We have been in Chiang Mai for 2 nights now. We will stay here another 2 nights, it is a nice place, although the hazy skies make sight-seeing a bit difficult. So far we have haggled at the night markets in Chiang Mai and travelled up to see the famous golden Buddha at the top of .... The night markets have freshly cooked food, you choose your meat and sauces and they flame cook them in front of you. I tried the medium-chilli curry ... but I guess being in Thailand, medium is actually VERY hot!! We ended up buying an entire watermelon for about 20 cents ... but armed with only a pocket knife, it made for some difficult eating!! GREAT though! The lady we are staying with has organised our visas for Laos, I was a bit hesitant about giving up our passports for her to send them back to Bangkok, but they seem to have come back to us ok!!