Phoom Thai Garden Hotel Phrae

... Bridge at Nong Khai. At long last we managed to tear ourselves away from Baan Bua, it is the only hotel we have ever returned to three times and we'll be back again without doubt. Before eight thirty we were on our way to catch the nine o'clock bus to Phrae. We had checked the bus time on our way into Chiang Rai two days before but still managed to be early; it didn't leave until nine thirty. The journey was uneventful and the bus station in Phrae even managed to ...

... internet, food lovely, staff so much friendlier than rest of thailand so far and all for 3 quid. As soon as I arrived I got a great vibe from Chiang Mai. We went straight in to town to the night market. Tommy's dream market. Knock off fake t-shirts and watches. Unlike Korea the thais are very willing to barter and you can get them to a third of their starting price. Nice atmosphere on the market, people in your face but no ...

... and hit the road straight away in the morning without having to deal with the traffic...Ayutthaya is a nice city and it use to be the former capital of Thailand. It's really funny because there are ruins all over the place so you can just ride around the city with the bike and enjoy the ruins at the same time! Then we took the highway all the way up to Chiang Mai were we stopped at a Dragon boat race that ...

We arrived in the morning in Chiang Mai. I needed a good stretch, as sleeping on a train bed is not the most comfortable of things - there was a lot of cracking of body parts as I was doing this, which made a couple of the girls jump! The hotel was basic but comfortable. Everybody decided that a Thai massage was a good idea - I went for the head/foot massage, as I'm not too keen on massages. Even that was quite painful, and left me feeling sore for the rest of ...

... Isa et moi on faisait toujours des plats differents pour pouvoir se faire gouter. A la fin, on a fait la degustation de differents fruits de forme et de couleur bizarre, des fois poilus des fois rabotteux que je dois absolument vous faire gouter a mon retour! Seule deception: on etait avec des Americaines qui faisaient honte a l'espece humaine, dont une qui faisait a elle seule la definition de la caricature typiquement americaine! Un desastre en soit ...

... that we didnt miss any shops! I was knackered by the end of it, and out like a light by 9pm! The train was sooooo slooooww! My gosh! The train person also chucked us outta bed at 8am! We didnt arrive Chiang Mai till 11am, please note that the train left at 7.35pm! It was day 2 and it had felt like we had done so much already! Unfortunatly the rain had followd us up to Chiang Mai :( But i wasnt gone let that spoil it! I was so excited.. the fact that i had burnt Rosies ...

... importantly) BLANKETS! But on this bus - nothing! It didn't seem to have much of a personality, but Shaun was a good laugh so i did alright....He also lent me his jumper when i started whinging that i was cold, which was an added bonus. :) Anyway - my room in Chiang Mai is fine, and at first impression, i really like it here - it is already a million times nicer than Ayutthaya just to look at it. More to follow.... Lots of love.x

... in Pai, Thailand and online through www.jumbohammock.com. Talk about a social entrepreneur! Good for Peter and Noot's business, but good for the Mlabri as well. Having this skill and doing this work has raised the Mlabri to sustainable levels of living. (More on this later.) The Mlabri are a beautiful people, both physically and culturally--see pics on our blog, but also through www.mlabri.org. Traditionally, they have shared and shared a like in ...

... stories about... That started something like this...once upon a time, there were 3 crazy frenchies who decided to follow a dirt track by motorbikes with 15kgs of luggage each attached to the back. They only had a basic map and a compass, and went through few very small villages where people were starring at them and, after assessing their peaceful intentions, were showing them the way and wishing to be ...

... t learned how to just sit quietly while time is a wasting. Anyway, after a 2 hour ride in a very comfortable bus, we arrived in Phrae. By luck, the best hotel in town was just in front of the bus station. That also means that it is far from the center of town, but, well, you can't have everything, can you? Since I've been on the computer for 2 hours uploading pictures, I'll stop for now otherwise I'll have to pay for another hour. Later, friends.