Loft Residence Chiang Mai

... our second night of listening to the heavy artillery over the river with take away beer and noodles in the safety of our room.

An early start on our last day to get a tuk-tuk to our meditation class with our teacher, the venerable Chan Hen, a Cambodian monk studying here. We were instructed on how to focus on our breathing to clear our minds - we can’t claim to be meditation experts yet but we very much enjoyed spending our time with Chan.

In ...

... into the murky water below. It felt fantastic to be doing this in the middle of the Thai jungle and we made our way home feeling really happy.

The next day we decided to start to make our way back down to Bangkok and arranged a train to Phitsanulok, a town in the middle of Thailand. We couldn't face another 16 hour ride down, so thought 7 hours would be enough for now. Getting ourselves in our second class fan carriage, we got going on the road again.

... 3611;ด& #3657;านหลū 3;ง เป็นอ# 91;ค์เจด& #3637;ใหญ่Ũ 7;ี่หัก&# 3621;งมาเห ;ลือแต 656;อิฐที ่ฐาน แต่ดู$ 49;ล้วขน& #3634;ด ...

... and me dancing in my sling like a raver in 1992 (my moves are better of course)


The smells, some better than others - the durian fruit is everywhere and for those of you lucky enough to have never had your nostrils attacked by such vile odours, trust me - think of your worst head in the pan moment and multiply by ...

... daily. It also has an ELEPHANT visit each day with its owner - I didn't realise it until I saw it clambering up the steps! They feed it every day, and it bows in front of the Buddha and trudges off again!

The place regularly has western visitors and it has an International Meditation School there with English speakers - it has a room free and I booked up Monday to Thursday with them.
Until then, much love.
G

... our sleepless moods but we soon crashed out, sweating, for a couple of hours kip. I woke up in a horrible mood, sorry Fi, and was ranting about upgrading accomodation but then we realised we'de prob just spend loads of money for not much so decided to stay. To lighten the mood we turned to our trusty friend, the lonely planet, to search out a local swimming pool to cool off and chill out. We found an awesome hotel (for the ...

... people on death row, but I think I expected a little more passion and a little less frat house drinking. However, I think that being in a whole new element since I arrived in Chiang Mai has been amazing. I have met some new people who are just as interested in human rights as I am; I have been exposed mentally and physically to new places, smells and foods. I have been learned to think about law in a whole new way. It is entirely different ...

... just meant us sitting down on bamboo poles tied together and floating down the river. Quite relaxing. And that was my day out. Got back 2 hours earlier than advertised but that was the theme of the day. I should have said something but I couldn't be bothered. Still enjoyed it over all but so so glad I didn't do a 2 or 3 day trek which is all the things I did today plus a few more villages spread out over a longer period. Looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow. Pretty knackered.

... in a mile radius and Jessie spent quite a bit of money on language books and I finally found the 2nd book in the twilight series....I have a feeling the third book will be really elusive. Maybe I will have better luck in Bangkok finding it. Jessie buying her language books resulted in her trying new phrases on unsuspecting wait staff at the restaurant we had ice cream at. When the bill was due she pull out her Thai language book and promptly asked the waitress "kor noy bin ...

... We saw at least 20 elephants in the park. We got an orientation about the tour, and eventually fed and bathed those adorable elephants. I also had the chance to attend a Chiang Mai cooking class through Baan Thai Cookery School. I also joined a tour of the Chiang Mai Night Safari, as well as a trip up to Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai's most revered temple. Since I was there ...