For the first time on this trip we found ourselves starting and finishing a journey in normal hours!
We left Saigon this morning at 10:30 following a difficult bill payment.. The haggling is not restricted to the markets unfortunately, and tactics are not always played with a straight bat, but anyway! We arrived at Chiang Mai in northern Thailand at 2:30, in time to acquaint ourselves with our new home for the next 5/6 days, the longest period we have spent in one place since Dubai. It is all fantastic, no pictures yet due to the 'Chang' beer being very strong and I havent found my feet yet!
We have however made very good friends with our hosts, Peter the Bavarian (Just Peter, He just happens to come from Bavaria... this was a long converstaion!, anyway he has lived here for 23 years) his Thai wife Pai, and their daughter Isobel. We are being entertained by them in this idyllic and bohemain setting at the base of the mountains near Chiang Mai, and it certainly seems a million miles away from our day's start in Saigon. Pai lay on a Thai food banquet which was divine, and very quickly had Steph and I feeling excited about the culinary adventure ahead!
We have an early start tomorrow morning, as we are off to meet the two elephants we are looking after for the day, and apparently they enjoy a good bath before anything else. So It is our responsibility to get into the river and provide the bath!... this sounds like hard work considering they have a trunk that can do it in a fraction of the time.
The bungalow is remote and very quiet, and whilst we do have wireless it is not quick so we may be restricted in communication over the next few days. I will hopefully get some pics posted tomorrow whch will explain!
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