Chiangmai and Bangkok- last days in Thailand - Amphoe Mueang Chiang Mai, Thailand
Amphoe Mueang Chiang Mai, Thailand
Back at "home" in Chiangmai at Baan SongJum. It's a haven under the old wooden house, with lots of plants thriving, koi carp in the pond and the two rescue dogs , Lanna and Frankie coming by for a scratch behind the ears every now and then. Just a two minute walk down the narrow soi to the main road, and Chaingmai is abuzz with activity. This weekend it's the annual Chaigmai Flower Festival ( the 40th no less) and it's also Chinese New Year. So on Friday morning I walked to the Park, following the moat road around the old walled city to see the prize orchids in the competition. I don't know how you judge orchids- they all looked perfect to me, hanging from the specially constructed wooden framework beside the pond, tangled roots trailing down.Stall holders were also just setting up ready for the weekend, and many of them are from charities and environmental organisations as well as craft workers and food stalls there just for the festival, from the province. The stallholders are gentler and not as pushy as the usual market traders. In the evening I went to the opening exhibition of Chaingmai sculptor Luka ( Boonkerd Kaewdee) at The Meeting Room, just along the riverside from my homestay. Last year I brought some of Luka's scrap metal elephant music boxes back to blue- ginger and they sold very quickly. So this year I'm bringing back some more. Luka had some much larger pieces in his exhibition including a benevolent giant robot taking care of multi-coloured pigs. Most of the people at the opening were artists themselves or associated with an artist, and it was a multi-cultural group. Jo , the gallery owner soon introduced me to Luka and some of the others. His wife owns the 'Melt Away' bakery in Chiangmai and the buffet was delicious. I met a Singaporean couple , Chris and Fun, who have uprooted themselves to settle in Chiangmai so that their daughters could attend the international high school and university here. "How brave!" I said. They said that their friends told them they were crazy! Time will tell. But they seemed happy to be living in the more relaxed atmosphere of Chiangmai. I also met a Japanese American woman, Ikuko, who is married to a Thai man and spends half the year in New York and half the year in Chiangmai. It was a lovely evening , standing outside eating lovely food and chatting to friendly people. On Saturday morning I got up early and went by songtaew ( red pickup truck) to the railway station with Nui and fellow guest Tia. The Flower Festival Parade starts from the station and Nui thought it would be the best place to see the flowers still fresh and the entrants still fresh also, before their long walk through the city in the hot sun! They must have been up all night dressing the floats. It was great to see the young people ( and the older ones) excitedly adjusting their brightly coloured costumes , gathering for group photos and smiling winsomely into their cameras for the selfie photos. And then they were off! It was easy for me to walk alongside and overtake different groups as the stepped along in time to the brass bands accompanying them. I stopped by the roadside for a bowl of khao soi (spicy soup made with wide rice noodles with crunchy noodles on top) and was still able to catch up with them. Nui had had to go home as new guests were expected, and Tia went off to meet some young friends. I had arranged to meet Dorothy and her brother George at the south gate, but it was a loose arrangement because we thought the heat and crowds might make it a difficult rendezvous . However- there they were, and we soon found a cool cafe in the side street , and I managed another lunch ( well, the khao soi was quite small) Dorothy and George set off home and I took a slow walk back to Baan SongJum, stopping off at a small celadon pottery outlet along the way and just buying a few things ( yes- crazy- how will I get it all back in one piece!) Experimenting with different technology at my disposal ( haha..... Muddling along more like!) I managed to make a phone call to Claire Armstrong who , along with husband Chris, furniture maker and artisan member of The Haymakers cooperative, had just booked in to the Sala Lanna for the next three days as part of a tour. It's just a few minutes walk from where I'm staying so I walked along the road to meet them and we had a delicious Thai dinner down by the river, the night air filled with the sound of tropical insects. Across the river the lights of Chinatown were ablaze and activity in the flower market was frenetic. Claire and Chris had had an interesting couple of days, first with a guide in Bangkok, and now with an Elvis-impersonator guide who had taken them around Chiang Rai and up into the mountains to meet some of the hill tribes. Claire