Chiang Mai

Hi everyone, apologies that the entries have been short so far this is because a) we have little available time for the internet b) we don't want to spend a lot of time on the net if possible and c) we don't want to overload people with information and make the blog boring - this entry however will hopefully be a little bit longer and explain what's been going on in more detail than before.

There has been a few problems getting photos on to the sites though, problem 1) I don't always have the card reader on me and 2) Katie's SD card has magically locked and I can't unlock it - there is a switch on it but I think it is broken - hopefully I will be able to retrieve the photos on it that haven't been uploaded yet. If anyone out there knows of a good way to do this please get in touch.

Also before I start I just want to thank everyone for checking out the blog, commenting, viewing the flickr account (www.flickr.com/katieandsteph88) and for emailing us. Please continue to keep in touch and we will reply as often as possible.

Chiang Mai.
We are now back down in Chiang Mai having travelled back down from Chiang Dao on the bus today. It takes about an hour and a half and the bus is full of local people just doing their stuff - it's a pretty authentic Thai experience and at only 50Baht (under a pound) is well within the budget.

We are staying in a rather plush new approach to Youth Hostelling called "Imm Eco" - as usual google it if you want to check it out - it's apparently an Eco-friendly hostel. Katie found it on the internet, it is only a 20 minute walk from the main attractions and we have a huge swimming pool and the place to ourselves - oh, and no bugs that I have seen so far ;o)

I will just quickly give you a run down of the last few days at the Nest - just in case you are wondering how that panned out - and whether or not we did in fact get eaten or contract some horrible disease.

I perhaps wasn't giving it a fair review in my earlier post - it was fantastic, the staff were brilliant and the setting was most impressive. The whole campus was set in amongst some pretty jungle like terrain and we were at the foot of some pretty big mountains. (photos will follow shortly) Yes the bugs were a nuisance but that didn't take away from the experience as the setting, the swimming pool and the food more than take my mind off of the ithcy bites.

Highlights of Chiang Dao? Well we visited the Tuesday Morning Market and mingled with the locals which was really interesting. The town is really small and being pretty much the only Westerners there that morning felt really strange but we were glad that it wasn't crowded with Americans etc. We didn't buy anything (cos we have no room in our packs) but you could buy everything ranging from really disgusting smelling food to clothes - they were selling "Lives" Jeans (a rather poor imitation of Levis)which gave us a laugh. Some of the people selling were actually from hilltribes in the area and even that was quite interesting - we didn't get to visit a hill tribe but others at the Nest did and said it was great - maybe next time.

The other main highlight from out time at the Nest was yesterday when we hired a scooter. Everyone here travels on one so we though we would give it a go - it is pretty safe outside the big cities. We drove to the nearby cave complex and hired a guide who took us down deep into the caves with a gas lantern and showed us an unbelievable amount of bats - I was just glad they didn't scatter and fly straight at us(or maybe I have seen too many movies!)

On our bike (photos are on Katie's camera and we really hope we can get them to show you) we also travelled quite far north to visit the National Park with its hot springs and Waterfall - we were getting quite close to Burma though which I was not sure about getting too close to, as I have seen Rambo 4 ;o)

After that we just drove and drove - we had full tank of petrol and we wanted to use the whole lot - (by the way a scooter for the day plus petrol was 390 Baht - just under 7 pounds and apparently we could have got it cheaper) We drove into some remote communities and basically just had a good look around which was really interesting. We even stopped off for some authentic chicken noodle soup.

The adventure ended though when the petrol started to run out and the heavens opened. There we were like DUmb and Dumber clinging onto each other on the scooter keeping warm, wearing our big plastic ponchos (thanks Clare) - by the time we got home we were pretty soaked but it was still a lot of fun.

We left the nest this morning with a really nice couple from Norway who travelled down on the bus with us, they are pretty much doing the same thing as us so we have a lot in common and it's nice to hear what others have planned and what they have left at home.

So, are you still reading? ;o) Well done if you are - this is really a first and only draft so I am sure I will make mistooks and repeat myself and my writing probably isn't the best - I will improve it for the book we are bringing out on our return - just kidding ;o)

Take care and we will write more soon.

Steph