We successfully negotiated our travel from Bangkok Train Station, platform 5 to Chiang Mai Station on the overnight train. We left Bangkok at 6pm at a speed of about 20 mph, we had a 1st class cabin (with air-con), sounds great but my idea of first class is a little different.

We had a seat which folded up into two bunks and after a beer each from the steward we decided it was bed time. The train must have gathered pace during the night because each time I awoke we seemed to be hurtling along! I also had to put more sheets over me as we had our own ice box and couldn't control the air-con.

We arrived in Chiang Mai the following morning an hour late but having slept fairly well and got a taxi to the hotel. The train, beers and the two taxi rides came to a massive ₤35! (How much is Huntingdon to London return?)

Our hotel is a 10 minute walk from the night market area of Chiang Mai and 15 minutes from the city centre but we haven't walked it yet! The Tuk Tuk is the way to go for 20 Baht!

We have had a good walk round, the place comes alive at night and to see thousands of stalls selling everything from Gucci bags to Kebabs line the streets is bizarre.

The weather is hot and humid, although not by Hong Kong's standard so yesterday we took up residence on the roof top of the hotel by the pool with our books. Today we are exploring a little more, we have been to the main temple and walked along the moat surrounding the city. I think the plan for the rest of the day involves beer!

We are flying to Luang Prabang in Laos on Saturday and Hanoi from there, we'll let you know how it goes!