was moved by his tale of how he'd learnt his English initially through Elvis songs, and as a young boy had been moved to spend all his savings on an Elvis L. P. even though he didn't have the means to play it. He " owned" the music. After dinner we took a walk over Nakorn Ping bridge to see the wholesale flower merchants , busy in the cool of the evening and the night, and loading open vans with carefully wrapped bundles of chrysanthemums , orchids and long stemmed roses. I wonder where some of the trucks will drive - maybe through the night for delivery to Bangkok in the morning. The Chinese temple in the middle of the flower market was busy with supplicants offering oranges and food and praying, long joss-sticks held between prayer hands, the air filled with trailing smoke and incense . The garishly painted dragons stop the temple walls were brightly lit with festive electric lights. Claire and Chris have a programme organised for them , so we plan to meet up for another meal before they leave Chiangmai enroute for New Zealand. The next day was Sunday. I chatted to Tia, an IT specialist living in Seatle , and originally from Northern India. We decided to walk along the street to Wat Ket to see the annual 'Dragon and Phoenix' exhibition of SE Asian textiles. We were too early so we stopped off at Woo coffee shop to kill a bit of time, looking at their exhibition of local artists' work on the first floor. The portrait paintings exuded a strangeness and a sadness. The textile pictures made with denim material looked like paintings from a distance. We had a coffee and chatted about this and that. Tia would like to use her IT skills to help artisans in India and Thailand to reach a world market. Eventually we reached our goal and arrived at the textile exhibition. It was on last year when I was in Chiangmai , but no less enjoyable for that. It's held in the old traditional teak house of the American man and his Thai partner who are textile collectors. They told us that the house was originally the main office for the Burma Logging company. It has large airy rooms with lazy ceiling fans and wooden shutters on the windows, and is a perfect venue to display the sumptuous silks and embroideries. I particularly loved the emerald tiny pencil pleated long skirt with exquisite fine embroidery hidden within the pleats. It must show up when the wearer moves. But couldn't think of a way to make myself part with the £200. By now it was lunchtime so Tia and I stopped off for a little plate of Pad Thai. Just a little rest and I was off along the river bank to the iron bridge, and across the bridge to the wooden River Market restaurant - the venue for Dorothy's annual silent auction in aid of the Foundation for the Education of Rural Children. All running costs are paid personally by board members so all the money raised goes directly to help students from poor rural families to continue their education with scholarships. There's a standard ticket which includes afternoon buffet tea and then you can make bids. A lot of hotels in Chaingrai, Chaingmai and Bangkok are generous in donating two night breaks and dinners for two. And then there are other donated items....... of course the things I bid on were two old, heavy carved mirrors and a heavy wooden candle holder shaped like a monkey ( about two foot high) so I was quite pleased to be outbid. Dorothy was delighted because they raised substantially more than they had the year before. I left Dorothy and her brother George along with the rest of the committee clearing up and taking stock of the event , and went for a wander through the Sunday market in the old city. I soon beat a hasty retreat back to the peace and quiet of Baan SongJum ........ The streets were heaving with people. There are a lot of extra tourists here from mainland China for the Chinese New Year holiday. So I snuggled down with my book of the moment ( Elena Ferrante) and drifted off to sleep . At about midnight my phone rang! I was shocked! It doesn't ring in Thailand! It was a call from my American friend Laurie in Austin, Texas. She'd planned the timing very carefully to catch me at home in England. " You're never there!" she exclaimed. Anyway, we haven't spoken for at least two years so we made up for it. And when I checked how long the Skype call had been it was one hour and 42 minutes. Unbelievable! For some( lucky) reason I was unable to run the camera so she couldn't see me, but I was able to see her. But just as well as I was sitting up in bed in the middle of the night. What a sight! On Monday morning I went to change some money to pay my rent . To get to the bank I have to cross Nakorn Ping Bridge and cut through busy Worarot market. Bright red paper lanterns festooned the streets and the place was busy with extra stalls lining the side streets and selling all sorts of freshly cooked snacks. I had a red