So I hvae now been in Thailand for about 2 weeks and have had a really good time so far. The slow boat trip from Laos was a lot better than i expected as the boat was very quiet and the weather ended up being pretty good for most of the trip. I managed to read 2 books in 2 days we were on the boat, catch up on a bit of sleep and also just watch the beautiful countryside go by. The actual border crossing into Thailand was very simple and the only dissapointment was that i didnt get a whole page visa to help fill up my passport!

From the border i jumped on a local bus that took me to Chiang Rai where i was going to stay for a couple of days. It was pretty quite there as it is low season but it was small enough to walk around and explore on foot so that how i spent my days there and in the evenings i walked around the night market and ate at the food stalls surruonding it while watching some music performances on a stage!

From Chiang Mai i headed on another bus to Chiang Mai which is seen as the capital of the North in Thailand. When i got there it semed huge as id been in small towns/cities for so long wut i soon got used to all the little alleys running off the main roads where most of the guesthouses. The first day i took a walking tour of the city and saw lots of Wats and think i am now fully wat'ed out, it all justs blends into gold sparkly buildings with lots ofbuddahs inside now! The next day i took part in a cookig course with a couple from France. The first part of the course took us round a local market where we saw all the food we would be using and lots we wouldnt be! We were then taken to a house just outside the city where we covered ourselves in insect repellent and then commenced with the cooking! In all we cooked 5 dishes for lunch including a very tasty green curry and then some spring rolls, pad thai and a pumpkin dessert that we put into takeaway cartons so we culd have them for our dinner. I have got a recipe book aswell with all the dishes we cooked and more in it so there will be plenty of experimenting with new dishes when i get home!

The next day i decided to hire myself a moped and go off and explore some of the sites outside the city. After an initially embarrasing moment where the woman renting me the moped waited for me to start it up then realised i didnt have a clue how to I had a great day. I went up to some sites high above the city where you got a great view over the surrounding area and enjoed being ut and but and able to get where ever i wanted to go under my own steam. In the evening i went on my moped to one of the large shopping centres that have cinemas and watched the second Narnia film.

The next day i got a train to Lampang where i would stay for a night before heading to the thai elepant conservation centre to do a 3 day mahout traingin course! The website for the centre is www.changthai.com and under the 1-3 June archive there are loads of photos (relatively few of me though) of what we got up to while we were there. I was placed with a 28 year old female elephant called singcon (i think) and spent the next few days learning on her from her mahout. Needless to say i had an absolutely amazing time bathing, feeding and learning commands for the elephants and loved the 3 days i spent there.

From there i went first to phitsanalouk and then to Lopburi where there are monkeys just wandering around town and a temple where they tend to congregate during the day. Even from the window of my hotel room i had a great view of monkeys climbing all the the electrictiy pilons and on the outside of buildings. Once i'd had my fill of monkeys i jumped on a train and headed off to Bangkok, slightly nervous as its such a big place and id been used to being able to walk most places whereever i was! I will fill you in on the adventures there and the next part of my trip which im doing with sam in a couple of weeks time! Hope all is well at home and that you have a new car that isnt quite as much like a tank as the skoda was (power steering would definately be a good start!) If i dont speak to you before hand i hope you have a great time in Italy!