My family and other animals

On our return to Bangkok, Matt and I spent a couple of days eating street food and soaking up the carnival atmosphere of the Khao San Road before being joined on the 18th by our parents ans sister Liz. We had saved some of the main sights to explore together so the first day consisted of a scenic boat ride and a visit to the Grand Palace and surroundning Wats (temples). The main thing to say about these buildings is that they are insanely shiny! So much gold and sparkle- very impressive.

Once the others had recovered (well partially) from their jet lag, we begun our journey north. First stop was Phitsanulok, an unremarkable town which we used as a base for visiting the historic city of Sukhothai. We spent a lovely day riding around on bicycles past ancient temples and taking in views of the surrounding countryside.

From Phitsanulok, we bussed up to Chiang Mai, gateway to the northern hills. The city itself was much bigger than I'd expected and not as atmospheric. We did, however, find an amazing vegetarian restaurant where we happily washed down delicious veggie food (not massivley abundant in lots of Thailand) and BROWN rice with our Chang beers. Very nice. We also visited a nearby handicraft village that specialised in ornamental umbrellas made from paper or silk. They were so beautiful- I wanted to buy one for all my friends but had to settle for just one.

We then headed along windy roads into the hills to the town of Pai. Now Pai really is charming and laid-back and generally a great place to spend time. We did as many people do and headed off on a 2-day 'trek' which involved a day of walking and a day of white-water rafting. We spent the night in a forest camp where our guide Jacka entertained us with his party tricks and music. The scenery was absolutley stunning and the rafting was good fun. Some bonus extras included a spot of cliff-jumping and a 'visit to a cave' which turned out to be more like potholing- all good! Our rafting trip ended very close to Mae Hong Son so we wound our way back to Pai through some incredible scenery. On our third day in Pai, we hired motorbikes to explore the local area. I didn't take to well to driving so promptly handed my bike back to the rental place and opted for the passenger seat. I love being on the back of a bike- such a sense of freedom. Also, it is possible to see small villages and out of the way places that you would not otherwise see. On our excursion we passed a few elephant camps where we got trunk hugs in return for bananas. Liz and I had a minor scrape due to some tricksy gravel taking out the front wheel but no real harm was done.

Sadly, we had to leave Pai to return to Chiang Mai. We spent one final night there before Mum, Dad and Liz took their bus to the southern beaches. Then there were two again. Since then Matt and I headed a bit further north to some small villages. We ditched our walking plans due to the relentless rain so could not make the most of being in the middle of nowhere. Today we headed for Chiang Rai, our final stop before moving on to Laos tomorrow.