bean filling in a sort of pancake, cooked on a hot plate while I waited. I must say that I didn't fancy the sushi stalls with their rice and raw fish toppings sitting out in the blazing noon day sun. The earth-moving thump of the drums and clash of cymbals heralded the arrival of a dragon and lion dance troupe. I followed them as they bobbed and swayed in and out of the businesses who were prepared to put an ang pow ( red packet full of money) in the lion's mouth. This will auger well for the business in the new year of the monkey. I followed as the long dragon and his retinue took an entrance into the covered market and began to weave and sway through the market stalls, the dragon's head making very realistic stops and sudden movements as if deciding whether to remain benign or take a more aggressive stance towards the stall holders . A group of acrobats followed behind and did an amazing balance on each other's shoulders. The little lad who topped the human tripod only looked about eight, and we all held our breath as he clambered finally onto the shoulders of the man below, and after a victorious roll of the drums, with his arms spread wide and high, he carefully climbed down to safety and the waiting arms of the adults below. That Monday evening was both the last night in Thailand for Dorothy's brother George ( going home to Brighton) and the last night for Chris and Claire Armstrong ( moving on to New Zealand). So I walked along to the Sala Lanna to meet Chris and Claire and we jumped into a tuktuk to go down to the Iron Bridge. Across the narrow one-way bridge and we were in the wooden Lanna style restaurant where Dorothy had held her charity auction. Lovely food , pleasant surroundings on the wooden decking overlooking the river and the occasional crackle and burst of light from the fireworks exploding in the night sky above China Town. And Chris admitted to now being a convert to the Thai dessert of mango and sticky rice ( he'd grimaced at the thought of it a few days ago!) The next day I had an early start. That's hard for me because I'm finding my little room at Baan SonJum wonderfully cosy and I enjoy sitting up in bed, checking my e mails and reading. But Nui and adopted son, Pen, had organised a grand day out together with Christiane from France and Tia from Seattle. Penn has a car this year and if we split the cost of petrol and the other expenses , we can all enjoy a day out. Christiane had only arrived the day before, but I met her at Baan SongJum last year. She makes an annual escape from the South of France, and this year she had also been to visit her son who is living in Phuket. The two Japanese ladies staying here, mother and daughter Keiko and Mariko, had been going to join us too, but Mariko was feeling queasy. So we set off for the next province, Lamphung and Pen's home town. Along the roadside we saw stalls selling what Nui said were giant wasps' nests , lots of beguiling handmade ceramics stalls with dusty pots stacked high, and a huge golden seated Buddha atop a hill. Wisely Pen did not let us distract him or persuade him to stop or we'd never have travelled very far! First stop was at the Elephant conservation camp and the Elephant hospital. Last year I visited the amazing Elephant Nature Reserve set up by diminutive Thai environmentalist , Lek. And I was surprised when I got home to find that someone living in Cradley had been involved in a research project with her, and had helped to set up a rescue organisation for elephants in captivity in the U. S. So it wasn't possible to top that experience. The elephants and their mahouts showed how they could move logs and gently take sugar cane and they looked happy and well cared for. It wasn't so touristy as other elephant camps , and it's possible to send two or three days there learning to be a mahout. But if you want to see elephants and you are coming to Northern Thailand please book in advance for a day at the Elephant Nature Reserve. ( Look at my blog from 2015) However, Nui knows a lot about elephants because her grandfather, who used to live here at my homestay, Baan SongJum, had been a manager for the British Borneo logging company, and when she was a little girl in the 50's she remembers that they had four elephants and their mahouts living here in the compound of her house. Over the years the land was sold off for development and all that is left now is the small area around the old teak house where they have built the rooms for guests. However, next door to this elephant camp in Lampang was the Elephant Hospital. This was set up by a Thai woman called Soraida Salwala in 1993, to treat elephants who are injured due to work, abuse or neglect, and since that time they've treated over 3,000 eles.. They offer free treatment for elephants from all over Thailand with five vets , supported by mahout nurses. I was shocked to hear that