We woke up late, but I was feeling significantly better even though my stomach still felt like it had been badly beaten. We went to 'The Hideout' French Cafe down the road from us, for baguettes and I opted for the veggie one. I was embracing my new no meat policy. We stumbled across a cockatiel in a (very small) cage and I knelt down to see if it knew any songs. She started singing a random tune repeatedly and we then broke out in duet. Edd ordered me a cappuccino and watched from a safe distance.

We wondered around the streets for 2 hours (and I know this sounds insane, but Chiang Mai is the kind of place where you could spend days wondering the streets and never actually see everything). We walked past an Irish pub that was celebrating St Paddy's that evening and 'pinned' it on Google maps on my phone to revisit later.

We sat down in a local bar on the high street that had a mix of westerners and Thai people around, enjoying a beer at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon (as you do). The Thai waitresses were exceptionally friendly, to say the least, and spent most of their time either flirting with the men or bending over tables to wipe rice off of the opposite corner. It was very entertaining to watch and we listened to the men talk about life in England (they'd never been) and their warped ideas of what it was like to live and work there. One of the men (the most obnoxious one, with the biggest mouth full of garbage) struck up a conversation with Edd and I and after learning I was South African, attempted to speak to me in Afrikaans. He started off his sentence well, but then ended it in his own made up version of pig latin. I just sat and stared at him, wanting to tell him what I thought, but then deciding it was probably a better idea to hold my tongue.

We had booked a Thai massage class from 3pm and had to meet our instructor, Miss Wanna, at Lane 4. Edd said he knew where Lane 4 was so lead us there quite promptly. I was sure it was on the opposite side of Thae Pae Gate, but he insisted he was right and my google maps was wrong. It was 3.05pm and she was no where to be seen. We hadn't walked past the McDonalds or the gas station and I held my ground that we were in the wrong place. He reconsulted his printed map and realised I was possibly right.

We met Miss Wanna at 03.15 (15 minutes late) at the Lane 4 on the other side of the gate (I was right) and she walked us to her practice. She was a 34 year old, single, Thai woman with bad arthritis - a bit of an issue if you're a massage therapist.

We had to wash our feet with soap first and she gave me big pink trousers to wear as I was wearing one of my play suits that were quite short. She instructed us to open our lesson books and started on Edd, demonstrating to me what to do. We then swopped over and she demonstrated on me while Edd watched. This continued until we'd worked our way through the back of the body and then we had to practice on each other while she watched and corrected.

We then moved on to the face massage and I was up. It was absolutely amazing and we both nearly fell asleep. She also showed us the neck and shoulder massage (this is all part of the same massage if you went to a therapist for a treatment) and we then took turns practicing on each other again while she watched and corrected. The lesson was 3 and a half hours (normally 4, but we finished early, thank goodness) and we left there feeling relaxed, enlightened and hungry.

We went for dinner at a quiet restaurant and hid in a corner where we wouldn't get harassed by people trying to sell flower chains and boxing tickets. Edd had Pad Thai and I had spring rolls and a gin and tonic, even though it was recommended I stay away from alcohol for a little while. I figured 5 days of food poisoning was long enough.

We headed back to the Irish pub and had a drink while an Irish band played. It was lead by a fierce, old Irish woman with a strong character. We sang 500 miles and an array of other songs I hadn't heard of, but joined in the chorus anyway. We headed back to our guest house as we had to be up early the next morning with a long day of activities to follow and didn't want to be tired.