Chiang Mai (and Chang beer).

So we got to Chiang Mai yesterday afternoon, after a 14 hour train ride, gah! Was supposed to be 12 but there was something wrong at about the 10hr mark which language barriers prevented us getting to the bottom of - but they got us all out and onto the side of the tracks for some reason.

Thankfully it didn't smell of wee this time, but for some reason the carriage we were booked in didn't have any racks for luggage, so I slept with the pack at the end of my bunk... which left me about 5" of room. I am no giant of a woman but could have done with 3 inches more [insert male genitalia joke here]. Had a good sleep though thanks to some lovely sleeping pills I picked up last time I was in New York, god bless America.

We've hooked up a couple of new buddies in the form of Matt the Canac and Ned the Aussie, so of course had to celebrate with a few Changs last night after strolling the Sunday night markets (so huge!), and most importantly so Quent and Ned could wash down any last remnants of the fried GRASSHOPPERS they ate, bleeeuuuurgh!

We're off to see a Muay Thai kickboxing match or two tonight, and tomorrow we are hiring a jeep and heading down to an elephant sanctuary. So more japes and hullabaloo there. Bye for now - have a good week all. xx



[photo taken from the Elephant Sanctuary site here: http://www.changthai.com/]