some of the elephants are addicted to amphetamines when they come in. No action is taken against the owners and they try to educate private owners into better care for their elephants. The hospital is also famous for building prosthetic legs for the survivors of land mines. The star of our visit was a little 2 week old girl elephant who trotted around her mum and just captivated us with her little trunk and it's explorations, and the wispy baby hair that stuck up straight from the top of her head. By now were all feeling a little peckish, so we drove into the main town, Lampang, to find a vegetarian restaurant where we could all eat. The area is famous for ceramics, but we just had to stop and take photos of the very kitch animals and small children at a sale yard in town. Garden gnomes had nothing on what we saw! We drove 18 km out of Lampang to one of the most beautiful temples, Wat Phra That. It's believed to have been constructed in 650 -700 AD when local politics meant that there was a lot of Burmese influence in its construction. This wasn't a garish temple, and with gold and copper decoration on a traditional wooden base and open sided prayer halls, it's one of the oldest surviving temples made of wood. There was lots to see and it was good to have Nui and Pen to answer our question. There was a little bit of magic in one of the side temples. A crack in the wood of the temple wall meant that light shone through onto a carefully placed white board, on which a perfect camera obscura image of the 45 metre high chedi appeared. Faded wooden painted murals from the early 1800's lined the sides of the main temple. The rooster is depicted in many of the carvings and symbols of Lampang province . According to legend Buddha visited the province in his lifetime and the god Indra transformed himself into a rooster to wake the people up so they'd rise from their beds to show Buddha some respect. In the little museum there we saw many different images of Buddha from past times. Some of them looked quite warlike or were pulling grumpy or grotesque faces. So the artists obviously had some leeway in how they represented him during different periods in history. Outside the temple there were lots of ponies and carts- it's one of the last places in Thailand where they use them still. Then the drive home: we stopped at the big seated Monk statue on the hill. The site still seems to be under construction and there was a new-looking but damaged cable car to take people up to the statue, with a pile of tyres ( to break the fall?) at the bottom. Anyway , Nui and Pen told us that the monk was venerated because it was he who had arranged the building of the road up to Doi Suthep temple in Chiangmai , making the temple accessible to everyone. Now he sits there in golden splendour, gazing over the countryside and the busy highway below. As we came back into Chiangmai , We stopped to pick up a couple of pizzas that Nui had phoned ahead to book , and stopped by the supermarket where we bought salad and a bottle of red wine. We shared our feast under the old teak house . And I had a sneaky suspicion that it was Nui's birthday as I think she had one when I was here last year. But she doesn't like to make a fuss about it. Christiane wasn't feeling her usual chirpy self the next morning. She's always so positive and full of enthusiasm for everything. She comes from Toulon in France and always disappears to somewhere warm and sunny in the winter. This is her third visit to Nui's house in Chaingmai, and before that she went to India for 15 years. Next day Tia left for Bangkok to continue her adventure. I'm sure she'll find good friends everywhere she goes. Nui and Kong had their traditional photo with her. They always do this with departing guests and it's a clever way to remember everyone who comes to stay at this lovely house. I walked along to The Meeting Room Art gallery and bought three more of Lek's music boxes for blue-ginger. They make me smile! When I got back to Baan Song Jum , Christiane was just setting out from the house on her own, so I dumped my purchases and went off with her to have a lovely coffee and share a cake at the Woo coffee shop. We were lucky to grab the big comfy sofas made from Chinese beds, just outside. Christiane was struggling a bit - still not feeling well. I also made a coffee cake for my lovely hosts, but it was a disappointment for me because the tabletop oven/ grill just didn't produce the expected results. It was a bit flat. But once the marscapone and expresso topping was on , it didn't look too bad. The next day Christiane was really feeling poorly with a sore throat, and even contemplating going home. But she disappeared off to the pharmacy to buy some over-the-counter anti-biotics and retired to bed. On Saturday we were all cheered to see Christiane cheerful and positive. We caught a tuktuk together