Hi everyone, sorry for the delay-this travelling lark is such hard work he he!!!!

GOODBYE TO VIETNAM, HELLO AGAIN TO THAILAND, HERE WE COME CHIANG MAI!!!!

So we can safely say we had had enough of crossing borders and being shaken around and sweating on buses!!!! So we were relieved when we booked another package deal and it included a flight from Vietnam to Bangkok.

We were all sooooooooooo excited to be going back Thailand it feels like our second home now, it brought huge smiles to our faces when we boarded the flight and we were greeted by a 'sawadee Kah'!!!!

Throughout our journey we have seemed to avoid the lifestyle/reality of full on backpackers living, for example opting for mid range accomodation not the really scummy ones most of the time (sometimes unavoidable as you have seen in the pics), not eating from the stalls (restaurants all the way) and not to mention hiring a private driver in a mercedes he he!!!!!

So there was a bit of a reality check to come when we collected our luggage and started to arrange transport to Chiang Mai. Sarah and Lisa made their way to the Air Asia desk to enquire about flight, Vik and Steph went to the coach desk, we were left with the following options;

Option 1- flight leaving in 20min, arriving in 1hour, cost=32pounds

Option 2- coach leaving in 2 hours, arriving 13 hours later, cost= 8.50 pounds

To most people and certainly to us this would of been a very simple choice, Sarah and steph were all ready in the queue for the plane, dreaming of the free wine in comfort. But carol (aka Vik) put her foot down again and put it into context that the difference would pay for our accommodation for a week, five bowls of rice and a roll of toilet paper!!! So we had managed to avoid it long enough and now we realised our place in society was in the queue for the coach- damm!!!!!!

As it turned out the coach wasn't the usual bone shaker standard that we had become accustomed to, in fact it was the complete opposite. We were the only westerners on there, we had a hostess handing out free, drinks, snacks, pillows and blankets and to top it all off a small box of cakes, we were in traveller heaven!!!

We then stopped off at a service station more shocks in store as the toilets were clean with handwash and everything, Sarah and Lisa nearly passed out they were so impressed hehe!!!

We then went into the clean food hall/cafe and were given a free dinner of curry and rice that was really tasty!! Lisa had sat there looking puzzled throughout her meal and then looked up and said "What's going on, this isn't right, it's too good for us, we don't belong here!" we found it hilarious and couldn't stop laughing (we still giggle about it now!) it made us think that we are hardened backpackers after all!!!

We arrived in Chaing Mai at twelve midnight and instead of using our trusty bible we followed the advice of our newly appointed tour guide "brian" and headed for backpacker central! As it turned out we didn't have a lot of choice because the only place that was open was "Banana Guesthouse"!! The rooms were covered in graffiti and the sheets and matresses were dirty, tatty and generally horrible, we won't even mention the shared bathroom!!!

Sarah and Steph had the same idea without realising and got up really early to look at other guesthouses and hostels, they bumped into eachother in the most luxurious place to stay in Chiang Mai and just laughed "it was wishful thinking"

We eventually found a family run, clean, friendly and most importantly cheap guesthouse and did our usual form of settling in, which is basically empty the contents of our backpack onto the floor, change into a bikini and gatecrash the nearest pool!!!

There is no rest for the wicked as we arranged to meet Brian (our personal tour guide and new found friend) in his favourite restaurant "The riverside" he had booked us a table on the riverboat which turned out to be full of couples enjoying a romantic dinner cruise hehe, we had some funny looks and nods and winks and Lisa was nearly swimming back as Sarah suggested they recreate the spaghetti scene from "Lady and the Tramp!" Sarah being the lady of course!!lol!

We enjoyed a fantastic night with our tour guide especially hearing some live music (not as good as alpha 9 of course) we all got sloshed on our favourite cheap thai beverage - good old 'sang som', brian provided us with added entertainment as he did a del boy leaning casually on a rickety bamboo fence that turned out to be loose and did a comando roll down the river bank backwards, reminded us of Vik's episode in Phi Phi (same same but a bit different he!)

We then went onto another bar closer to home that was on a rooftop and funnily enough called "Rooftop Bar" We finished off the night with a few more drinks and a good chat with some lads from Nottingham, an aussie and a swedish Lad that looked like Martin Wilshaw,We ended the night with a greasy burger Good old Brittish style took us back to Zanzibar days lol!!!!

