Shangri-La Hotel Chiang Mai

... temple, did a cooking course for a day and went trekking. <br><br>The cooking course was at an organic farm out of town and an absolute highlight. We were taken round a local market and then on the farm were shown how all the ingredients of our meals look like, how they grow and how to harvest them etc. The cook was quite a character and took the "Same, Same" expression to another level with "Same, Same but different" - I think he aimed for something like ...

... mind and just wanted to get outa the rain which at this stage<br>was a downpour and had been all night, so we packed our stuff and<br>waited to head on out, it was then that things took a turn for the<br>worst, and our &#8220;let&#8217;s take the short cut&#8221; guide informed us<br>that he would be taken another party out and we would have to head<br>back with the Mountain Goat Guide, the guy was relentless and walked<br>up every Mountain he could find, when we finally got outa their ...

... tributaries including Mae Chaem, Mae Ngat and Mae Klang. One of Chiang Mai&#8217;s distinctive features is Doi Inthanon, Thailands highest peak, which is 2,575 meters above sea level. In addition, the province boasts flat, fertile valleys, which spread along the banks of the largest and most important river in Chiang Mai Mae Nam Ping (Ping River) which originates from the Chiang Dao mountain range.

... assumption, short hair with short beards and about the same build. Though he has the heaviest Irish accent I've ever heard. But we see travel from the same perspective as well as life. The people that you meet on the road are always cut from a similar cloth, but sometimes they are cut from the exact same cloth. You don't meet them very often, so when you do, it becomes obvious pretty quickly that the other person operates on similar wavelengths.<br><br>9:06PM June 29th, 2009

... We packed up and drove down stream abit and then got back in. This part was abit more mad with faster rapids and loads of rocks to navigate. There was loads of locals playing around in the river splashing us as we went past. There was also various battles between boats splashing each other with the paddles. After navigating the rocks we reached the end pretty knackered was hard work. The rapids wernt majorly fast or mental but it was a good laugh and an experience. On the way ...

... I was suffering from a brutal 'changover' (from the beer), but the bus was a different story. After waiting in the dump that was Chumpron for 4 hours for it to arrive, we got on and it was already packed. We managed to get seats, but me and Tom were stuck in the seats with no leg room what so ever, and with a stupid Canadian women in front who thought it appropriate to recline the whole way back in her seat. This continued until the first stop ...

... down. up the narrow mud track i wandered, knowing i'd have to make it back to base alone. i gambled at turning right at a fork in the path five minutes into the trek, and again left at another, trying to remember which way we'd come. as that feeling of helplessness crept in, i spotted the hut waiting for me on the hill ahead. i appeared to looks of interest from the crowd, which had grown to encompass another five or so people, my shoes and socks soaked in mud as the group ...

... certain that the lemonade will be more than we will spend on dinner! Feeling well fortified with vitamin C and ice, we hit the now much cooler road and headed up and up and up into the mountains. What a treat. The road was as smooth as silk and there was barely any traffic (Jen was praying hard to the safety Gods, and they answered). Quaint rural scenes assaulted our senses. What, are those elephants milling about down there! And we almost got tired, but not really ...