THAI COOK!

Six of us did a Thai cookery course. we started with tomyom soup hot and spicy,then green curry ,Thai omelet followed by sticky rice and mango. The great thing about it was that we were able to eat it too! It actually tasted good as well. We all got presented with our certs when finished. No mean achievement. We are now back in Bangkok for one more day and then take overnight train down south. I believe we are heading intolots of rain!

TREKKING THIALAND

We had three great days trekking. Yesterday we did five hours trekking in the jungle. all good fun. the heat was a killer but very rewarding. Stayed two nights with host families. Again we slept on bamboo floors surrounded by mossie nets, still managed to get eaten alive We had lunch in the jungle and drank tea out of bamboo shoots wonderful. We also visited an elephant place where the converted their dung into paper .. nothing like recycling! Going to do a thi cookery course tomorrow, so we will see how that goes.!

CHANG MAI (CONTINUED)!

Nearly a week here hard to believe it. Hotel very nice,swimming every day. Weather is improving all the time. Went on an elephant trek for an hour. Had some laugh. I managed also to sick on his neck too! Fed him bananas along the way.
Went to a traditional Thai night,good food a cabaret and dancing,met another Irish couple. She was from Blessington. The three of us went for dinner next evening very good. We ended up in a bar down at the river. Many Thai rum and cokes later we wandered home!
I change hotels Sunday where I rejoin my group and start trekking Tuesday... I think!

CHIANG MAI

Staying here in Chiang Mai for one week. took the overnight train from Bangkok to here. My fellow travellers have gone working with elephants for a week and I have been put up in this nice hotel here courtesy of imaginative travel. For those of you who do not know my trip got cancelled and is gong ahead a week later. did not wish to work with elephants for a week. I am now chilling out in Chiang Mai. Went to a great night market the first one that I have really enjoyed with out been hassled in to buying something. Very relaxed and easy going and lots of local restaurants. I love the Thai food hot and spicy!.

BANGKOK

Arrived eventually in Bangkok. Population about six million. Went to visit Wat Phra Kaew. This is known as the temple of the emerald Buddha. It is also full of gleaming gilded stupas levitating above the ground. All lovely colours beautiful to look at. The Emerald Buddha is housed in the main chapel. From here I went to see the grand palace the former royal residence. Today it is used by the king only for certain ceremonial occasions such as Coronation day. I also visited the Wat Pho temple. The big attraction is the stunning reclining Buddha, 46m long and 15m high. It is made out of plaster around a brick core and finished in gold leaf. I also went to see the golden Buddha which is the tallest Buddha in the world and made of solid gold.

OUR LAST MEAL IN VIETNAM

We went to a restaurant that was certainly different! It was like a big hall with all the locals dining there. Arron our leader ordered lots of different things. First we cooked our own steak on BBQ nothing unusual. Scorpion, field rat, cricket, wait for it goats penis! How gross was that! There is only so much a stomach can take, not for me i am afraid! We had some laugh all the same. I do have plenty of photos and will put them up on blog when i get home. I finished off the evening with many drinks! Off to Thailand early Friday morning.

MEKONG DELTA

The Mekong Delta Starts in Tibet and the river meets the sea in southernmost Vietnam. Its lush with rice paddies and fish farms. We stopped off at a local village along the way. We also stopped at a pottery factory seeing bricks been made to the finished terracotta pots! Alot cheaper here i can tell you. We had a nice lunch stop and a rest in hammocks!We were then taken by rowing boats down the river, so peaceful! We went to see a fruit nursery and a bonsai plantation. We finished up at our home stay for the evening! We were greeted by their BIG Friendly snake of which we all had around our necks at different stages! Home stay was most enjoyable and plenty of good food as usual! This is the last part of this trip so good bye Vietnam ...

HO CHI MINH

Here we are on our second last part of our trip. Ho Chi Minh city formally Saigon. Very busy city more motor bikes but roads twice as wide. At rush hour they even drive along the foot paths if they could get there quicker!All tired after our overnight train which arrived 4.30 in the morning! Not the cleanest ... no further comment on that! On arriving in Ho Chi Minh we took an early stroll around the park to see all the locals taking part in Thai Chi and many other activities!, putting the rest of us all to shame.
After Breakfast we headed for the cu chi tunnels. These became legendary during the 1960s for its role in helping viet Cong control of a large area. Some of these stretched from Saigon to the Cambodian border. Some of these tunnels have been reconstructed so visitors can fit through them. Alas not for the faint hearted ... I did not take part. A little to claustrophobic for me! All very interesting to say the least! Went to the market later in the day. Too many people trying to sell you stuff.

WHALE ISLAND

Do you know the saying lost on an island! well that is exactly what is happening here! It's wonderful white sand and palm trees. the rain has stopped wonderful weather. Staying in beach huts. Nothing to be concerned about only what time the next meal is at! Plenty of good snorkeling and diving. The Bombay jin is also good. Did a bit of a walk around the island at 7a.m. this morning very good. I could get very used to this life!

HOI AN

Now in Hoi an after a four hour bus journey. to me it is like a place that was caught up in a time warp. we have been told if we were lucky enough to be here for a full moon, they light lanterns along the river. No chance of that as it has been raining for the last twenty four hours and plenty of more to come.Plenty of markets around. One can also have a suit tailor made also. Me I think I have had enough of clothes for a while. We will be here for two days and then another ten hour bus trip to whale island.

HUE

Hue served as a political capital from1802 to 1945under the 13 emperors of the Nuguyen dynasty. We went to see the Citidel within this enclosure is the forbidden purple city which was reserved for the private life of the emperor. We also visited the tomb of Tu Duc. This is a majestic site at a lake. Did a river cruise down the perfume river, not much to see there. We are having very heavy thunder storms here today and lots of rain.