After all the travelling in Cambodia and Vietnam we didn't realise how exhausted we were until it came to having a few days to relax and we spent our time chilling by the pool and recouperating!!

Our tour guide came up trumps and planned a day out for us at his favourite Chiang Mai hotspots!! We hired a Jeep and went to see an idyillic Waterfall,a temple at the top of many many steps overlooking the whole of Chiang Mai (we thought we were templed out but we really enjoyed it), we drove back down the mountain and went to relax at a lovely lake where all the locals go to swim (otherwise known as Chiang Mai beach) Steph and Brian ventured into the water fully clothed as that is the Thai culture!!!

We stopped off at the Airport plaza which is a big shopping mall but we didnt stay there long as we soon realised the markets were our level of spending, but we made the most of the thai food halls and Brian introduced us to Mango and sticky rice, once tried no turning back its delicious!!!

After a tour of the city and a bit of shopping at the night bazzar we met up with Brian on his motorbike and followed the cool rider to an upmarket street stall as he was trying to turn Sarah and Lisa into stall lovers!!! (We left even less convinced-Sorry brian!!!!)

As we got to the traffic lights one turn away from the stall the jeep started juddering the girls thought it was Steph's driving but the horrible realisation soon kicked in that the petrol light was on red, which we had ignored for the last hour trying to save money and convincing ourselves 4 pound would last us all day-well it didn't! You would of been proud of us as we took control of the situation and all jumped out and pushed the jeep out of the busy traffic and into a parking space at the side of the road whilst Brian stood there helplessly laughing!! Who needs men?? - Ooh actually we do as Brian had to get on his bike with an empty water bottle and get us some more petrol!!! We really splashed out and got 50p worth lol convinced again that this would get us the short journey home!!!

What we didn't bank on was the fact that after following the tour guide nearly all the way home, we would take a wrong turn just as he was out of sight and end up getting lost in the Chiang Mai one way system, O oh that familiar juddering feeling once again as we kangaroo'd down the fast lane of a thai main road and to top it off we had passed a petrol station 5 minutes before but again some how thought that 50p would last!!!!! This time there was no Brian to fetch the petrol so on foot for Steph and Vik it was, 10 minutes later this time with two water bottles full (really pushing the boat out-1pounds worth) and a home made funnel we were back on the road.

We were almost home when we thought we felt that dreaded juddering AGAIN, but thankgod this time it was stephs driving he !!! This episode caused us to panic buy and we splashed out and put another pound in for good measure- this got us home safely. A 5 minute journey ended up taking us an hour and half- please no comments about women drivers, believe us we have heard them all!!!!

So we spent another few days lazing around pools sunbathing, lapping up the delicious thai cuisine, getting tippsy on sang som and generally enjoying the lovely relaxing atmosphere of Chiang Mai. It is very easy to settle into Chiang Mai lifestyle, with its quaint bookshops and cafes, vibrant markets and chilled bars we definitely realised why brian had chosen to live there!!!!

We thought we had better get off our relaxed backsides and do something, so Sarah Vik and Steph all went to a Thai cookery school for the day. It started off with a tour of the local markets (tiger balm required), the hygiene standards were not up to much, with cats peeing on the produce and the stall holder picking her nose whist weighing the rice (I bet arthur fowler is turning in his grave). We then took our place in the kitchen and learnt some new recipies, so now taking bookings for our Thai catering business - we do a mean green curry!!! The best part was eating everything you cooked, so after Tom yam soup, Thai style stir fried veg, green curry, panang curry, pad thai, spring rolls, mango and sticky rice we all waddled back home with full bellys!!!!!

That night we are not sure if it was the digesting food/ flatulance, but something started off a terrential storm, just in time as we were saying goodbye to Chiang Mai boo hoo!!!!!!

Another coach journey (unfortunately not VIP this time, so no cakes or free dinner, but only 5pounds -bonus!!) it should of taken thirteen hours but due to the eratic driving we arrived in nine. With these extra hours to spare now we couldnt face sleeping in the airport as planned, so we excelled ourselves and found an even scummier room for a night on Koh San Road (Bangkok).

So it was onward to Hong Kong, how exciting.......................... so tune in for next installment, coming soon!!!!!

So a big thankyou to Brian- cheers, you made our time in Chiang Mai even more enjoyable!! (We will be back for the wedding).

Just a last important note; WELL DONE STOKE!!!!!! We were all so jealous it was the one night we would of done anything to come home YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!