Siam Hotel Phitsanulok

... everything you could wish for in a 5 star complex! Actually it's not too bad, the food is good (albeit vegetarian, but Doww the cook is a whizz with tofu), the beds are comfortable enough to sleep on and the weather is hot, hot, hot. First full day and it was off to meet the elephants and their mahouts. Greenway uses the Sappraiwan Grand Resort Hotel as its elephamt source, so we met up there with Nuk, Anphom and Sangar the mahouts and the ...

... you can be faithful and therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can se the beauty even when its not pretty every day- if you can source your life from God's presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, your and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the sliver of the moon, "YES!" It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and ...

... in the night markets, floating restaurants on the Nan River and a claimed complete absence of tourists; our one reservation was that the centre might be just too modern after the 1955 fire which gutted the old market area. Certainly, the shops are modern but the contents still have the capacity to amaze. Apart form the very trendy shops selling distressed American clothing (or should that be second-hand) there were shops selling Buddhist statues and others selling Chinese figures ...

... They took a lot of pictures with the promise of email, and I actually hope they send them, because I enjoyed the visit so much. I am getting a little homesick. Homesick for long conversations in my own language with people with whom I am comfortable . I got on the phone with my mother last night and it was like my mouth was a wind up toy, it just took off. I am determined to take more pictures and post them soon.

... a stop off in Phitsanulok on a Saturday night to break up a journey further north. We have had a good couple of days here, and it was all pretty cheap. Getting the train up to Chiang Mai this afternoon, which takes about 7 hours. Second class again as the sleeper train was fully booked. Going to be a bit more prepared for the cold carriage this time, sweater and socks at the ready. We have got to go straight to the Indian ...

... REREASE MEE, RET ME GOOOO!" at the top of his voice while nearly wiping out a few tuk-tuks! Classic. <br><br>Oh, and guys, he gave me some great pulling tips... <br><br>Apparently all you have to do to attract the woman of your dreams is sing 'Hello' by Lionel Richie to a girl, look her directly in the eyes and then write down your number ...

... on the way back the water throwing brigade were out in force - every few hundred yards there'd be either a group of people at the side of the road next to a drum of water ready to drench us, and this alongside the pick-up trucks which drive around with about 10 people and a drum of water in the open back, trying to outdo the other similar pick-up gangs with how much water they can throw. By the time we got back to our guesthouse we were ...

... these will be the last we bother with for some time. Once you've seen Ankor Wat and the Grand Palace in Bangkok, everything similar tends to pail in comparison. Nice day out though. And so on with our new, quick-paced routine and onto another bus in the afternoon.

Yesterday was a turning point in our trip. We finally experienced the wonders of the traditional thai massage. For the equivalent of 3 canadian dollars we were massaged for one full hour from the bottoms of our feet to the tops of our heads. It left us with smiles from ear to ear for the entire day. As it got dark we headed out to a floating bar on the river where we drank a few Singha's before heading back to the bar from the night before. On our way we met a guy from holland walking ...

... importance in Thai religiouse life. First is the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew. .... that's it about Phitsanulok, there is nothing more to say except a quite interesting night market with roasted cockroaches, larves, grasshoppers and the other usual stuff. By the way the one hour lasting, open air foot massage we had at the river banks in Phitsanulok was great! (relaxing for just 100,- Baht, about 2,20 Euro).