Our first few days here have not been going so well. Evan and I both seem to have come down with a really annoying cold. We have been mainly laying around in our room coughing and sneezing. I went for an early morning walk today and took a few snaps. Now I am stuffed. I am hoping we feel better tomorrow as we will be catching the Chang Mai overnight train.

We caught the overnight train up from Bangkok to Chang Mai. It was lovely. our second class seats folded out into beds and the train staff bought us tasty treats. The other passengers were friendly and we all exchanged travel stories. I took some photos which I shall upload later.

Arriving the next morning on time at 9.45 we were met by the fantastic Ellen, Kaths Mum. She took us on a whistle stop tour of her neighbourhood and set us up in a swank apartment. We had a shower and nap. Then in the arvo Ellen and her lovely neighbour Donna took us out for an evening adventure. More of which later ...

Our first night in Chang Mai was pretty much a gi-normous stuff up. Ev and I got seperated in a crowd and did not manage to find each other again for about 4 very scary hours. The Chiang Mai tourist police, who are volunteers that work closely with the normal police helped look for him. I scoured those bloody markets from top to toe with the help of half the city watch for four hours.

They were very reassuring and explained that clueless tourists like me are always mislaying children, grandmothers and deaf uncles. Several times a week. At the time I must admit I did not feel very reassured.

As it happened Evan did what I sort of knew, deep down, exactly what he would do. He ran off in the opposite direction that we were walking and found a place none of us had been to. He waited for a short while then walked off into the city until eventually he decided to flag a taxi. He had no idea where to go so the poor taxi drove him around on a general sort of tour. Eventually the Taxi driver and his family (they were all onboard) took Ev to the police and we were all happily reunited.

So if you are ever in Chang Mai let the police know that the volunteer tourist police are the best and always get your taxi rides with Noi on 0861806417

Today was a fine day. We bought a SIM card each and are now both trackable by mobile phone. No more getting lost! Cheri called us and she gave me a right good bollocking. I'm a bad man. Then we borrowed a motorbike and drove all over the city so that we could NOT get lost anymore. We finally had a late lunch up in the hills above Chang Mai. Out of the city surrounded by trees and water and it was lovely.

We also tracked down our Muay Thai School and have made a tentative time to start training.

Day 2 of our Muay Thai training and I am sore all over. My old bones are showing the wear and tear they've had over the years. After this mornings training we took the scooter for a ride around town.

Here are some snaps we took after riding all the way up to Wat Phra That Dai Suthep. Ev was very scared riding round the corners, he does not like leaning.

We also explored Chinatown, Cheri called and had a chat whilst we perused the crazy stalls and admired the rickshaws and bikes.

Bum is one of the dogs that lives at Lanna Muay Thai. Like most Thai dogs Bum has the wonderful ability to lay around and lick his balls all day, regardless of the crazy traffic or fight training going on all around him.

Ev has flaked out on the bed. We went to training this morning, and followed that with a trip to the Zoo. I had been looking for an excuse to hire Noi's Songtaw. Noi and her partner (Nuu-ie, I think) looked after Evan when he got lost on our first night in Chiang Mai, see Getting Our Bearings.

So the Zoo was Zoo-ey. Animals needlessly imprisoned and all that. The biggest drawcard for the Zoo was a newly born Panda. So we skipped that and followed a heap of Thais' into 'The Snow Dome'. We had no less than three safety briefings and everyone had to don protective gear. I got roused on because I did not put on the allotted snow boots. Then we were taken into an airlock and given one last briefing before being led into a room. It was about the size of a tennis court and full of snow and some plastic frozen pandas. Everyone went wild and squealed, then ran around like dillys. It was nice to escape the midday heat for ten minutes.

Ev was buggered by the time Noi dropped us home. So he has been reading and is now sleeping. I went to training and am now sore, tired and hungry. Time to wake him up I think....