I arrived in Chiang Mai at around 1600 and got a taxi to the hostel I was staying in. I put a bit more effort into my choice of hostel on this occasion and I will continue with this effort as choice of hostel really is imperative. My choice was "Spicythai hostel" and it was just a short journey from the airport. I checked in and was immediately impressed with the place, very friendly staff and a huge communal place to hang out. A little walk then followed in order for me to get a feel of the place and get a bit of scran down my neck, I was a hungry puppy. I wandered past what looked like great seafood on a street food stall but upon closer inspection noticed the sheer amount of flies nestling on the uncooked squid, king prawns, lobster tails etc. This immediately put me off. Surely it wouldn't take much to cover this up? I've just got no time for flies and I think the main reason for this is where have they most likely been prior to making contact with you or your food? Knee deep in some sort of faeces I expect. Add a bit of their puke which they use to break down the food when they land on it... Heave. Anyway, I then stumbled upon a little sushi place which was lovely food and incredibly cheap. You can really notice the difference in prices of things from down south and on the islands, to up north more. My only small complaint with this little Japanese place was that the waitress added ice to my beer to cool it down a bit. It was warm so her heart was certainly in the right place but watered down beer? Not for me.

Back at the hostel the plan for the evening was a beer pong competition. I have a feeling I'm going to play a lot of this over the next few months. We all chipped in to make what the owner of the hostel called "jungle juice" and we literally had a few massive containers full of this stuff. In all fairness it was quite tasty. My team consisted of myself, a lady from Holland and a chap from Ireland. Our team lost a close encounter and was out after our first game. I personally blame it on the fact that we played our game last and were 3 cups of jungle juice in by the time we kicked off... The stuff really did kick like a mule. We all then headed into town to a few bars. A few tequila followed, I lost everyone but stumbled upon a bar playing the villa game (no other comment). I watched that and then successfully made it back to the hostel! (well done me).

Next day I lay in bed watching the ants on the wall crawl past me until about 1000. That was actually quite therapeutic. The room I was in had turned into a bit of a hospital ward with a good few of us a little ropey, but I thought I'd drag myself up in search of a food and for a little explore. I visited a few temples until I had just left the one when it started absolutely thrashing it down. I managed to get under a bit of a roof which just about sheltered me. I then saw a chap jogging towards where I was standing, obviously wanting a bit of this roof action. So I jokingly ran towards him, put my arm around him and ran back with him to the shelter. He seemed to really appreciate this! He couldn't really speak a word of English but smiled profusely and then got 2 bags out of his pocket and gave me one. I genuinely thought it was to go over my head to stop my hair getting wet but luckily I procrastinated in putting it on. He then demonstrated what it was for, to put our phones in! What a top man, again they continue to demonstrate what a kind bunch they are. The rain stopped, he jumped on his moped and went on his way. I walked out the temple and from across the road saw a restaurant called "Three little pigs" that advertised amazing ribs. I thought meat and chips is exactly what I want right now so crossed the road and walked in. I walked past 2 young topless chaps pretty much wearing hotpants who were cooking meat on the BBQ outside. I thought that's a bit bizarre but as long as they cook it well, I'll be a happy man. I entered the restaurant and was taken into the aircon bit which I was pleased with. Despite the downpour, it was still stupidly hot. I sat down and ordered a coffee and began to scan the menu. It was then that I heard a noise that sounded like a snore. I looked directly across from where I was sitting and there was a huge bloke on a bed snoring his head off, with a small dog lying at the other end. This guy had long white hair and a beard, very much what old Santa Claus looks like. I sat there and just could not believe it. Everytime he moved the springs on the bed screeched which again added to my displeasure. It was 1300 and this was in the middle of a restaurant. I felt a little bit at unease with the prospect of eating with this bloke lying near to me but by the time I began to comprehend a sharp exit, the waitress had brought over my drink and also a little Thai bread thing so I was already in too deep. I pointed my chair towards the wall so I didn't have to face him and ordered some ribs with chips and coleslaw. Luckily a few minutes later, Santa began to stir and dragged himself out of his pit. He said hello (he was an American bloke), got a drink of water and then sat on his computer choosing some music. I was relieved he was up and began to relax a bit more while listening to a bit of blues he'd chosen. My scran then arrived and it looked very impressive. As she placed it on the table, Santa the big oaf jumped back on his pit!! Come on now let's bloody behave, I just couldn't believe it! Get up and get showered will you! I again attempted to turn a blind eye and tucked into my food. The ribs were incredible, those lads in hot pants had done a great job. Santa spoke a few times to me, the first to ask how they were. I looked across to him to answer and he was lying there with his eyes closed which I again found strange. He then asked if I wanted some apple pie for pudding but I told him I was good. He then sat up and had the waitress tie plaits in his hair. I'd well and truly had enough of the place at this point so asked the other waitress for the bill (probably the younger ones mother id concluded), paid up and got the hell out of there and went back to the hostel.

