The Guesthouse Hotel Phitsanulok

... on their foreheads. Sometimes Wang Thong will obey straight off, other times she takes a bit of prodding, but she's a female!! In truth, the males are no different, because they are all not fully trained they sometimes take their time to react to verbal commands. A quick prod in the back or leg with the mahout stick tends to change their minds though. Here comes the cautionary tale for any would be mahouts - don't get too confident too quickly. I was ...

... a bag of monkeys' (an experience I have under my belt). Irrelevant as we jumped into the cold shower of what was going to be Meals first of a dozen she has taken in the last 2 days and that is with no word of a lie. In between I have been applying cold, wet flannels to the worst spots (thanks for insisting I pack the half dozen you gave us mum). Oh and i also was running around this $#!t-hole trying to find any suitable vegetarian ...

... making money it's hard to catch a Thai napping, except in the afternoon. On the opposite bank were three floating restaurants, although one may have been the floating Thai massage centre mentioned in the guide, we didn't check as they were all very quiet and clearly fixed to the bank. Apparently, however, this is the only city in Thailand where it is legal to still live on a houseboat although no new houseboats are allowed so don't start packing yet. As for the lack of tourists, the ...

... said "Why don't we go to Big C, they HAVE to carry it," which is a large grocery store chain. So we hopped on a motorbike and headed to a place that puts Super Walmart to shame. Now if you combined a third world bazaar with Super Walmart, that is what this place was like. Did I mention that I had already been overwhelmed by being in the vicinity of lots of people the day before at the meditation ...

... of animals complete with unicorns giraffes and a fullish sized elephant and mahout, they were a trippy backdrop to the swarms of familes lightng their lanterns, and launching fireworks from the hands of kids. Yep kids holds firework, dad lights it kids hoepfully remembers not to hold firework to hard. Some fantastic snacking and some super young girls singing on the stage, some heartbreaking numbers, with scarily adult costumes. Sun 25th: Bus to Chiang Mai, and back to ...

... store.<br><br>Katie went for an interesting microwave 'fish balls &amp; rice' combo which was promptly but somewhat harshly labelled as "rank", while my chicken &amp; rice was an absolute legend, especially as it only cost about 60p! Result ;) <br><br>After lunch we walked upriver to the local temple, home of a beautiful Buddha statue but ...

... the town with Thim's friend Om playing host and that was a lot of fun.... there was a nightclub where you could check your e-mails and we saw plenty of live music (not that i could understand any of the words in the Thai top forty) and we also went to the Bangkok Icebar where the bar is made of ice (not the whole place just the bar itself).... Now you'd think that a place like that would be cold or at least cool, but no, it's just as hot ...

... by the living quality of Buddhism here. At wats in every city, a constant flow of people from morning until night makes offerings of incense, candles, and money, and monks are a common sight. In the afternoon, I enjoy the smooth citrusy sweetness of a mango pineapple shake, feel the warm moist evening air on my skin as I push through it on my bike. Savoring each moment, a little sad to see them fleeting from one to another, but happy, too.

... we called over the hottest Thai girl in the bar, who luckily had very good english. We drank with her for a few until the bar closed. She gave us her phone number and we are going out with her and her friends tonight for some more drinks. Should be fun! We woke up feeling like bags of **** (our usual morning) and just headed out around town to find an internet cafe to search for other places to stay.

... small) city of Sukhothai, we finally found a guesthouse and crashed happily... For 3 hours! We woke up early to discover the Sukhothai National Park (cooler and less crowded in the AM), Unesco heritage site - Thailand's first capital, and amazing complex with some of the oldest - and most revered - Thai Buddhist temples. Worth the erratic and exhausting trip!