So, we spent a bit too long on Koh Phangan partying away. We stayed in Haad Rin. Which once again was v.touristy but not at all seedy like Phuket. It was cool there, the beach was small but nice - white sand, crystal clear water (which was really warm). But it was at night that the beach really came to life. They set up bars all along selling dangerously cheap buckets of booze. They started the nights with amazing fire-shows on the beach, one night a kid who couldn't of been older than 7 did a little show. Then there would be games, the tame ones we joined in with (balloons etc) but thankfully we opted out of the other scary ones like the limbo (with the stick on fire), the burning skipping rope, and jumping through the hoop of fire. It was quite surprising the amount of people who were stupid, or drunk, enough to give it a go. I found it painful enough to watch but of course you cant do anything BUT watch.

On our second day there I did a Thai cooking course. I learnt Mae Krob; crispy noodles with prawns and tofu, chicken satay with peanut sauce, my favourite - Massaman chicken curry, and Bua Loi Pourh (a weird dessert of pumpkin balls in coconut cream). It was really fun. The chef and the family owners of the restaurant were lovely. Also nobody else was doing it so I got it all one-on-one. He showed me how to prepare it all, then we cooked it, and best of all I then got to eat it all! Yum.

We had a couple of days of sun and then the rain came - A LOT! It rained all day most of the days. There wasn't much to do except sit or lie in the bars watching films in the day then party in the night. As the Full Moon party got closer the town got busier and busier and the nights got crazier. The build up to it was cool. Apparently around 8,000 people make the pilgrimage to the party every full moon. We had some funny nights out and embarrassed ourselves quite a few times. One night I ended up in the sea fully dressed. Another I did the run to the chicken shop at the end of the night and ended up squirting mustard all over some annoying English guy (don't worry he deserved it!). I saw him again the next night, fortunately he found it funny.

We knew we'd been there too long when the people on the stalls knew us by name and what we drank - 'Sona, Nikai, yo vant same same?!'. haha. I also made friends with one of the poor little kids that go around all night selling flower chains and made the mistake of letting her and her friends completely paint me in florescent paint. Good look. Clothes were ruined.

The day before, we realised our visa's were about to run out so we took the boat to the neighbouring island of Ko Samui where the immigration office was. Only to discover on arriving that the office was on the other side of the island. Rather than repeating the moped incident we decided to hire a jeep. Of course I didn't have my glasses, I haven't driven for a year and never a jeep, and was a bit weary of Thailand roads. But apart from some v.bumpy roads and some minor flooding it was fine. Quite fun actually. I drove for most of the day and we only got lost once at the end and that was only because we made a detour for KFC. Which of course was disgusting.

That night, although we had planned to save ourselves for the big night, we went out and had another crazy one and we lost each other. Didn't wander in until the early hours the next day. Slept a few hours, ate, then went to the Full Moon Party on the beach. Unfortunately it was totally pissing down.

It was mad. By the time we got there everyone was already so far gone it was weird. The bars were jam-packed with swaying crazy people. We were quite scared. We decided, wisely I think, not to go too mad that night andactually managed to, mostly, keep our wits about us. Had a good time in the end and found myself dancing on the beach until the sun came up then running into the sea fully dressed, again. Didn't wander home until around midday the next day feeling more than a little bit weary, dripping wet, with florescent paint over me, again.

The next day we left and sadly went our separate ways. Me to Chang Mai and Nikki on her way home (!) via Bangkok

After more than 12hours of travelling by taxi, boat, bus and two planes I arrived in Chaing Mai. I felt quite ill. I had a cold, which I suspect may be to do with my desire to go in the sea whilst drunk. I felt very tired and weird being on my own, in Asia.

It wasnt until after my taxi from the airport had driven off that I realised that I had absolutely no idea where I was and it was dark. He had dropped me off in some random place which certainly did not appear to be where I asked for, although who knows with my non-existent Thai. So I dragged myself to the nearest guesthouse and after carting my bags up 3 flights of stairs to see the dreary room, I couldnt be bothered to move. So I stayed the night in the crappy room, which Im pretty sure had bed-bugs, sharing a bathroom with strange old guys. It was a lonely night and I was very grateful to have a good book (is that sad?!).

I woke up very excited, then the rain started again and that put an end to that mood. I eventually, sort of, figured out where I, kind of, vaguely was and got the hell out of there. I moved to a friendlier guest house run by women (and a lady-boy!) above a lovely vegetarian restaurant. Its v.basic but clean and much less scary. It is a lot cheaper in Chiang Mai, which is good because I don't have any money left.