and while she went into the supermarket to get some ingredients for a get-better-soup, I went across the road to have a pedicure. My poor old toes got a treat. The beauty shop offered a slimming process, but the before and after pics of someone's tummy both looked the same to me so I wasn't convinced. The pedicure was great though and I felt I'd come out with a new pair of feet! I'd arranged to meet up with Dorothy on Saturday, so caught a song taew up to Canal Road near where she lives, and then we drove out to 9moo9 , a restaurant owned by friends of hers, Tony and Siripan. It's in the leafy countryside outside the city, and it's also their home. The have a B and B cottage with the gallery above it. A sort of Thai blue-ginger gallery. But I did envy the tables and chairs set under the trees and under the building and the lovely batik cushions scattered around the place. They had an exhibition of quilts by Karen Sengel ( www.karensengel.com) She'd used scraps of batik and hand dyed materials to produce an almost photographic image. Siripan is herself a quilter and when she lived in the UK she exhibited in some prestigious places. Now she is busy cooking for the restaurant ( open Thursday - Sundays) and has become a victim of its success. Now she doesn't have time to quilt, and it's also very hot in the daytime to sew. They have built their home, restaurant , B and B accommodation and gallery and it's all beautiful. I hope they don't give up on it! Maybe we could organise a gallery swap...... Now wouldn't that be good! Dorothy gave me a lift back to Baan SongJum and came in to say hi to Nui and have a cup of tea. Nui and Kung, the two sisters, have created such a lovely welcoming space under their house. Two Austrian guests had arrived bearing thoughtful gifts and a letter from a man who came to stay in 2011 and has such happy memories of his stay. He'd written his letter in Spanish, so Christiane obliged with a translation ( are her skills unbounded!?)it was a lovely thoughtful letter. We shared some beer and I went off to bed to read. But it's not long before I give up and drift off to sleep. I'm a bit worried that I'm sleeping too much! So next morning I decide to make myself DO something. I ask Penn to book me on a trekking day in the mountains for tomorrow! Christiane is also up early and off to make a visa application for Burma. So we are stirred from our inactivity! The word 'extreme' is hidden somewhere in the copy for the trek description, but Pen and I think they don't really mean it. I go off for a little explore around Worarot market and spend ages in the hill tribe market behind. I'm pretty sure I'm close to my weight limit for the journey home so I dare not buy anything - and there's still Muscat to come! I'm so so attracted by the bright embroidered textiles and lovely faded indigo cotton. Best thing is to retreat to one of my favourite places - the Nepalese coffee shop Thamel. You have to squeeze through all the wonderful Nepalese garments and hanging cloth , to the back of the shop and up the stairs. It's a bit like going through to Wardrobe to Narnia, but at the top of the wooden stairs is a world of richly painted walls and decorative wooden shutters on the windows overlooking the street below. Magic! Iced green tea and a bowl of Khao Soi. Leaving the dark interior to walk home across Nakornping bridge, and I'm hit by a wall of static heat. Temperatures are now in the mid 30's, and it's so different from a few weeks ago, when I first arrived and we were shivering in single figure temperatures. There's just time for a little afternoon zizz in my room and then Nui has arranged an evening excursion. What a treat! Pen gets the car out and drives Nui, Kong, Christiane and me up to the Three Kings Monument. The Indian Consulate has organised a public show of 'Boro' dancing. They've flown the dance troupe and musicians to Thailand and the group have already performed to great acclaim in Bangkok. Even in India , many people are unaware of the Boro community, but the Indian consul's wife is a Boro, so she's delighted that her culture is being highlighted. We had arrived early so we're able to enjoy the people watching as the local dignitaries and embassy representatives began to arrive. Yes, Christiane spotted the French ambassador: a tall graceful man in a perfectly tailored suit, waving his hands to make a point. Surely that slightly stooped bespectacled man, hair thinning on top, in a casual batik shirt not so casually buttoned up to the collar , surely had to be the British ambassador. And then of course there were the ladies, made up and carefully dressed to reflect either the Indian culture of the local Thai culture. We enjoyed watching them group together for photographs and then with amusement we watch the musical chairs as it was decided who should sit where! "Oh come ON", we exclaimed. "Let's