OH MY BUDDHA!

We got picked up from the bus station by a Guesthouse called "Nice Place 2" The owner guy was a nutter from Thailand called Tony and another lady called Wanida worked there. They are the nicest, funniest little people I have ever met and they really looked after you and make you feel welcome. Tony loves everyone "long time" and makes up words to english songs and is generally a bit crazy! W neta really nice couple upon our arrival called Lois and James who are doing the same sorty of stuff as us girls are so we will probably stick with them a lot of the time. I swear James is my long lost brother as we are so scarily similar sometimes!

A big reason to come to Chiang Mai is for the trekking. I decided to do a one day trek as my ankle has stll not fully recovered from my fiji accident. What a doughnut. The other guys decided to do the one day one too and we were all really thankful we just did a day as it was sooo humid and hot and at night it pours of rain. We had had a huge night out the night before which involved drinking more than one bucket at the Rooftop Bar, we were absolutely hanging and we all thought we were going to chuck up! SO attractive. We started off with elephant trekking which was awesome! Trust Laura and I to get the one that wanted to eat everything it saw. Every 2 seconds it was walking off course and eating some random tree leaf. Silly Nelly! It was so hot that day I thought I was going to slide off my seat due to excess sweaty bum syndrome...what a nice mental picture for you all to have when reading this... After the elepants it was off to a Waterfall for lunch whcih was really pretty and these random thai cyclist old men wanted their picture taken with us all....maybe they fancied James or something! The highlight of the day was bamboo rafting..it so funny as all the rafter guides seemed to want to drown and splash everyone. From start to finish we were constantly laughing and all of us got soaked and had to travel all the way back to the city in soaking wet clothes. It was brillant!!

There is so much to do and see in Chiang Mai and the Night Bazaar was definitely up there with my fave thing. There were so many stalls selling all sorts of crap and the best fake handbags I have ever seen! Unfortunately my credit card was stolen when I was there so I was down to my emergency credit card. I had asked my parents to send me my replacement card to the hostel I was staying at but it soon became apparent that it wasnt going to come when I wanted it to.

It was Lois's birthday whilst we were in Chiang Mai and we had all decided to do a Thai Cookery course. It was the best day ever form start to finish. Firstly they take you aroudn the true Thail market to buy the ingredients and then you make 7 different dishes. It was so good, nothing like Food technology at school! I made Spring Rolls, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Pad Thai, Coconut milk soup, Red Thai curry paste, Red Curry and sticky rice with coconut and mango. Not to be big headed but my food was bloody lovely as you cook it just for yourself you make it to your own taste. I was so impressed with the course and they even give you a Thai cook book...dunno if it will taste as good when I do it at home!

As I thought that my debit card was going to arrive pretty soon I told the others to go onto Laos and that I would probs be right behind them. So, on the Saturday they left me...all by myself in Chiang Mai! So, after a chilled night on my tod with a book the following day I met some fab people. I met Jay and Rich by the pool and instantly got on with them. Jay was from Bristol and had the BEST accent ever and he didnt even think he had an accent, it was quite farmer like...ooohh aaarrr! ha ha. I also met two fab people called Gaby and Graeme. They were brilliant and we all instantly hit it off.

We met more people and all ended up going to the Sunday night market together followed by a hugely messy night as it was one of the americans birthday. He was hammered (as were all of us after drinks at the guesthouse with the strange israeli guys!) Once again we found ourselves frequenting Rooftop bar where we had one or two buckets we went to Spicy. Now, Spicy is probably the worlds weirdest 'club' just for starters theres a huge sign on the door saying 'No lady boys' but the place is full of them! This was the evening that I was doing silly poses for photos (yeah I know not like me at all) and Jay pulled out his bristolian accent saying ' PORN POSE' which stuck and there is now a whole facebook group dedicated to it! Sad I know and you guys aew probably reading this thinking that I have actually gone insane! After one too many Changs Jay and I had had enough so we decided to go back to the guesthouse. After a weird stop off with some freaks of nature we ended up buying ritz crackers in 7/11 and ended up spraying eachother all the way home with ritz...so discusting yet so hilarious! Until I have a reunion with him I dont think I can touch any more ritz!

Rich and Jay weren't going to Laos until late in the week and as soon as my card arrived I tried to book on the night bus to the Laos border but unfortunately the bus was full. I was well aware that James, Lois, Lisa and Laura and the others had been there already for quite a few days. As luck would have it Gaby and Graeme were getting a daytime bus to Chiang Khong which is the border that I was going to make my crossing into Laos. I sent the little Thai boy that worked in the guesthouse down to the bus station to get my ticket and that was it, I was off! By this time it was Wednesday so I had been stuck in Chiang Mai for ages....now probably needing to go into rehab! I had met a huge group of Aussies, Scousers and stuff and it was a shame that I couldn't have got the bus that night with them but whatever will be will be! Gabs and Graeme are fab and Graeme is from St Albans which is really close to Ware so it was nice to talk to someone about home stuff!

The bus we took to the border was a public bus, I was sat next to this old woman who looked at least 124 years old and considing she was the size of a 6 year old western child she sat there with her legs spread taking up so much room my face was practically squashed against the window! The 7ish hour journey itself was ok although we think that the bus driver was trying to kill us all as we nearly had about 6 head on crashed and I chilled listening to a bit of Jack Johnson! He cures everything that boy...

When we got to Chiang Khong we randomly got picked up and dumped in the back of a pick up truck. This is where we met Stephanie the crazy French girl. We stayed at a little lodge over looking the Mekong River, it was pouring with rain so we decided to stay at the guesthouse for some good ol' Thai food, which was amazing. After a few hundred games of cards we retired to bed as we were getting up early to catch the slow boat down the Mekong into Luang Prabang, Laos. In the morning none of us could be arsed getting up and then I had a reality check.....I CANT BE ARSED TO GO TO LAOS???!! GET A GRIP WOMAN! ha ha. Think I was just shattered from Chiang Mai and the travelling. Once again we were dumped in the back of a truck and taken to the border where were had to take a weird little boat accross the river to Laos to go to immigration!