Back in civilisation now in Chiang Mai. Found ourselves a really nice little guest house in the heart of town and so far we are really liking it here. It has a much more laid back feel to it than Bangkok but still with plenty to see. Only arrived here yesterday afternoon having made a quick stop in Phitsanulok (on our way back from the Rain Forest) and then Lampang to see Thailands most alluring temple (apparently!) Actually it was our favourite so far. But first an update on the Rainforest. I can report Robin's Thai massage was a huge success. He wasn't sure about the part when she started pressing around his private parts but apart from that it was all good and thankfully no 'little extras'! Following day was quite eventful. We decided to go white water rafting on a river swollen by rainfall like you have never seen before...great idea. Collected in a pick-up, which we had to hop in the back of, and taken up river where we were greeted by all these young dudes - none of whom spoke English. A load more Thai people turned up (one of whom thankfully could translate for us) and a basic training demo took place - all very useful in Thai. Then we were loaded into 3 rafts and off we went - at this point experiencing excitment and fear in equal measure! Turned out to be great fun. Good job you couldn't see some of the rapids in advance otherwise you would never do it (well I wouldn't anyway) they were up to level 5 of a possible 15, the hardest you can do without proper training (and I don't think the little demo mentioned above qualifies!) One of the rafts did go over though so we were fishing little Thai people out of the river. Soooo glad it wasn't us! So that was one completely new experience for both of us - then in the evening Robin decided to go for another one and ordered crispy frog. I can report it does taste just like chicken (yes I did try a little bit...I know...me!?!) but not as tasty so there really isn't any point.

I think that's all there is to report from the Rainforest. We then headed back into Phitsanulok to see Thailands holiest temple - which was disappointing. Then boarded the train to Lampang which should have taken 5 hours but ended up taking 8! The train couldn't get up the hill so we had to get another train to pull us!

Lampang was a one horse town...nothing there except the Wat Phra That Lampang Luang temple on the outskirts which was definitely worth a look. Much older and not over restored like the ones in Bangkok. Our favourite so far. We also discovered this is the one place in Thailand you can't get a tuk tuk!!! Normally they are pestering you to death but here, oh no, can't find one when you want one. So we had to hop on the back of 2 motorcycle taxis to take us to the nearest village so we could get one from there.

And now we have moved on to Chaing Mai. Did some temples today, hopefully going up the mountain and to the zoo to see the Pandas tomorrow and then a cookery course on Thursday so you can all look forward to some authentic Thai curries when we get back. (Bet you can't wait!)

Really don't know what the plan is after that at the moment...we'll keep you posted. xxx