Spent that day wandering around and eating in various restaurants. Decided that I do actually quite like it here. The food is great, its busy but a lot less frenzied than Bangkok, pretty laid-back. It feels much more Thai. I am staying in the old city. Which is a square surrounded by a moat and remains of a medieval-style wall. Although the roads outside are still pretty manic inside the walls they are narrow little streets with hardly any traffic. Its just a shame about the weather - the rain doesn't want to stop!

The following day I went on a tour of the surrounding areas.  There were 4 other people on it. First of all, Im unsure why but not complaining, I went alone with the guide to visit some of the Longneck Karen tribe. We drove into the hills and visited their small village. It wasnt quite what I expected as it wasn't in fact where they used to live - it was basically a sort of government run camp where they (mostly women and children) could live in their wooden huts, grow crops and make crafts. According to my guide they are living there for their own protection against other rival tribes in the jungle and on the border, where they came from. Although I discovered that they aren't allowed to leave the area as they dont have official Thai nationality. Not sure how I felt about the whole setting - I felt really strange walking around meeting them and taking photos, even though the guide assured me that the tourism helps them and is their only income, it just felt odd being this big white person peering at them like some freak show. None the less it was interesting. They (well, the females) all wear these metal wires hooped around their necks. It is started at the age of 5 and the older the woman the higher these hoops go giving them unnaturally long-necks, hence the name. They looked v.uncomfortable to wear, I asked the guide to ask a woman if it hurt but she said no. It looks very strange, but in a weird way quite beautiful I thought. Apparently it was originally to protect them from the tigers in the jungle and they believe if they remove it they will receive bad luck.

Afterwards we met up with the rest of the group and onto the elephant camp where we rode elephants through the hills. My elephant was quite temperamental, or maybe just mental, and obviously very hungry. He kept grabbing branches and stuff (the suction noise with their trunks is so funny) and letting the rest of the tree swing into my head which almost sent me flying a few times! Cant say I blamed him, it was amazing to see, touch and get on to one of these amazing creatures but I felt very sorry for them.

Then we got off and walked, well slid, down a very muddy hill and crossed the river using some kind of contraption which was a cage on a pulley. We had lunch then some of us went on a little trek through the jungle to a waterfall. It was quite a tough walk, up-hill on the edges of the muddy banks, crossing parts by stepping stones or balancing on, quite high, fallen trees. We had to go really fast as well because the guide was worried that if the rain got worse there would be a landslide (comforting to know). I felt like I was on an assault-course! We saw the waterfall then had to do it all over again on the way back!

Afterwards we did some white-water rafting in the river. Because of the rain the water was much higher and faster, and browner (yuck), than usual so it was really fun. I was terrified of falling out and smashing against the rocks but nobody did even though some parts were really rough, where you just dropped down then flew over rocks and span around all over the place! It wasnt until afterwards we heard all the stories of people dying doing the same river. Hmm.

After we'd dried off we visited the Akha tribe, originally from Tibet. They wear big head-dresses of beads and silver and interesting outfits sporting what looked like knitted multi-coloured chin-pads. They are also really tiny, one of the guys we were with stood next to a lady and she was up to his waist!

The next day I went to the Sunday market, where lots of the tribes come in to sell their crafts. Got loads of great deals. Of course you have to haggle endlessly but it can be fun. When you pay them they touch all their goods with the money for good luck. The market went on for miles and I ended up spending the whole day and evening there. There was also food stalls with delicious delicacies I'd yet to try, until then.

Today I did another Thai cooking course. This time there was a bunch of us, all Americans but me. We started off by going to the local market - which was full of spices, pastes, vegetables, grains, fish etc. The chef talked us through various ingredients they use, how to pick them, what they are used for and so on. He was a very funny guy with lots of jokes.

First we cooked Hot and Sour Prawn Soup (really yummy). Then fried mixed veg which was really fun to cook as you cook it in a very hot wok and he showed us how to do with a huuuge burst of fire if we wanted - which of course I did! Then Pad Thai noodles, and finally Green Chicken Curry. Delicious. I ate every bit of all six courses. Oops - may be coming back a bit of a porker!

Tonight I rewarded all my hard-work and full tummy to a Thai massage. I thought I'd try out the blind masseuses near me. All I can say was it was quite weird.

Tomorrow I will visit some temples which are everywhere here, apparently there are almost as many here as in Bangkok which is a much bigger city. And the next day I fly to Singapore which will sadly be my last stop before heading back to good ol'  blighty. Ugh.