Highway Hotel Chiang Mai

... and held on as seems to be the custom in Chiang Mai seeing as we have now done it twice! One of the English guys on the back of a moped driven by another member of staff, shouted "50 baht!" as he drove off leaving everyone in stitched. I suppose its one of those jokes you just have to be there to appreciate!

Trekking tomorrow and so it will be a bit quiet on the email / travel log update until we return with no doubt some awesome stories to tell. I can't wait!

... made purchases of hot sauce, dipping sauce, and spice mixes. A couple of the spice mixes you can only get in that particular part of Thailand. Por said she would get us a recipe for the mix (and she did later).

Then we headed over to the Four Seasons Chiang Mai (in the Mae Rim District) for a cooking class. We were taken to the Cooking School via golf cart. The Cooking School was built for the sole purpose of teaching people how to cook Thai cuisine. There are only ...

We have calmed ourselves on the train up north. Our first concern with this package holiday has been that the train seats that we have been assigned were sitting, and not sleeping as we have requested. This has been explained at the train station, that it was not so, and our seats folded out, and the roof down for comfortable sleeping. We boarded the train and decided not to talk about scams and swindles until the problems arose, and not before. With that in mind, we had a few snacks ...

... boutique hotels. The original city layout still exists as a neat square surrounded by a moat with vestiges of the fortified wall and its four main gates offering prime access to the old town.

For years, tourists have mistaken Chiang Mai as the northern junction and the base from which they can explore other provinces. The phrase "a day in Chiang Mai is enough to see things around" was ...

... The hotel staff was all abuzz today making preparations for her stay. There were dozens of security guards, a red carpet, and (our favorite) a personal purse holder for the princess onsite. We did finally get a look at royalty when she walked by our table on the way out from lunch, but we were disappointed by the lack of a tiara.

Jenn and I opted for a post-lunch traditional Thai massage. Thai massages are kind of like a yoga ...

... Luang Prabang which is recommended.D1: Chiangmai – Chiang Khong
12.30 PM – Departure from Chiangmai by mini bus (A/C) Take about 5 hours.
18.00 PM – Arrive at Chiang Khong and Overnight at PJ Guest house. (Included)D2: Chiang khong – Pak Beng Village (Laos)
07.30 AM – Breakfast at PJ Guest ...

... hundreds of craft and food stalls are set up. It was all I could do to prevent myself from buying everything in sight! I managed to restrain myself and limit my purchases to a bag, two small material purses and a cotton scarf. The hundreds of food stalls sell the most intriguing looking stuff – most of which I can only guess at what it is. I have been tempted to try stuff but have been too wary about getting ill and unsure if it's veggie. Tonight I plunged ...

... all the people in Chiang Mai now. The other half is shared between westerners and... Burmese. If you want to do some "Burmese-spotting", just follow the three guidelines:

1. They tend to smile much less than Thai
2. Look in souvenir markets and Night Bazaar
3. Try to ask them anything in Thai. The murmured answer will tell you straight away.

Unfortunately I haven't brushed up my Burmese skills, so I refrained from any kind of conversation. Many other ...

For our first day back in Chiang Mai we slept and relaxed and then went to our usual night market. Here we both get very cheap yet tasty dinners! We also made sure to send off our laundry and to go by the elephant nature park office to make sure that our reservations were in, they were YAY! The next day we decided to take some cooking classes. This class was a lot more organized than the class we took in Laos and a lot bigger. We even got to set our wok on fire ...

... no-go. I think they may have been feeling the pressure of vast numbers of Thailand travelers trying to get home (gee, d'ya think?) so they weren't big on flexibility just then. Not a big deal for us, but I hadda try.

Something I'd never seen at an airport before was a restroom with full showers, also a sign indicating that somewhere there was a room with by-the-hour rental sleeping facilities for long layovers. We didn't have towels in our carryons but I doffed the ...