Well hello from Chiang Mai! getting here was absolutley a p of p, as there was a travel agent over the road from our hotel in bkk, booked flight with bangkk air (25 quid each) and also booked three nights in hotel, c.30 quid per night. Flight was at 12.40 so no early start. Chiang Mai airport titchy and efficient. Taxi to hotel- ten minutes. CM looked superficially the same, althought its been 8 yrs since we were last here - with Andy and Cally. Hotel is quite posh - hugh reception area. Room is ok, but not special. Went for a walk and found the place we stayed at before - not so far from where we are now actually - and then went for a rest. When we got up later (11ish) nothing much open - ended up in awful karaoke bar over road from hotel where we were the only people in there - they said everything shuts at 1.00pm.
Wednesday - Mark decides we're going to the zoo! really nice day. lots of animals (including giant pandas) and because its sort of an old fashioned sort of zoo - the animals were really near. There was a family of hippos that were only about 10 ft away from us - amazing. Had a rest earlier due to last night's experience, and decided we'd go to the Riverside rest/bar which was in the LP. Really nice old place on the other side of the river. Food was really good, we were seated actually on the riverside - lovely. Later we went inside to listen to the band, who were really good - no hotel california in sight. I would say that all of them were mixed race Thai, I dont know whether that makes a difference to their taste in music!
On the way back we stopped in another karaoke bar (at the behest of a very nice lady boy) and then a streetside bar with an obnoxious aussie) got back really late.
Thursday - legacy of last night - missed breakfast which is a real pity because its fantastic - and spent most of the day by the pool, which is very nice, and hardly anyone there!
Went for wander later, tried the Irish pub, not bad - called Mum from internet cafe that offers Skype (15b per minute) and then back to the restaurant near hotel for king prawns. Deciced to go back to hotel to get changed, as its a bit cool! turning into right girls!