Teak Garden Spa Resort Chiang Rai

... absolutely drowned and to much mirth and merriment of our hosts!!!........Cherie was not amused!!!....just joking!!!......it was hillarious...........

So home we go ............change of clothes and it's off to the Night Bazaar in Chiang Rai for some 'more' shopping..........and a scrumptuous dinner.........all with traditional Thai dancing and music.

A memorable day indeed!!!!!

Cheers!!!!

... a long day of hard manual labour!!!!!
The refreshing dip in the waterfall gave the group enough energy to endure the last uphill walk back to the hill tribe, to enjoy another delicious meal. The day ended after some circle time discussing the highlights and improvements needed for the not too diststant future to continue the so far memorable trip, ensuring that the memories stay with us forever.

... started to make more sense when we walked down our street on our way to the street bazaar. There were prostitutes in pretty much every massage place on our way. Which by the way I guess massage places are pretty popular because you see them in Thailand about every other shop. So you can imagine the amount that may have been on our walk. Not to mention that kelley let me know that if you see a thai girl with an ...

... can fit in doing any work. Helping Dao - Dao had a baby which I think I have mentioned. I haven't had time to visit her since then or even ask how things are going. Hopefully this month. She did receive the baby gifts I sent recently though. Helping Apair - Apair who I mentioned in the first of these blogs, has some serious medical problems it seems. Amelia gave me some money and I put in the rest to buy her a sewing ...

... t even come close!!! it was not helped by a toothless woman, slumped asleep, presumed dead, untill she began with the piglet noises on my shoulder for the whole journey. i was dribbled on and was considering a marriage proposal, seeing as how close we had become!!. pai was interesting enough, but jam packed full of tourists and what seemed a once unique mountain town, has turned into a big tourist trap (a seemingly unfortunate fate for most of ...

... also a way to get the whole village together in a fun way and to cheer everyone up after a sad event. After a while running and hiding from the chaser, I apologised to the village elder and explained that I needed to get the volunteers back to Mirror Foundation to do some teaching to kids. We were therefore made exempt, we loaded up the car and left Baan Apa. Although it was a funeral, it was a welcome break for me from the computer and it was both fun and interesting also.

... to communicate much more. She had a long discussion with me last night. None of it made any sense. But it was clear that she was happy and trying to have a conversation with me. No, actually, she was having a conversation with me, just one where there was no particular defined meanings to her noises. I think maybe to a small extent her noises reflected her feelings and thoughts, but mainly she was just enjoying interacting with me ...

... computers are; you should stand on the chair next time you want to turn one on. But here in the mountains, life is simple and friendly and good. I expect our tour is different than most, since it's run by an NGO that helps these communities rather than by a for-profit company that gives them very little of those profits. Ten years ago, on a trekking tour with my family, I remember little interaction with the local communities and dressed-up women ...

... so getting in was a breeze. (One advantage of paying too much for a visa in Bangkok.) The town's central business area is located on the main road that runs parallel to the Mekong and is just up a short walk from immigration. It is lined with a number of guesthouses that also offer travel agency services. Strangely or maybe not, the bus terminal is located a few kms south of the town's centre on the main ...