Here in Chiang Mai

A four day weekend saw us finally visit the northern city of Chiang Mai. This is the most northern part of Thailand we have visited and it was considerably cooler than our home of Nakhon Sawan.

It's seems that everyone had the same idea for the holiday and the buses were so packed that we ended up travelling as stowaways in with the luggage but it was surprisingly comfortable and I had a pretty good sleep as well as a free meal!

Chiang Mai is a tourist destination and we enjoyed the associated the perks which included plenty of markets, a variety of different cuisines and …… wait for it……. wine. In a proper, long stemmed wine glass. And that's not all……….. gin. That's right, I shared a litre of delicious red wine over some delicious buttery cheese filled pasta and then followed it with a gin and tonic. That's what I call a holiday!

Running in Thailand

Is sweaty. Actually, standing still is sweaty - running is something new. 

But the park here in Nakhon Sawan is lovely. It is the heart and soul of the town and I love running round it and seeing familiar faces.

In the UK, I exercised the keep/get fit. Here I exercise to socialise - I enjoy bumping into people and practicing the little Thai I have.

Here in Khorat

Thanks to the start of Buddhist Lent and the offical start of the rainy season here in Thailand, we enjoyed a nice long weekend in July. We were considering treating ourselves to some gin and tonics in Chang Mai but then one of our Thai friends invited us to go with them to Khorat where there is an annual candle festival. Keen not to pass up an opportunity to experience a bit of Thai culture and our first Thai festival, we took her up on this kind offer.

We did not regret this decision and our 'family' of 6 plus chauffeur went on a 2 day road trip in a rather plush minivan including an unnecessary trip to the Cambodian border and a magic double banana.