Trekking / Cooking - Chiang Mai

I have just been trekking for 3 days in the mountains around Chiang Mai visiting local hill tribes. These people originate from China / Burma / Cambodia / Thailand. I did a one night home stay with a tribe called the Darang people. A majority of these people are refugees from Burma. Their traditional clothing is quite colourful and the females wear numerous leather belts around their waist to protect them from evil spirits, apparently it is to do with some voodoo rituals. On my last day in the mountains we rode elephants for a couple of hours, I thoroughly enjoyed this.
I now know how to cook authentic thai meals and I must admit that the meals I cooked taste absolutely delicious..yummy!!!!

Travelling to Chiang Mai

I had a few problems ( adventures ) trying to get to Chiang Mai. I caught an overnight train from Bangkok but unfortunately it stop around 03:00am due to a storm in the north. I was stranded on this train for 12 hours in a little town called Banko. There was a river alittle north from where the train had stopped which had broken its banks. The flood water started to rise very fast and once the water started to come up through the floor of the train was when the authorities decided to evacuate us. Evacuating from the train wasn't easy, we had to wade thru shoulder deep contaminated ( raw sewage ) water over 4 sets of railway tracks to the trucks. I don't like the feeling of walking through water and not knowing is under your feet.. We were driven about 2 klms to the nearest town which was completely under water also. There was no transport operating so around 30 tourists jumped in the back of a dumpster and we got dropped off at the highway to try and hitch a ride on the next buses passing thru. I mananged to push my way onto the first bus that came past. This is one good thing about travelling by yourself I don't have to worry about other people...so I have been travelling over 24hrs now and I am completely wet, my clothes are this lovely brown colour and I am having to sit for 4 hours on a bus..oh yeah I also needed to go to the toilet. When we were 29klms south from Chiang Mai the bus brokedown...I could only laugh because I seriously too tired to cry. Lucky the bus did start again after all of the men push started the vehicle...I finally made it in Chiang Mai at 21:30 but I couldn't go to sleep because I really needed a rum & coke to calm me down..I had such a cool adventure...!!!

Tiger Temples outside Bangkok

Tiger Temples

River Kwai

Last days in Bangkok with Sue

SUZA IS A CHORMY
SHE SHALL NOT BE MOVED
SHE IS LIKE A TREE
THAT STANDS BY THE WATER
SHE! SHALL NOT BE MOVED!

Leaving the islands_back to Bangkok :-(

Koh Phangan_Full Moon Party!!

The full moon party in Koh Phangan is one of the largest beach parties in Asia. I think there would have been around 6000 peeps..drinking, dancing etc....

Koh Samui

looking alittle hammered here...it is those nasty buckets...


more photos to come later.....

3rd Class train

3rd class train rides are not the most comfortable way to travel. Sue & I had to take this train from the malaysian border back to surathani...it would have been okay if there was no drunken idiots on the train hassling Sue..glad that ride it over!!!

Perhentian Island_more photos

Perhentian Islands_making sarongs