That evening everyone at the hostel hit the Sunday night market. These markets are really impressive. They sell such a variety of amazing things but as with everywhere, they also have a load of tat. I didn't buy anything as I am very aware I have a long way to go before I head home and that carrying souvenirs could be a pain. I did buy a delightful fresh mango and passion fruit smoothie (60p) and a really nice spring roll (20p). After a good 45 minutes we'd walked through the market and then people started mentioning a "ladyboy show". It was the first id heard about this and obviously I started asking questions... What the hell does a ladyboy show consist of? I was reassured that it was just a cabaret show so agreed to go. We stopped off in a bar on the way and listened to a band singing a good variety of songs. My favourite being "and after all, you're my one and allllll". What a good alteration to the song I thought. We got to the cabaret venue and saw the ladyboys hovering outside. I paid and tried my head down and blank them trick but no... I was soon being grabbed by one of them. Frightening. I told him I loved her too and eventually it left me alone. It put me on edge a bit and I thought if they start dragging people on the stage then I'm bound to be one of them! The show began and it was a great laugh to be fair. A ladyboy Tina Tuner was my favourite act. Back to the hostel after this and a relatively early night. Although prior to settling down I did spot a beast of a spider in the room and a few of the girls started to panic (obviously I was ice cool about it all...). We tried to catch him but the little b***** ran off. An hour later the room awoke when one of the girls had spotted it again. He was caught this time around and we all lived happily ever after.

My final full day in Chaing Mai consisted of more sight seeing. A few of the lads and I went a bit out of town and up a mountain to see a temple (Wat Suan Dok) which was impressive. We then went to the old town to see a few more. The old town is basically surrounded by a moat and within this you have a silly amount of temples. There are also remains of the city wall which once enclosed the old city and these are about 700 Years old. The most impressive temples within the old city are the Wat Chedi Luang, which looks bloody old. It was damaged a good few hundred years ago though so it has pretty much been restored to look old but still, I liked it! Also the Wat Phra Singh which was first established during the 14th century. What a glorious temple.

That evening I went in search of a bit of a legend id heard about. When I first arrived at the hostel, an Aussie bloke had told me about a street food stall that sells tremendous slow cooked/stewed pork knuckle. Apparently Chinese people come to Chiang Mai just to try this pork. He told me id be able to know which stall it is as the lady who runs it wears a cowboy hat. I went on a little bimble and managed to find it. I spotted the huge pot of pork which looked very enticing. Then I saw the lady with the cowboy hat so knew I'd found the place. It was very busy with all the tables full so I went around the back and ordered some take away. It came to 60p in total and with that you got pork, rice, a boiled egg and some Chinese broccoli..... And a little chilli sauce thing. I've since found out the dish is called "Khao Kha Moo". I got a fork and began to munch this immediately. The pork was undoubtedly the best I had ever tasted. Unbelievably good!! If this lady opened a stall in London and charged £5 for a little tray of this then she would make an absolute killing. Open it in Borough market and she'll retire in 5 years. Best meal I have had while travelling to date, it's going to take some beating.

That evening we all chilled at the hostel and played some cards and I decided where I was going to head to next. I need to be in the Philippines by July 1st and have a country to smash before then so in total I have about 5 days left in Thailand. I will be back here over the next few months, I plan to head to the north again and enter into Laos up that way, at the beginning of August. So for now, I have decided to jump on a train down towards Bangkok in the morning (that's where I'll be flying from in a few days) and stop off in Ayuthaya for 2 nights. This place is basically the old capital city. I'd heard about it during my history/culture lesson in Bangkok and decided then I definitely wanted to see it. It was basically a big player of a city back in ancient Thai history when they dominated the area. It was pretty much built with 3 rivers surrounding it so back in the day, this acted as a great source of protection by making it hard for other scallywags to attack. However, after a few years of war during the 1760's, those Burmese hellbats eventually did a job on the place and also looted it too. The Thai's then regrouped and set up camp in modern day Bangkok. I'm looking forward to exploring the place. So, up early in the morning for the 10 hour train journey. At £12 for a ticket, which includes meals, you can't go wrong... Surely?!