Well big catch up here! Clearly not cut out for this blogging thing always forget to update it!
Bus to Chiang Mai was actually OK! Stopped at a rest point about 11pm then had a nice restless sleep till we arrived. Got my ticket for Chiang Rai waited 2 hours then was off on another bus for 3+ hours! Was sitting next to a Swiss lad on the bus so we had a chat and swapped stories which helped pass the time!
Had 3 nights in Chiang Rai but on hindsight probably too long. Not that much to do really. Went to the white temple which was good. Makes a nice change from gold!

Really liked it. The inside of the temple is fantastic. The wall where the door is has loads of cartoon characters, superheroes, actors, spaceships anything and everything appearing along side traditional Buddhist art. Very strange but very cool. No pictures allowed unfortunately. Also got predator outside the temple appearing out of the water and trees with mask things of hellboy, batman, the hulk and Freddy krueger to name but a few!

Very good walking street market on the Saturday night and a good cafe scene which seems to be standard across all of northern Thailand so far!
Bus back to Chiang Mai and I met yet another Swiss lad and we share a tuk-tuk into the old town of Chiang Mai. I only had two days here so I spent most of my time wandering around getting my bearings and finding more cafes to sit in. The night bazaar is huge and I could've easily spent hours getting lost in it.
Heading to Pai I wasn't sure what to expect. Everyone that's mentioned it has said they liked it but hearing and experiencing are two different things. One thing no-one lied about is the road there. Bloody hell. 762 (possibly wrong, definitely in the 700's though) turns in the road. And you feel pretty much every one in the minivans! Driver up wasn't too bad though thankfully. And I took a precautionary motion sickness pill just in case!
Hostel in Pai was great. Few minutes walk into main town, cheap and a good mix of people. Felt more like a flat share at times.
Pai is a place where time becomes irrelevant. It just passes but your never sure quite how long it's been. Nearly everyone I spoke to had extended their stay by a few days or weeks myself included. It's so chilled out and relaxing. Loads of good eateries (though I did get food poisoning on my last night :() and cafes and bars at night. Did a marathon yoga session which nearly killed me/scarred me for life (blame this fully on Tzlil), went to white Buddha and watched the sunset and pai canyon for the sunset as well.

Paths there are insanely narrow in places, barely a foot wide! Not for the fainthearted! Lom cave was also pretty cool to see, though the guides do tend to hustle you through quite quickly.

Was cool seeing all the stalagmites and stalactites and the bats and swallows near sunset flying in and out of the entrance. Definitely not the 80000 we had been told but there were a few. The bamboo rafts were fun! Sturdier than they look and the water wasn't that deep because it's dry season but the fish were huge!
The rest of my time in Pai seemed to just vanish. Chilling out by the poolm chatting to new people, wandering the market and wondering where time had gone!

Returning to Chiang Mai was a bit of a thought to be honest. After being so relaxed a city just sounded so busy and not appealing. The ride back down was a lot hairier than the way up. Left late and still made it in 3 hours. Pills helped again though! Staying in a hostel recommended by two girls I met in Pai and it's great. Different part of town from last time and found a great quiet wee cafe to sit and while away some time in.
Visited a few temples today and trying to get a cookery class sorted for this weekend!

Hopefully won't leave it so long again and bore you with a stupidly long speil!
Lx