Ratilanna Riverside Spa Resort Chiang Mai

hello......

firstly, I will start with a bit of an update on The Branch Foundation. As you know I have based myself in Chiang Mai. This is a strategic move as here I am best placed to organise things, and still be not too far away from the camp and from MHS (Mae Hong Son). For the last week I have been rather busy meeting with Stephen when he has been down from the camp, organising supplies, buying things for the projects, having meetings etc. 

 Stephen has ...

... off. Unfortunately, I was the only person who'd signed up for the afternoon jump. They attached me to straps that were much cheaper than the comfortable straps I'd encountered in Wisconsin and New Zealand. I hopped to a platform and I was raised to 50 meters. At 167 meters, the last jump I'd done had been over three times as tall. For some reason though, I found this jump much more intimidating.

The view was nice from the top. We were ...

Well nearly the end of my massage course. Graduation exam tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get my certificate. Had a less stressful day of massage today - all hands, arms, head and face. Have to put all 53 moves together tomorrow. We are all going to the park ...

... Tao was spent snorkelling, on the beach, and partying one night with what seemed like every brit in thailand at a school disco themed night where they played ghostbusters and baywatch..was like being back at uni! We decided the next day to get quad bikes and scooters to look around the island a bit..it was so much fun..but riding back in the dark was a tad scary i'll admit (I let Maria drive then!) We then got the boat across to Koh Phangan for four days of sunbathing and partying ...

... the river on foot down a steep incline that was huge steps down to each level. We have now taken care of our step aerobics. We arrived at the river and found out that we got to cross in a steel cage suspended by a zip wire. Our guide hurried us in by two and sent us flying across the river. The flight of the gibbon had nothing on us. We were greeted by Chai our guide and he gave each of us a banana leaf containing our lunch, chopsticks and a bottle of water. Pad ...

... s reminiscent of Oxford Circus on a Saturday afternoon. It's very large but in terms of the merchandise we're actually a little disappointed and we come away with nothing and find a nice restaurant on Ratchamanka Road "La Fontana" for dinner. We walk back to our hotel via the night Bazaar (which is nice and relaxed after the madness of the Sunday market). Day 27: It's the last day of our time in Thailand. Today we visited 'Central Airport Plaza' - basically for ...

... for drinks, conversation and even a bit of singing. Sun began to explain the history of the area we were visiting and the primary 7 tribes of Northern Thailand. The village we were presently staying in was a village of White Karen, the majority tribe in the country. The people were humble and approachable, and the children, one girl in particular (see photo) , were super cute. Pigs, cows, chickens, dogs, and an ancient way of life surrounded us in this village ...

... all sorts of homemade trinkets, clothes and awesome food. I got a bit excited about the food and tried all sorts of stuff including mussel fries which were great and some dodgy black drink with strange noodles in it. It tasted of burnt licorice and swiftly went in the bin!

We had a trekking meeting at 6pm and I met the guys who would be with me for the next few nights in the jungle. There were five Germans, three English and two Americans.

Chiang Mai, Thailand theroamingsloth

... ideal at a silent retreat... Tom came running out all worried... I interrupted his meditation... oops! I also found two spiders on my first night in the corridor - one above the door to the outside - Harry - and one above my door - Henry - and these two spiders moved no more than 2 inches the whole time we were there!! Then one night I discovered a third - Howard - who every now and again lowered himself ...

... got back to the hotel, which REALLY hit the spot and chilled us out after our very active day. We're off to the Thai/Laos border tomorrow, and we have a nice 6 hour coach trip so it's now time to charge up the old iPod! Sorry for the long update but hope you're all well, please do drop us a line and let us know what's happening, we'd love to hear from you. Al & Katie xx