Our last day in Chiang Mai today and we're all glad we decided to come North before heading South. Chiang Mai is a really relaxed town compared to Bangkok and the climate is much more enjoyable! Plus we've had some amazing experiences that we probably wouldn't have got elsewhere.

Today we spent the morning by the beautiful pool - I'll definitely miss it when we're back in sweaty Bangkok, and I took the opportunity to have one last swim. After lunch at the hotel, served to us by the very friendly staff, we caught a songthaew to the oldest temple in Chiang Mai, Wat Chiang Man. Again, the complex was quite large and the main temple was where the Emerald Buddha (which we saw in Bangkok) was originally stored. There were lots of monks around heading to and from prayer, and some beautiful buildings, including one surrounded by stone elephants on all sides. After taking lots of photos we headed back to the hotel for an hour or so, until it was time to leave with all of our luggage (stored at the hotel for free!) for Chiang Mai train station. We were catching the sleeper train to Bangkok, something we've read and heard lots about, and we were all looking forward to the experience.

We found our car quite early and headed inside to find our seats. We'd booked three lower sleeping bunks which meant no climbing up ladders for us tonight! When we got on, our beds were set up as chairs, and we spent the first part of the journey reading. We'd been provided with a dinner menu when we got on, which you could either have at your seat or in the dining car. We opted for the dining car and after I had been to attempt to make reservations, we headed down there at about 7:30pm. The whole car was illuminated with flashing disco lights and a large flashing welcome sign, and was a strange place to be eating in. We were sat near three German people who appeared to be as bemused as us, although they were talking with a Thai lady who was trying to explain it all to them! The food turned out to be pretty good - a Thai set menu including a curry, a rice dish, soup and fruit for less than 200 baht. Our music for dinner was a range of easy listening classics including 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree', 'Starry Starry Night' and 'Wonderful Tonight'. The Thai woman sat with us was singing along enthusiastically to every song and at one point the waitresses turned the main lights off so we were left with the disco lights on and the whole carriage (including us) singing along to the songs while the waitresses danced! Definitely one of the funniest and weirdest experiences of the trip so far!
By the time we got back to our car after dinner, all of the seats had been transformed into beds by the train staff, meaning we now had a spacious bunk complete with reading light to sleep in. We were all very impressed with how it all worked and how comfortable the beds were. After reading for a while, we were all ready for a good night's sleep, and we nodded off to the motion of the train….night night!