Saenphu Hotel Chiang Rai

... hehehehe............anyw ay........both he and Maew have Masters Degrees......Mr Pisu in Law and Maew in commerce...........we are certainly not mixing with dummies!!!..........

We went to see the Emerald Buddha............and then were taken to the local snake and elephant camp..........Cherie nearly died when she saw the size of the snakes!!!

Anyway.......a ride on an elephant was the ...

... for the day’s activities. The rest of the group descended down to the meeting place, only to wait for two hours for the return of the real "men". Our guide appeared along with Dom and JB, with a massive machete ready to show off his skills at making bamboo cups and chop sticks. As he precisely and seemingly easily made a faultless cup, the group got stuck in with our notoriously ...

... in the bank or investments. Thellie, one of the staff members here is included, and as he lives off his bank interest, his life has become difficult. Solution - He puts his money into Paul bank and I give him 10% interest. That's much better than he can get elsewhere. For Kanchana and I - if we have access to money we can invest it in a variety of things that make much more than 10% and so we can give Thellie his money ...

... it, but the lady who was selling it was selling it to try to send her daughter to uni. Her daughter had been accepted into university in Phayao but they had no money. The fees needed to be paid the next day or she was going to miss out. We were her last hope. So we paid a deposit on the land, with the intention of not buying it. That gave the girl the money to get ...

... in fact he avoids direct eye contact and/or walks away. We end up going to bed at 7.30 just to avoid oily John. It's a miserable night's sleep - i'm sneezing, scott is sniffing, there are cockerels crowing prematurely, pigs snuffling under the hut, cow bells, monks chanting from over a hill, motorbikes revving... In the morning we dread going out to face greasy John - he's up and buoyant and fixes us some coffee before our trek back which ...

... draped soaking tub or Thai massage platform. An undisputed highlight of a guest's stay would have to be a visit to the elephant camp. Set within the resort's lush bamboo forest, the camp is home to thirty elephants. The animals are cared for by their local mahouts (drivers) and English-born resident Director of Elephants, John Roberts who is also a qualified mahout himself. On an on-going basis, Roberts works closely with the Thai government's Elephant Conservation ...

... bit of info. The field that kept the young rice plants in tight formation - when that rice is replanted it probably fills land 10 times the size of where that rice was keep for the first month or so. OK, more coming in the future. About 15 Sep YAY!!! We have babies!! The rice has arrived. The normal rice is now on the plant - very exciting. The sticky rice hasn't arrived yet. Pictures are attached. 2 Oct. I just got back from a trip ...

... minutes my phone had been returned. It seemed almost churlish, after such excellent service from the staff, to leave next morning but we decided there was a better option. when we arrived in the bus station Alison had been approached by a young lady trying to sell rooms in a guest house. Normally that would have been the end of it since the touts rarely produce anything worthwhile; this time, however, Alison was impressed by the girl's approach and how easily she ...

... to hot sweats to sickness then dioreah and more sickness. It wasn't nice and I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to get on the boat in the morning I felt that ill! We got a small boat over to the Lao border and I nearly fainted just doing that part of the 2 day trip! I had to get Lucy to fill in my visa application for me and que up while sat in the shade outside. She was ...

... whatever was around. But it was cool because while it was obviously trained, it was clear that this was still an enormous beast and did only what it chose to do, and more importantly, when it wanted to. So our 2-hour ride didn't cover much ground, but it was a lot of fun. We climbed a hill that seemed dangerous and difficult, but the elephant managed. Lindsey and I each got of our imperial perches and sat on the ...