Park Chiang Mai

... in shopping malls (which were slightly disappointing after Orchard Road in Singapore) and went to a museum (Jack, Cleo - here you go, museum!) of islamic art. We also planned a trip to Melaka (2 hours drive south, is apparently really beautiful), but when we woke up we decided we'd rather have a lie in, so we have not so much to report on that... <br> <br>Then it was finally time to pick up our backpacks for serious and get our lazy bums on a night train to Thailand ...

... noise and freneticism.<br><br>Temple fun done, we caught a red songthaew to my hostel (a songthaew is just a taxi van with sideways-facing seats that you can just hop in the back of). Once there, Susan and I perused the brochures for the activities and treks we could arrange through the hostel, and decided on a one-day one that consisted of elephant riding, swimming in a waterfall and white-water rafting. We booked this, and also booked ...

... while we were trekking and after a rigorous &#8220;training&#8221; session in the morning where we had to learn the commands for right, left (the same word which was funny) forward, backwards and stop and practiced getting onto our elephants but pulling ourselves up onto their lifted front leg and hauling ourselves over their back ...

... our balcony. Then we started our hike towards a waterfall. Again however, we had another stop at a shop in the village and again there was more Thai whiskey. This day was much easier hiking, as we were heading downhill this time. After about an hour of walking we arrived at the waterfall. It was a fairly good size waterfall and we all went swimming in it for a while. It felt so good to get some cold water after walking in ...

... go karts attached to a hanglider. The ride was awesome and we got to see some great views of rice fields and flew right by a temple on a mountain. Later, we went zorbing, which entails getting strapped into a giant inflatable ball, then rolled / bounced down a hill backwards into a pond. It was a pretty hilarious weird activity. We capped our trip off at the reggae bars.<br><br>

... doesn't have any of their mobile numbers. I was pretty bummed. Just then, the driver made a U-turn and took me all the way back to Central, where the noodle shop lady hadsecured the camera in the event that I returned looking for it/<br><br>SO I gave each of them 200 baht for their kindness and her honesty. Yin and Yang--the duality of goodness in the Thai transportation racket. Driver #2 and the noodle shop lady made much merit today.

... so I decided I'd check that out. It was good to move my bones a little bit, and it also ended up being a great way to meet people. After class, everyone went to the little fruit shake stand around the corner and hung out. I ended up chatting with a couple from Holland who had been traveling for 10 months, and when I told them I was going to Tanzania in May, the woman got very excited and told me her best friend was the manager of a hotel in Zanzibar and ...

... providers you were diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one). I did find this a bit of a drag here since first I had to write out in longhand exactly what had happened. I then had to wait while someone at the police station translated everything I had written into Thai. Lastly, I had to sit and follow along with my English version of the theft while someone read me the Thai version in English and I had to instruct the officer about ...

... on the other hand had a far more turbulent experience. The boys, including the guide, decide that her screams when the raft tipped were so funny that they formed a conspiracy to make her fall in. On the count of three they would all lean **********e side trying to make her fall in and ending up with her being completely soaked but still afloat. The guide gave her his hat to wear and half was though the trip it blew off, the Japanese lad at the back reached out to ...

... front line calls in his superior, and we have a little chat. It seems as if I&#8217;d come back a day later, then I&#8217;d be okay, since we&#8217;d be starting a new six-month period since my entry of the previous October. I didn&#8217;t stay thirty days each time, mind you, so wasn&#8217;t even CLOSE to ninety days, but mai bpen rai, she ain&#8217;t budging, won&#8217;t even give me ten days, which should have been okay, since ...