see the dancing!" ( but exclaiming quietly to each other of course!) At last, after interminable introductions and thanks to all the individually mentioned dignitaries, the show began. The dancers were delightful young women who broke out into beaming smiles as they began to dance the dance of the wind blowing across the fields. They obviously loved what they were doing. What spooky it was the rather patronising young Thai woman who was acting as master of ceremonies . She behaved as if she was compering a silly game show on the tv and kept addressing the dancers in Thai or English, neither language it appeared they were familiar with, and laughed when they didn't respond and looked uneasy . When the interval came Nui ushered us away, she was furious with the young Thai woman. So we went down a quiet soy and the four of us had dinner together in a quiet wooden restaurant attached to a small hotel. It had al sorts of framed awards and certificates, but we were the only patrons. The food was good. And they gave us a huge glass of red wine! Feeling very full we went to find a song taew to take us home, but first had to look at the temple across the street which emitted a golden glow from the lit up Buddhas within. During the daytime it's beautiful , but at night it's magical. I had hoped that the large glass of red wine would knock me out, but it had the opposite effect, and contrary to the good night's sleep I'm used to at Baan SongJum, I tossed and turned all night, or so it seemed, until it was time to get up early ad gulp a mug of tea before I was collected for my day of trekking in the hills near Mae Rim. The first part of the journey was completed in a 4 X 4 which brought five of us to a market car park where we transferred to a pick up truck ( like a song taew) and were joined by another five. There was a well travelled Polish couple (Monica and Cuba) a lanky young Frenchman and his Lithuanian wife ( she had the longest legs ever and blonde hair down to her waist) two young Danish girls travelling abroad for the first time alone, two gap year British boys from Brighton ( Luke and Michael, straight out of school and on the 4th day of their SE Asian adventure) and a very capable and funny Spanish woman, Eva , also a solo traveller. As we chatted in the back of the truck I realised with trepidation that I was the eldest by a whopping 30 years, and not feeling terribly fit. In fact wondering also if I might be coming down with Christiane's virulent virus. The truck went up and up on a windy bumpy road and eventually we were on the mountainside and being given bottles of water and our lunch , as yet indeed, but wrapped in a banana leaf. Our guide, "Pop" , was short and muscular with beached and permed 'tousled look' hair. He has a petite female back-up guide who didn't really speak to us but smiled a lot. We set off from the village and Pop was greeted enthusiastically and with much wiggling and doggy smiling by a little black terrier type dog, and together with a dog-eared dog ( ripped and torn ears and scarred nose) they accompanied us on the whole 4 1/2 trek , probably because they knew we wouldn't eat all our banana leaf-wrapped lunch! We didn't start walking until about 11am as we'd been stuck in traffic coming out of Chiangmai and it really was hot hot hot when we were out in the blazing sun. Mad dogs come to mind. There was a lot of steep up and up and then lots of slippery downhill scrambles on parched dusty ground carpeted in dried bamboo leaves. To start with we enjoyed views over the countryside, and even through some tropical rain forest with the canopy of leaves far above our heads, and long trailing roots hanging from the branches. And for the first two hours I kept up with the young ones very well. It was really pleasant to chat to one person for a while and then we'd all change around and talk to someone else. I couldn't believe that the two young English boys were happy to chat to me and ask me about my travels in Thailand, and tell me about their A level results and university plans, and their anxiety to fill their holiday away with as many experiences as possible! They were a really interesting and friendly group of young people. Eventually we heard the excited cries of other young people through the trees, and came upon the waterfall and pool where we were encouraged to have a dip, along with another trekking group who'd got there before us. The Spanish girl, Eva, and I just sat on a rock and cooled our feet. The others were up for getting into their swimming togs and leaping in. It takes a lot to persuade me to emerse myself in cold water and Eva and I agreed that it wasn't the cleanest pool or the most beautiful waterfall we'd ever seen, but we kept that to ourselves as the others seemed to enjoy it. After everyone had cooled off we clambered up some huge rocks and sat under an atap roofed