So last night I was typing this great long entry about the 3 days that we spent travelling to get to Laos. It had great photos inserted at all the right spots and I was rather proud of myself and then the power went out and I lost the whole thing. I was not a happy backpacker. So here I am again and instead of doing it all again I am just going to post the photos with some captions..... This is our first view of Laos, we drove from Chaing Mai to the border on Sunday and then on Monday morning we took a boat across the river

We were packed rather tightly into a small boat on the first day

Loas still has lots of rural areas

I loved seeing all the other river traffic

Here is our overnight stop, it was an interesting place... more details eventually

The boat was bigger on day 2 but there were a lot more people on it as well.

I knit, listened to tunes, read and enjoyed all that there was to see on the banks of the river

Elephants ont he banks

Day 2 on the Mekong saw a lot of sleeping

The old and new meet on each street.

The steps to the library and school often have children on them.

Luang Prabang is a Unesco world Heritage site and I am in love with it.

Some local monks, we rode bikes around town yesterday, it was a great way to see things.

Last nights sunset on the Mekong

I can see the toll that tourism is taking on the local culture but there are moments of beauty and simplicity

Laos

I made it to Laos in one piece but I am exhausted from spending 2 days on an overcrowded boat with little room to move about. I am in Luang Prabang and after a good nights sleep and some coffee in the morning I will fill you all in on my 2 days travelling down the Mekong river. See you in the morning.

These are a few of my favorite foods.

Fresh fruit at the market we went shopping at before our cooking class

A million types of rice, I never knew there was so much to know about 1 grain

CJ looking stunning. She is all decked out to wander around the farm and pick some veggies and other amazing thai things

There were heaps of butterflies on the farm

Me and Bun cooking sticky rice in coconut milk, all the food was amazing

Look Lunch, made by me, I could not eat it all but it was so good and we made many of my favorite thai foods.

The farm, out the window

A farmer that we passed on our way back into town

The ride back into the city was beautiful. Cooking school was amazing and if you are ever in Thailand I would suggest you take the time to come north and spend a day or two taking a class. We went to an organic farm and it was beautiful and quiet.

Today is Saturday and our last day in Chaing Mai, tomorrow morning we are getting on a bus to go to the Laos border. We spend the night there and then on Monday we will get on boat for 2 days and travel up the Mekong river to Luang Prabang. The boat ride takes 14 hours, 7 each day and I think it will be a great way to see the country. I am hoping that it does not rain the whole time but it may. We have been lucky with the weather this far and I hope it holds. I will be in Luang Prabang on Tuesday night and then on Friday we are off to Vietnam. I'll be back as soon as I get to a computer again.

I am having a bit of trouble with haloscan but don't have time to deal with now, if I haven't answered your comments know that I have read them and glad that everyone is enjoying living vicariously through my photos.

Chaing Mai

Our zoo trip was a lot of fun we saw hippos and

pandas. There were lots of other animals as well. After the zoo we headed to the night market to do a little shopping.... my favorite activity

We got up this morning to go on a day trek. There are heaps of them here but it was hard to find that we could do without feeling like we were being careless tourists. We finally settled on elephant riding, hiking and white water rafting. On the ride to the elephant camp we encountered a school parade, they were excited to see a car full of farang (foreigners)

CJ and I on our elephant

We fed the elephants bananas

and they sucked them up with their trunks and then put them in their mouths, it was really cute

an adorable baby elephant

Our hike was good but there were a number of rather narrow logs to cross

but the waterfall and the swim at the end made it all worth it

Then we went white water rafting and got really wet.

It was super fun and a great way to spend a day. Even though the treks are touristy I am glad we went on one because it meant that we got to see some things we never would of been able to see on our own. We avoided the ones that we felt were exploitive to the animals or to the local people and this one was not to bad. Tomorrow is cooking school and probably more shopping, then Saturday is our last day here and on Sunday we head into Laos. Getting to Luang Prabang will be adventure, I'll keep you posted.

Lots of fun being had in Thailand

We went on a great boat cruise down the river in Bangkok

and got to ride in Tuk Tuk in Bangkok traffic, but not this one

The famous Kho San Road was our stop for lunch

We also stopped at Wat Po to see the giant recling buddha, I liked the cats outside

Outside in the Wat Grounds, the inside photos did not turn out so well


Then we got on the night train headed North so we could spend a few days in Chaing Mai. Here's me knitting on my top bunk

We arrived in Chaing Mai exhausted but happy to be out of the city. We wandered around for a bit and then found a rooftop bar to have a drink and watch the rain move in from the mountians, it was pretty cool

Here's the inside of the bar. Toady we are off to the zoo because I want to see the panda bears and then tomorrow we are going on elephant/hike/rafting day. Friday we are going to Thai cooking school and then on Saturday or Sunday we will head to Laos. We have got Vietnam visas and so that is our next stop after Luang Prabang. I'll be back on the weekend with more photos.

Good Morning

Last Night we went to Cabbages and Condoms, here's CJ with the hat (in true Yarn Harlot fashion) as we went in. It's a great place that serves amazing Thai food. It's operated on the premise that condoms should be a readily available as vegetables and all the profits are used to prevent the spread of HIV in Thailand

We sat outside in the "urban air" and it was lovely, there were lights and all sorts of plants. Some live music and lots of people enjoying the food. The food was good, the salad was a little spicy but that's Thai food for you. Today we are off to ride a boat down the river and site see a little. Tonight we are off to Chaing Mai on the night train, well that is if we can get tickets, otherwise we will be here unitl tomorrow. Talk to you later from Northern Thailand.