Morning Dew Lodge Chiang Rai

... put on all their tribal 'glad rags' which were beautiful. As part of the few days we were able to have a Q&A session with the village Shaman which was fascinating and alien. Have a look on the blog some time soon and you'll see Ian and I dressed up Akha stylee! Of course there was lots of 'Akha Water' (rice wine) going around too! To deal with the hangovers, that we inevitably had, we were treated to some Akha massage and an Akha steam room session filled with ...

... a private tutor to local people who really want to learn English but can’t afford much. I have two students in Mae Yao who are doing superbly. Both have come so far in such a short time. One’s a Thai-Khmer who tries incredibly hard and still manages to have a lot of fun along the way. The other’s Thai with Chinese ancestry who loves a challenge and questions ...

... centers where children who were abandoned by their parents or whose parents died or who do not have a school in their village can come and live and go to school. The leaders here are constantly pouring into these children and lavishing them with Truth and God's love. The center itself has Bible verses painted onto little pieces of wood and hung on every single building. They also have worship every morning at 5 ...

... Ian McEwan *** The Tesseract - Alex Garland ** Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster *** Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro *** The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Bank ** The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger *** The Pelican Brief - John Grisham ** Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier *** Gap Creek - Robert Morgan * All my friends are going to be strangers - Larry McMurtry *** Chasing Cezanne - Peter Mayle (rubbish) The Broker - John Grisham *

... begin to say how much i am missing out to cut it down. if your retinas are falling out,or your boerd to the brink of suicide, then i won't mind if you give up. not that i would know!..... but hey, i'm still rambling! i'll cut this next bit as i want to say a few things about thailand in general. i went from pai, to chaing mai (4hrs), then straight onto a bus for chaing rai (5hrs), spent one night in a flea pit and got a bus the next day to the thai-laos ...

... We had dinner at a lovely little Italian restaurant called Il Pirate where we were enjoying relaxing and conversation whilst waiting for our pizza until a middle-aged American retiree decided to annoy us by telling his over exaggerated stories of his life...including the many places he has lived with his many girlfriends and wives! We tried to drown him out by eating our yummy pizza and afagato. We soon crashed on our bed and watched a scary X-files episode ...

... I am in an air conditioned Internet Cafe, its 8.33 in the evening and i feel strange cause i havent sweated in about 30 minutes. I swear between the sweating and the lack of choc (none since i arrived...) i'll come home like Twiggy! Thanks so much again to those that have been in touch. There really is no bigger thrill then hearing from people. I know its only been a week, but it can be quite lonely here with no news. Huge thanks to Paddie ...

... oz, and swallowed (40 at a time) by people who then get on international flights to the US. These middle men in drug transport are called mules. (But you probably already know all this) The golden triangle is not well controlled on the Burmese or Laos side. Instead it has been divided up amongst culturally discreet militia groups. Tow main armies cooperate to grow and transport most of the heroin. 1) the SUA (Shan United Army) a ...

We arrived at Thailand's northern most district of Mae Sai, in Chiang Rai province. Once upon a time this place was a backpackers' haven with a wide selection of groovy guesthouses and meeting places to gather and swap information on travel in the area. Since Burma has opened the border, it really does look like no-one can be bothered stopping over in Mae Sai. We did find one decent new place along the river called the Yee Sun Hotel ...

... king seat on the back, but the last bit the mahout let me sit on the head. It was very, very cool! I tried to steer him with my feet but what the hell do I know? The mahout had him under more powerful control then my feet, he remote controlled him with words. Apparently an elephant can learn up to 70 words (commands that is, they can't talk). We were three people plus a guide on the trek. One was Mark who had worked for Doctors Without Borders ...