced off the water. Getting into a touk touk for the short trip to the Laos border and customs would have been a welcome change if it were not for the fact that we and our bags arrived there, soaking wet. New Year celebrations are fun when you are taking part and dare we say a little drunk. When you are travelling and have all your luggage with you, not so. We are now in Chiang Mai, a major city in the north of Thailand, though it has taken us a (literally) back breaking two days to get here. The nice thing was that we were able to meet up with Pam and Ian who we last saw in Langkawi, Malaysia and swap some great stories of our adventures over the last month. Chaing Mai is surrounded by a moat and an old town wall, though much of the original wall no longer stands. Unbelievabley the town is also home to some 300 Wats (temples) which is even more than Bangkok can manage. We have visited the main temple Wat Phrat Sing, which very recently was the focus of the Songkran (New Year) celebrations for the town - though we can't imagine too many of the monks were soaked during the 3 day festival. Whilst there we saw a senior monk receiving a food offering from a local family, following which he blessed them with holy water. It is also the only Wat where we have seen gold statues of the recent Dalai Lama's - have to say that we weren't too impressed with the statue of the current one which had an old and very large pair of spectacles perched on its nose - clearly reminiscent of the phrase "he should have gone to Specsavers". Chiang Mai is considered the cultural capital of Thailand with lots of book stores, local culture and courses on cookery, massage, meditation etc. So one of our first tasks was to book ourselves on a two day Thai cookery course to ensure we know how to make this great food when we get home. The course is run by TV chef, Sompon who has also been on TV in the UK and is heading to the UK next month to work with UK chef, Rick Stein. The course is run at the cookery school based in Sompon's house. We enrolled for our first day today and donned our aprons ready to learn. We cooked six dishes today including Thai fish cakes, Green Curry, Pad Thai and a Water Chestnut desert. First Sompon introduced us to the ingredients, some of which we hadn't heard of before. Then he expertly showed us how to cook each dish in the kitchen. Then it was up to us. A bit like Masterchef or Hell's kitchen. The staff were very friendly and we quickly had our dishes ready. The great thing then was that we got to eat the result of our efforts and we have to say, we were mightily pleased with the results. They made everything so simple that it took the stress out of cooking and even inspired Carol to get in the kitchen when she gets home! Tomorrow we are going to learn how to make the curry pastes from scratch rather than buying the bottled variety. The biggest task, however, will be trying to find all the fresh ingredients when we get home - we fear a number of sorties into deepest darkest Chinatown will be necessary when we get home! As we are in the town for some time we have also taken the opportunity to get some clothes tailored, ready for when we have to head back to our respective offices, in just a few short months. The quality of workmanship has been excellent at a fraction of the cost for the same in the UK. However, we think they are getting a bit fed up with us as every time we go in for a fitting we keep ordering a few more things - the bill is gradually creeping up. All we have to do is get them home now! As well as the New Year celebrations in Thailand (called songkran over hear and it happens the same week as the one in Laos) for which Chiangmai is the main centre in Thailan, there were big clebrations here yesterday for the 55th wedding aniversary for the King and Queen. Everyone in Thailand is a really big royalist, even to the extent that you have to stand for a short video before the cinema. So it went without saying that people would really make a party of this big royal event. The King is the longest serviing in the world and until recently was followed closely by Prince Rainier. We don't think old Queeny can be far behind. We didn't get to join in the celebrations, however, as we travelled to a town called Lampang, about 70km south, with the key aim of visiting the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre.