Panda House Chiangmai Chiang Mai

... was the best jump I have ever done. And of course I screamed in elation. What a buzz!
The guide was gauging our level of expertise at all times, and my constant fidgety bouncing around and 'seeing how long I can stand on the bike when it isn't moving' while he was warning us of the next section must have at least told him I had energy and passion, if not quite the skill required!!
The tracks become more rugged still, and it took a lot of effort to keep the fingers ...

... the entire bunch from her hand. There was a brief tug of war and then the elephant won, gobbled the entire bunch up and spat out the string. Brilliant.
After that we had an elephant ride through the jungle, a bamboo raft down the river, and an ox cart pulled us back to our van.
We spent lunch in Tiger kingdom looking at the great cats acting like kittens chasing after string and belly flopping into water. It was an awesome day and one of the best we spent in Thailand.

... and we decided to grab ourselves a deck of cards together, make our way to the buffet car to start the trip with beers and a game called "*********". First I'd heard of it (it's a card game played by students so I'm told) but it didn't take too long to get used to. This was also my first "Small World" moment when I found out that Steve grew up with and still spoke to someone I'd served with whilst I was at Whitehall.

Other than the card games, the German people dancing ...

... to my room, threw a terribly packed rucksack together (see later), threw all my clothes in my main backpack and hurried back into the lobby to wait for the bus. Not more than 30 seconds after I got back to the lobby, the bus was there and we were ready to go.
A little about the trek...There was a group of 11 people in my tour. We were going to be riding elephants, hiking for a full day, spending the night with a ...

... life, they can get angry or defensive. I went for a baby one (about 5 years old) and threw buckets of water on him and brushed his leathery skin. It was a pretty amazing and unique experience and one that I was so, so glad I’d done. We watched the elephants playing in the river for a while and were then treated to an awesome buffet spread of curries and stir fries.

After we ate it was feeding and bath time again. Sam and I didn’t ...

... known picture: a dancing "To" (a deerlike animal containing two dancers, one for each pair of legs - some say that it represents a Yak, but I don't see any resemblance...), surrounded by slightly alcoholised spectators. And instead of money, the To is sipping "M-150", a power drink a la Red Bull. The atmosphere was of a fun fair, rather than a religious fest, despite of the continous sermons of the monks through loudspeakers.
I felt a bit mischievous as I succeeded to lure ...

... Ricky and Sabina, from Australia, sisters Trish and Kris from England, Ashley from Hawaii, Rebecca from Australia, Catherine from Oregon and Marisol from Puerto Rico who were on vacation from their jobs teaching at an international school in China, and Kara who has been living in Chiang Mai for 7 months but will be returning to Boston for school. Everyday at the park was a little different. Breakfast was a 7am, then at 8am we had different chores which consisted of ...

Sorry I have been pretty lame in the travelling updates front! I could blame busy schedules and **** internet connections (both of which are true) but am also lazy..........!! There are few new pics on facebook, will get round to editing and uploading the rest on flickr... I am in Chang Mai, northern Thailand now..........Been travelling round Laos and Cambodia for past 3 weeks with an organised trip. Was nice change from doing everything myself, had built in company ...

... front line calls in his superior, and we have a little chat. It seems as if I’d come back a day later, then I’d be okay, since we’d be starting a new six-month period since my entry of the previous October. I didn’t stay thirty days each time, mind you, so wasn’t even CLOSE to ninety days, but mai bpen rai, she ain’t budging, won’t even give me ten days, which should have been okay, since ...

... with the food in this area.

I've been flying most of the day today and I am very tired. My hotel room in Chiang Mai is the best one yet. I even get my own bed! I haven't felt that comfortable sharing beds with people I've just met. I've got three full free days ahead of me, these should consist of lots of self indulgent activities like shopping and massages. Nice opportunity to be away from the group. Theres a girl though who is quite ...