The trip to Chiang Mai was a painful one along the Mekong River. The bus upto Laung Prabang (northern Cambodia) was a steady one, with very little to see and do apart from every backpackers favourite past-time.....people watching. And there were a couple of characters who made it worthwhile, particularly one fella who would drool in his sleep, then wakeup whipe his patch, check to see no one was watching and fall abck asleep. Only to wake up ten minutes later and begin the routine again. It was dark when we arrived in Luang Prabang and i was immediately met by a hawker wanting to sell me the trip to Huay Xai and bus across to Chiang Mai (first stop in Thailand). He was shouting prices cheaper than listed in the Rough Guide, so i went against all common sense (very unlike me) and him up on it; hotel for the night, boat to Huay Xai and my bus to Chiang Mai. When i went down to the river in the morning, turn out he was there waiting but my luck was to change in an hour.The boat was a 10m long, narrow (two ass' wide, just), wooden and looking very fragile. This, it's driver and a tiny out-board motor consisted to be a 'speed boat', that would take me on the 10hr trip up the Mighty Mekong to Huay Xai. After fifteen minutes it started to rain, the heavens opened and it lashed it down for the next ten hours. Karma catching up with me after my narrow victory with a hawker. So for the entire trip it was lashing it and i was soaked, freezing cold, teeth chattering away and my ass was numb from the wooden seat and constant boucning. But that wasn't the end of it, i'd completely forgotten that i had my red pants on. The sods with the very loose dye. So for two days afterwards i was a nice shade of pink from the waist down. Yet again! Getting into Thailand was the easiest border crossing yet, helped mostly by the fact i'm English. Short boat trip across the river, few more stamps in the passport and 'Hello Thailand!' Then it was an easy eight hour trip down to Chiang Mai, followed by a sweaty hours walk with all my kit, through the city and to a superb guesthouse called 'Your Guesthouse'.So after a much needed shower i went back to the recption and got talking to the family's son. he turne dout to be a Liverpool fan, so i shook his hand and we talked. He invited me to watch the United game at his home that evening. Iwas only too happy to accept, not to watch the footy but to accept the invitation to visit his home and his family was too good to turn down. Had a great evening, apart from seeing the Mancs win. Myself and about eight of his family memebrs, sat around talking away. Question after question about England and continuous querying of why im not looking for a Thai 'girlfriend'. I was assured that Thai women make superb wives because they always smile when they cook and clean for their husbands. The evening was a corker and the family made me feel at home, along with plenty of gorgeous Thai food to eat. The next day i clambered out of bed early to start my day of exploring Chiang Mai. So packed the bag, grabbed a street map and marked the places i wanted to get to. Gulped back a coffee (still not as good as Vietnam's) and strode off.The temples of Wat Chedi Lung and Wat Chiang mAi wre beautiful. Bright colours, golden Buddha's and intricate paintings throughout. Some paintings were over 400 years old and considering they were painited on the Wat's inner walls, were still in top condition. So long as you take your thongs off, you can enter the temples at anytime and snap away. I got a little indulgent in the photo taking but it looks amazing and different from every angle. But the best part of it was watching the monks go about their days. Permanently smiling and looking like the most content people to be walking the Earth. A monk called Khi came and introduced himslef and I was surprised by his level of English. Narrow mindedness I guess but he was later to prove he is truly a 21st century Buddhist Monk. He showed me around the Wats and explained to me the stories behind the paintings on the walls. We talked and walked for about an hour and a half and were sat down when a ringing started. From under his robe, Khi pulled out the latest mobile and began to talk. I was knocked back to see it but then the perfect photo opportunity arose. His friend (fellow monk) brought Khi over a Starbucks coffee. I tried my hardest but some laughter fell out of me. Khi, the yuppie monk in his orange robes, at a temple, on his mobile with a Starbucks coffe by his side! My only regret was not getting a photo of the two of us together. Another great thing about the temples was the number of dogs that roamed around. Just lazing around on steps, watching all the tourists snap away at anything that moved. Scruffy looking things that were beggin to be played with, so i did and for about thirty minutes played 'fetch' with them all at Wat Chiang Mai........much to the amusement of the photo-happy Japanese tourists.The major downside to Chiang Mai (in my opinon anyway) is how easy it seems to be to get lost. Tiny side streets pelt off of the main streets, more often than not laiden with more interesting shops and stalls than those on the main streets. So naturall you walk up them, looking at stalls and not realising you've turned off about five different lanes and are now completely lost. No worries, out comes the trusty map and it's easy to find oyur way back. But it's not. As and when you come across a stret sign, it's pointing in an odd direction. So you walk up that streets (the way it's pointing) to realise after ten minutes, it held reference to the street you were already on. Then there's the issue that the streets sound very similair but every map and guidebook not only spells streets differently from the street signs but also from other maps and guidebooks! So part and parcel of Chiang Mai is getting lost but the plus side being the things you see along the way. When i did finally make it back to theb guesthouse, i had time for a quick shower before i burst out of the door again. I wanted to have a nose around the night bazaar's before the Liverpool match. I had no money to spend (due to the lack of wallet/debit card) so it was just exploration and to see what was on offer. Just want to be able to compare with Bangkok for wheni need to start thinking about Xmas pressies. They had everything on offer, from puppies to ninja stars and all at reasonable prices, so with bartering there could be some bargains.PS Going to finish putting up the pics of Bangkok, Khao Thai National Park and Thai Boxing tomorrow. The internet here's bloody slow and ive got to dash to meet mate who arrive in a mo.