Chiang Mai (3 nights)

Ok, so I am struggling to catch up with myself before I fly to India tonight (10th Jan). This will have to be very very brief.

Day 1

The 3 of us, me, John, an American from texas who has his own ranch, and Aroo, a Sri Lankan- Canadian who lives in Toronto, went to Tiger Kingdom. It was not a good idea. The tigers are all sedated and in very boring looking cages. It was wonderful to see these amazing animals close up, but terrible to see them so far from their world.

We went out in the evening and I got pretty drunk. In fact I went out twice. I went with one group to a bar, then got bored and came back to the hostel, only to meet John and another group and go out again with them! Very silly considering I was already tired from the bus journey.

Day 2

We took a share taxi out to a hill temple (the highest mountain in Thailand) and then carried on up to a hill-top village. Along the way we stopped at a little coffee plantation with a cafe. It was probably average coffee, but it was first proper coffee I have ever tasted, and it was amazing! We reached the village around half 4 when the light was stunning. The locals were celebrating new year with rice wine and making some sticky rice with great big mallets and a hollowed log. It was a really nice day.

Day3

I had booked a cooking course the at an organic farm, but for some reason I barely slept at all the previous night and debated for a little while whether I should go. I went, and it was very good. We made 5 dishes. I made Red Curry, Chicken with Chilli and Basil, Tom Yum Soup, Pad Thai, and a Banana coconut desert. We ate the first three dishes and took the rest home. The Pad Thai was delicious for my evening meal.

The next day we caught the bus to Pai (prounounced 'Buy').