Afternoon everyone,

We're now in Chiang Mai, after an 'interesting' 14 hour overnight train!

After Gill wrote yesterday we actually had a pretty mad day!

Had a beautiful Thai massage for an hour for about 2 pounds and got pushed into positions that i'm not sure our bodies were ever meant to go, even think i have the odd bruise!

Then went to see some travel ladies with our new friend'jimmy ill fix it', we have done some more planning, don't die of shock! And Have now booked accom and travel to and from the islands down south for a Full moon party and to do our 5 day padi course, we also think we have vague plan of our time before we go there, but you know how it is...forward planning is overrated!

Feeling fairly smug, we went for a walk around town and found the river and more importantly a crazy thai woman doing an outdoor free aerobics class, n\must have been 50-60 people doing it with this crazy yoko like lady jumping about at the front, we have a video but still having problems with down loading. Obviously we were keen to join in but weren't really dressed for it...so were keen observers instead, and still think we sweated more just watching!

Went for our normal noodles off the road store for dinner then got a texi to the train station, for our train at 10pm.

The train journey was an experience, we went on second class sleeper, and were tired so kinda looking forward to the sleep...then just as we found our beds in the small dorms, we heard three irish voices saying hello... that was the end of any silence.

These three lads, Wes, Ewan and Eugene, all form 40 mins from Dublin, had been in thailand for just over a week and all of them had been in faily bad accidents and 2 of them in hospital...these were not lucky lads!

Ended up drinking bottles of beer, about 90p a large bottle and chatting to all hours, untill we got asked to be quiet and one of the lads had to pay to nopt be thrown off....nothing to do with Gill and i...honest!

So not as much sleep as we wanted, but got here lunch time. Got picked up and taken to hostel, where we're chilling untill we got on a night thai cookery course, yes Gill is going to cook, taught by a monk that also takes us around the nght market.

Then tomorro 9am, we're off jungle trekking for 3 days, so won't be in touch for a bit.

anyway, hope we're keeping you amused, keep in touch,

still no tan, but hot....

loads of love

Karen and Gill

xxx