Chiang Mai is along the Ping River and is the largest and most cultural city in Northern Thailand. The last time we were here we stopped for a week in a guest house with a crazy old lady who spoke hardly any English, but was an excellent sales person by simply giving a brochure and shouting "You book with me now".

This time we decided we needed some more r&r time so we chose a pricey guesthouse (£11 a night!!!) that had a swimming pool. The plan was to take advantage of the heat and chill by the pool, wasting the days sunbathing drinking a few cold bottles of beer. From the day we arrived to the day we left it rained. Constant wet grey days that thankfully still had the ridiculous humidity and heat. What a waste of a pool!

We explored the town again and was a bit disappointed to be honest. We had great memories of this place but now it seemed a bit different. We don't want to be those people who say things like "Thailands not how it used to be" or "It's so touristy now". But Chaing Mai didn't have its charm and uniqueness that it seemed to have last time. It felt like the streets were now just littered with over priced travel agents flogging the same over priced tourist tours.

On our first night we decided to head to the night bazaar which we remembered last time as being a great authentic market with a great atmosphere and being packed with the locals. This time it felt deserted with just a few stalls serving cold tasteless food, and a few T-shirt shops selling the same **** as sold on Koh Sanh Road. Perhaps we arrived on a bad night or the wrong time of year, and the rain didn't help, but definitley not as nice as last time we visited.

We decided to do a cooking course - this time Thai (obviously). Mainly because this wasn't affected by the weather and also because we really enjoyed the one we did last time and wondered if it was still running. It was. Although it was a different instructor it was still the same owner who we had last time and the day was run the same as before. It started with getting picked up, choosing the meals you wanted to cook, a visit at the local market to buy the food and then settling in at the instructors house for the days lesson. The day was as fun as last time, we were all given our own little cooking station with a gas hob, a few pans and some utensils. The instructor used a lot of the jokes that we remembered from last time and we cooked a similar menu to last time too. Between us we now have a certificate to say we can competently cook Papaya Salad, Mango and Sticky Rice, Spring Rolls, Green Curry, Penang Curry, Egg Fried Rice, Pad Thai, Chicken with Cashew Nuts and Mixed Fried Veg.

The day following we sulkily watched the rain pour down and quickly made the decision to take the bus further north to Pai.

Things we have learned
1. Never rely on the weather, even in Thailand
2. A brolly is worth packing
3. Panang curry is better than Green curry



Planes used - 2
Buses used - 16
Trains used - 9 (+1)
Metros/subways used - 17
Cars used - 5
Minivans - 2 (+2)
Russian Campervans used -1
Horses used - 1
Camels used - 1
Taxis used - 5
Cable cars used 1
Bicycles used 1
Tuk tuks used 4 (+1)