Buakham Resort Chiang Saen

... just gotten in by then).

Then all of a sudden, Lanna sank in the water like a diving sub. And I was NOT holding on, so I went for a swim. The mahout grabbed me and pulled me back towards Lanna, and I climbed, oh so NOT gracefully, back on her shoulders. I was laughing the whole time though, while trying NOT to swallow the river water. Everyone else learned a valuable lesson from my folly--hold on for dear life!

The elephants would dip down in the water ...

... Some of them were 100 metres above the ground and 400 metres long. Nevertheless, because Ian and I are extremely lucky *******os after getting up at 5 am to do an early morning wildlife trek we were rewarded with seeing a male and female gibbon. Before seeing them you follow their morning song, which in itself is mental. The
sound got closer and closer and we had to somehow run behind the guide ...

We had been told about the Gibbon Experience by quite a few people and couldn't resist the prospect of spending a couple of nights in treehouses and seeing the jungle from ziplines high above. Getting to the Bokeo national park in NW Laos where the experience is based wasn't an easy task. We knew we didn't have time for the 2 day slow boat up the Mekong, and the quicker speed boats required ear-plugs, life jackets and crash helmets as they ...

... on skewers with their heads and feet still on! We think we saw intestines being barbecued too, but they may have been odd sausages.

Back on the road my ipod battery gave out after 5 hours, hardly fair as Paul's lasted the whole 13 hour journey, so I had to make do with the view as we headed up to the Chinese border. There was a noticeable shift as we made it to the Chinese built road which heads to Huay Xai, this road was wide, smooth ...

... car back in the morning so we had to endure yet another 40 minute walk, downhill this time, back to the river. Still really exhausting but nicely broken up by one of the new guides chatting to us about stuff. He was very funny. We eventually came to the fast flowing river that we crossed via the bridge last time but this time they had bought us somewhere the bridge was not. Instead, and almost tempting fate I felt, they expected us to huddle, four at a ...

... along with them.
One of the guides came over to ask us if we wanted to go zipping...we declined and just enjoyed the views of the forest. The usual sticky rice, something vegetable and something chicken dinner arrived at about 6-ish I guess. It was after eight before we sat down to eat it. We were told that if the rain stayed away we should be getting the 4x4 back for the village tomorrow. This could have been a real sense of relief and ...

... who left their home country in 1984 when the Burmese Army penetrated the ethnic Karen State and established bases along the Burma / Thailand border. Today, refugees continue to cross the border to escape from ongoing fighting and persecution in East Burma. There are an estimated 151,000 Burmese refugees in Thailand where the Thai Government allows International Organizations to provide humanitarian assistance, including ...

... personally. We saw on the news an Australian author (who sold a grand total of 4 books) had been given a royal pardon by the king having been banged up for 3 years for insulting the King in his book. So I hope that by merely mentioning him here and suggesting that he is now familiar to me doesn't get me into trouble. I did stand for the national anthem yesterday, even though I was in the hotel room, it's considered rude not to ...

... head, when she got me in some kind of half nelson, in which I was completely arched back and I was lying on top of her. 'You OK?' she said, afraid that I would completely crush the poor woman I said 'yes, ARE YOU?', and she laughed. Afterwards, I felt sore but better, much more relaxed and like all the knots had gone. Apart from going to get our train tickets today we haven't done much else, except relax and generally enjoy Chiang Mai. Tomorrow ...

... but was pretty surprised when they told us to just hop on the elephant and ride it back into camp. (With no instruction or multiple waivers to fill out??? Clearly, we've left the US way behind . . .) It was a little scary at first since there's absolutely nothing to hold on to, but you get used to it quickly. After the guides bathed our elephants for a few minutes, it was time to feed them again (did I mention that they eat a lot?) - and then learn how to drive. Jason and I both shared ...