The flight to Chiang Mai was actually as i had thought it would be. Apart from the food which was marvellous (I had two) there was no safety announcement, no little cards in the front pocket, no escape doors midway through the plane (so you had to run to one end or the other if you wanted to get out in an emergency) and as we came in to land at Chiang Mai, we must have been too high as the pilot made a nose dive to the runway!! I have never been so scared on an airplane before and was glad to get my feet back on solid ground again. Chiang Mai had a nicer feel to it than Bangkok, as it was less busy and the locals seemed a little more 'normal', although not much more! I only had two days there so I needed to spend my time wisely. As soon as I checked into the hotel, I was out again to book some activities for the following two days. On day one I did a trek south east of Chiang Mai. It started with a cultural stop at a local village and the guide took us around explaining this and that about the village and the inhabitants. At the end of the tour, the locas try and sell you everything they own, it would seem, but I wasn't buying. We then went off to an elephant camp, where we all rode on an elephant up the hills for about an hour. I bought a big bunch of bananas for my elephant to feed him along the way, which he rewarded me with sneezing masticated banana all over me every two minutes! He adopted the name "Sneezy" for the remainder of the trip. Once at the top, we had lunch in another village and then treked through the forest for about 30 minutes until we reached a beautiful waterfall, which you could swim in. Along the way I cut my feet to sheds as I was only wearing flip flops, which was not very clever (especially with the snakes!). Once we got back to camp, we all went white water rafting for an hour - nothing too hair raising, as parts were calm and relaxing in between fast bits. A fabulous, but tiring day as the whole thing lasted about 12 hours in total. Day 2 was a cooking course, so I was up early again to be taken to the school. It started with introductions to the other 2 students (Sabina and Tina) who were German look-a-likes for for Sharon and Laura, whom I had met in Toronto. We had to decide what we wanted to learn how to cook, then shop down at the local market to buy the groceries, come back, prepare, cook and eat the Thai delicacies. I made spring rolls, Pad Thai with Chicken, Chicken with Cashews, Thai Green Curry and also sweet sticky rice with mango (all of which was delicious!). I came away with a recipe book, so will be practicing on some of you when i get home!! It was time to leave Chaing Mai and head back down to Bangkok. I had to leave some stuff that I bought in Laos in storage there, so I didn't have to carry it around southern Thailand and could pick it up before I go back to the UK. From Bangkok I flew down to Phuket, where I stayed for the night before heading off to the islands. Word of advice, never go to Phuket - it was horrible and by far the worst place I have been. To add insult to injury it was raining constantly - the first rain I have seen in over a month and a half! The twon looked like it needed a good makeover (flattening even) and the hotels were disgusting and expensive. I was up very early the next morning so that I could get the first ferry out of there to Ko Phi Phi, which is approximately 2 hours off the coast between Phuket and Krabi. I'll write to you again from there. The final countdown has begun as I'm now in my last month! Much Love, Stephen xxx