Sawadee

And happy Loi Krathong festival to everybody.Today in Chiang Mai has been a major festival but things didn't really get started till dusk so we spent a few hours on the Ping River.This river goes all the way South to Bangkok and over a few hours we visited a farmers house and looked at all the things he grew and also got to sample ginger and Longan juice which was tasty.

As we moved up the river there were plenty of people in the water, including 6 guys who decided to see who could hold their breath the longest under water, the river is brown and I did not fancy their chances but after a good 90 seconds a guy emerged the victor and was well chuffed.

Tomorrow our hotel manager has invited Mel and I on a tour of some local villages as a thank you to us, as we have spent money with him rather than elsewhere, we are both looking forward to it and don't know what to expect so it should be fun.

Tonight we sat enjoying the festivities and it was good fun but then people started letting balloons off into the sky, they came crashing down or got stuck in telegraph poles and in the end we were dodging more fireballs than we imagined. When you looked at the sky it looked like aliens were invading!!!

The fireworks were really good tonight and the Thai people have a fascination with firecrackers so they are everywhere.

Just got back from the Chiang Mai Saloon as we have an early start again tomorrow with the hotel manager.

Lots of love

M & M