Hello again,

Chiang Mai was lovely...very relaxing and chilled...we even did a day's cookery class and will ve able to treat you to a meal of spring rolls, chicken in cashew, spicy fishcakes and pumpkin in coconut custard!

Treated ourselves to a 'flashbacker' guesthouse with teak furniture and even lotus flowers on the bed when we arrived. Well sophisticated, we are.

Did a one day trek/stroll (we have vowed never to do a proper trek after our experience in Siberia!)  to a tribal village and waterfall and then spent a highly amusing hour elephant trekking through the jungle. Managed to pick the biggest elephant with the smallest boy in charge of it! Luckily it was fairly well behaved although did insist on scratching its arse continuously against the rockwall the entire way round. Celebrated our lack of being tusked to death with a calm bamboo rafting trip down the river.

Naturally we successfully managed to capsize the raft leaving us floating along side before Tim decided we should reboard, hijack the raft and take off downstream. Our raftman did not concur with this suggestion.

Headed further north to the coolest border we have done yet..where we crossed the Mekong River on a tiny boat into Laos....OMG what a difference a river makes....it is like another world.....and the town was like a wild west town with no proper road and open sewers!

Onwards to Luang Prebang.........xxxx