Hi, just realised it is probably over a week now since our last blog, and seeing as we don't want any more complaints we thought we better update you!!

I think we left off just after our rather adventurous day in Chiang Mai (!) The next day we were sooo achey!! Erm, don't know what we did the next day, but the day after that we did a Thai cooking course which was excellent. We got to pick 7 dishes to cook, and then we got to eat it all, it was a right feast!! We loved it, especially as we can now both cook our favourite Thai meal - Pad Thai aka the tastiest noodley/chickeny-ness ever!! We also did spring rolls which were fab, and sweet and sour chicken. Nick did 'Khoi Soi' which is a Northern Thai curry with noodles, and I did 'Mussaman' curry which is a little like a cross between Thai and Indian curry, yum yum! We both did a different soup which were both spicy, Nick enjoyed his Tom Yum more than I enjoyed my coconut milk soup though, then for dessert he made sticky rice with mango and I did deep fried banana!

The food was all tasty, and we will definitely be making some of it again, although I think I may cheat and buy the curry paste as making your own is hard work! We learnt a bit about the different herbs and spices etc that they use in Thai cooking and went to the market to look at all the fresh food. But to be honest the bit we both enjoyed the most was eating it all of course!!

We visited a few more temples in Chiang Mai as there are so many and they are really beautiful. One was made of silver, which looked really weird compared to all the others which are gold. Another one was outside the city really high up on a mountain, it had a great view over the whole city, although the climb up the steps to get there was a bit tough! As there are so many temples Chiang Mai seemed to be full of monks, noticeable in their orange robes. It's quite popular here for young men to become monks even if just for a few years, and they are really respected throughout the whole country which is nice. At first Nick was amazed by them but I think he has got used to seeing them now!

We had a wonderful Thai massage one day, which was really good and so relaxing, even if it was a bit painful too at times! They really work all the knots out of you, and my spine got cracked mega loud, i thought she had broken it!! It felt ace though, and we both had a spring in our step afterwards! I will be VERY sad to not be able to get massages for under a fiver anymore when we leave here, I'm getting quite used to them and understand why the Thais love them so much!

I think the only other thing we did really in Chiang Mai was shopping! They have a night bazaar which is full of stalls selling clothes, handicrafts, souveniers etc...then on the Sunday they turn a main road in the city into a pedentrianised market which was great, we came out loaded up with bargains (and a new bag to hold all our newly purchased stuff!!) We have tried to be good and not buy too much, but it is so difficult when there is so much lovely stuff and it's really cheap, plus we are weak!! Ah well, at least we will have plenty of momentos of our trip as our 'house' (that is our imaginary house that we will hopefully get one day!) is going to have a very Asian influence to it!

We got the overnight train to Bangkok on Wednesday night which was fine although rather rocky, luckily I managed to stay in my little top bunk while Nick slept soundly in the bottom bunk. On arrival in Bangkok early the next morning we found our way to the hotel we had booked online, which seems to have made it a lot cheaper than if we had just showed up, got showered up etc - then hit the shops! Just a few essential purchases you understand....

My first point of call was clear in my mind - the hairdressers! After 4 months my hair had grown into a big awful mop that was really annoying me and making me so warm in the heat, I was desperate to get rid of it! A bit of online research revealed that there was a Toni and Guy in Bangkok, so I was the first appointment of the day! Coz it was really cheap compared to home I treated myself and got a 'top stylist' and she did an ace job...I was slightly terrified that she wouldn't understand me properly and it would be a disaster...but luckily all went well and I walked out feeling much lighter!

The rest of the day consisted of a bit more shopping (got some bargain 10 pound jeans, taken up to the right length and everything!!) and a trip to the cinema which was cool and waaaay cheaper than at home! Yesterday we visited the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, big tourist spots in Bangkok and very impressive. As the name suggests it is a Royal residence and has some fab temples, lots of gold things etc...Wat Pho has a massive 'reclining Buddha' in it (that is, Buddha laying down) it was so huge! Will have to put some pictures up soon to show you.

Anyway, today we went to the weekend market again which was good but oh so hot. Oh yeah we met up with Craig and Sarah from our diving course last night which was cool, nice to see some familiar faces! We all went to the market together today, it's strange having friends and it not just being me and Nick, ha! Good though!

After the market we had a truly fabulous treat - more afternoon tea at the Shangri-La!! After enjoying it so much last time we thought maybe we had better just pop in again to check it was still the same quality, and it was! This time it was decided it would be classed as a birthday treat for me as it is only a couple of weeks til my birthday (HINT - Don't think that just because I am out of the country you can all forget my birthday!!)

Anyway...basically we have been busy bees the last few days and are really enjoying our last few days in Thailand, sob! We like Bangkok a lot, it is a bit grubby but also lots of fun and there is so much to do. in fact, I have to go now coz we are going out for a drink in the Sky Bar which is waaaay up high and overlooks the whole city - fab!

Byeeeeee.....lots of love...xxxxxx

Having let Cooper 'have at' the job of writing the blog again, I notice she forgot one little thing - the Muay Thai in Chiang Mai!

For those not in the know, 'Muay Thai' is Thai Boxing and it's EVERYWHERE in Thailand. You get cars going passed with loudspeakers calling, "Muay Thai! Muay Thai! Friday Night! Friday Night! ... " etc. Though somehow it had evaded us till Chiang Mai though, so we were determined not to miss it!

It's quite brutal what they do to each other, but being a religious discipline there is great pride taken in the movements of the fighters and naturally their pre-fight praying ritual to give them luck. It all amounts to a good show for us though and although I failed miserably, before each fight we both attempted to predict the winners.

I think that amounts to everything now though...so I'm off for a beer, or a cocktail or some kind of drink anyway!

Toodles

xxx