Tao Garden Wellness Retreat Chiang Mai

... just go to the partner organisations regularly to keep it real and my feet firmly on the ground. I also know that Chiang Mai is the most beneficial place for me to be as I can find work easily and also do everything else.

I had a few days of feeling alittle bit down, or I think I actually just stopped running for the first time in months. Also it did just kick in that I left all my safety nets back home, and just took off into the unknown. Now I understand why ...

... the kitchen to w*tch our dinner being prep*red. The chef put Emm* *nd myself to work, chopping up his onions: I suppose th*t w*s our p*yment for being *llowed into his dom*in. I will continue to t*lk my w*y into *s m*ny kitchens *s possible, h* h*.
Our l*st few evenings were spent *t the Roof Top b*r, * cool little h*ng-out where the DJ *lw*ys seemed to pl*y the tunes we w*nted to he*r ...

... out of the city for an afternoon, and from our vantage point we could look back down on Chiang Mai, quite a sight. We arrived back that afternoon all desperately in need of a shower.
The Thai government, to my frustration and amazement, make staying in Thailand for any length of time a real hassle. We arrived by plane and received a one month visa for free but now we were coming to the end of our allocated time and needed to leave ...

... pasta etc and then settled in for a restless very nervous night. Saturday morning I rose at 6 am and got ready to meet the guys and head out. Jaye was very supportive: - 'Good luck bunny' - ' it takes more of a man to quit' - 'You don't know these guys, they're not the rugby boys, so don't try and be tough, give up if it gets too hard'. etc etc We headed out to the track and stuffed around waiting for the start at about 8.30 am. By which time it must have already been 30 ...

... or leaves though. Our first stop was a waterfall. It was nice to relax and hear the calming sound of the water. After our rest we had to scale a rock wall to the other side of the water. We were all sure that the Dutch guy would fall in again, but he did not. We all made it across dry! We walked past some camps and I wonder if this is where the rest of the group will spend their evening. We were able to take another rest at a music shop in the middle of the forest. A guy ...

... breakfast and drinking coffee. We attempted to sneak into a posh hotel's pool, got kicked out, returned to our place and found out that we were also posh and also have a pool. Spent a few hours working on the tan (non-existant, I still glow in the dark), chatting and watching dreadlocked Katie write post cards. Good effort Katie, keeping a dying art alive there! Katie wanted to explore Chiang Mai a bit, but as Alison had blisters and I'd seen it all ...

... the husk from the rice but decided it was too much like hard work and left the local girls to it!

In the afternoon we trekked to another waterfall where we spent the night. We jumped in and had a wash in the waterfall then got another fire going and had more beers and food cooked up by the Dong. It was cool to hear the watefall whilst falling asleep. Next day there was more hiking and yet another waterfall. This time Woody showed us how to jump in ...

... had their own imperialist desires and eventually falling under rule as protectorates or outright colonies of Western imperialist powers, Thailand was able to fend off most invaders (with the exception of the Burmese who sacked Ayuthuya in the 18th century). The current King Bhumibol (Rama IX) is a direct descendant of the Kingdom of Siam in Ayuthuya, which was at the confluence of important trade routes between India/China and Europe. While ...

... with a thatched roof. It was also a thatched floor with mats thrown on it to sleep on. You then had a mosquito net to share between every two people. It was not the most comfortable of establishments. All settled and ready for sleep we realize the electricity must be back on as someone is using a pneumatic drill. The noise is ridiculously loud and constant. After about a minute we realize that it is actually only someone snoring but no one is saying anything, as it is hard to ...

... I was trying to watch, then in came a psycopathic English guy who kept talking to himself, and finally they were joined by this Danish guy who ordered a half bottle of whisky and kept telling us that he "loved to party"! It was a real freak-fest, but it proved quite entertaining.

We did get the hell out of there as soon as the whistle went ...