We arrived in Chiang Mai at about 2.00pm. We stayed at the Banana Guesthouse, it was expensive for what it was, but we couldn't be bothered to find anywhere else! We went to the markets that day (Chiang Mai is famous for its markets) and bumped into a Canadian couple we met briefly in Vang Vieng. Went out for a few drinks that night, ended up drunk calling parents at 3.00am (sorry mum!).

We had booked a cooking course for the next day. It was absolutely excellent, we started off by going to the market to buy all the ingredients. We got to choose 7 dishes from the menu - Jack made Massaman curry and sweet and sour veggies, I made Penang curry and chicken with cashewnuts, we both made rice soup with chicken, pad thai, spring rolls. They were all really tasty, and we got a recipe book to take away, so hopefully we'll try again when we're in NewZealand!

We had decided to get the bus to Bangkok that night as we're getting short on time now. The bus was better than the ones in Laos, so we managed to get a bit of sleep on it. We arrived in Bangkok the next day, and decided to stay for one night. We checked into a guesthouse which was an absolute hole, but extremely cheap on the Kho San Road. We went out with a girl we met on the bus on the way down.

This morning we got the bus from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi, which is where the bridge over the river kwai is. The guesthouse is excellent, small bungalow rooms on the river kwai for only 200baht (less than 3pounds) - it has a garden area with hammocks etc, it's raining today, but hopefully clear up tomorrow! We're going to see the sights tomorrow, there's waterfalls, the bridge (obviously), death railway and hellfire pass - should be interesting!