shelter to unwrap the contents of the banana leaves. Some fried rice that had been prepared some hours earlier and then carried by us in the hot sun for 2 1/2 hours. Dogs were happy and we realised that we'd gained two more. One looked like a younger version of the smiler ( maybe a daughter) and the other closely related to dog-eared dog. Now it was really hot, the sun directly overhead, and I felt that this would have been the perfect moment to end the walk and go and have a little nap in the cool somewhere. Not to be! A steep hike to a village where the people, originally refugees from Myanmar ( Burma) were unable to return but equally unable to claim Thai citizenship and therefore stateless, unemployable and subsistence farming. We didn't see them, just their homes and their pigs. The men were probably elsewhere and the women and children sensibly inside out of the burning sun. The pigs were great. Very long elegant noses ( you hear that, Tracey and Gormley pig?) we did a lot more climbing up and slithering down. The relief at going downhill only being transient as it always precedes another climb upwards. We noticed that a lot of the hillside had been cleared for rubber plantations and great swathes of cabbages. The cracked earth and deep crevasses down the muddy hillside clearly showed how the deforestation had laid the land susceptible to flooding and land erasure. Under the trees the crispy bamboo leaves were blackened and burned from recent forest fires. Whether intentional or accidental I couldn't say. By about 3pm I'd had enough and when our guide said that we were going up another mountainside to see a bat cave I tried to opt out and sit in the shade and wait for them to come down again. But it wasn't an option - we weren't coming down the same way! Cuba, the Polish guy, very kindly insisted on carrying my backpack and although it wasn't heavy it made a huge difference. The Danish girls lagged a little way behind me and said that they were really struggling and so I didn't feel quite so bad. And when we reached the bat cave I wasn't the only one who sat outside on the huge boulders breathing fresh air! I was very grateful when we made the final descent, had a water stop and then all climbed into the song taew for the journey back to Chiang Mai. Lovely hot shower and mug of tea and bed. Next morning when I tried to great people at breakfast I realised that I had very little voice and what I had was a 40 cigarettes a day growl. Nui kindly likened it to Lauren Bacall, but I think it was more Lee Marvin. I was filled with trepidation: either exhaustion and dust from the walk or the beginnings of the nasty throat infection Christiane had suffered from the week before. No time to be ill! People to see and things to do! A lovely chatty lunch with Yolanda at The Swan ( strangely named Burmese restaurant near Thapae Gate) She'd just had her first Thai lesson and was feeling a bit confused with too much information! Already fluent in at least four European languages, I'm sure she'll soon get to grips with it. Hugs and waves as she cycled off in the traffic to her job in the call centre. I had time to get back to Baan SongJum for a little rest and then off back to the Old City to meet Dorothy and the auctioneer from her charity auction, Al, at the Indian restaurant Taj Mahal. It's a very basic restaurant, with no decoration, but since last year they've replaced the stainless steel dishes with ceramic ones and there's now a noisy air conditioner which makes holding a conversation quite a challenge ( especially when you've little or no voice!) Al used to have a gallery ( or galleries?) in America and he queried whether anyone could ever make a living out of it. I was quick to point out that mine was on a very different scale to his. I think he specialised in very expensive glass and the rentals on his big city galleries was astronomical. It was a great last night in Chiang Mai, and Dorothy dropped me of right outside Baan SongJum. Next morning ( still no voice but otherwise feeling ok) I walked to Rimping Supermarket to get ingredients for a carrot cake I plan to make in the afternoon as Pen had offered to drive me to the airport. Then to Sop Moei, the Pow Karen handicraft shop, to get a present for Susan, whom I'll be staying with in Muscat next week. It's a haven of beautiful weaving, and was started to create an income for Karen hill tribe families to help the chronic problem of malnutrition in the villages. Louise, my glass artist friend in Bangkok, knows the people who started it and can vouch that all the project proceeds really go towards projects in the hilltribe villages. The quality, colours and design of the work is extraordinary. And so, as I waited to pay for Susan's bag, my eye alighted on a beautiful little wall hanging, I abandoned my carefully counted cash and whipped out the credit card instead, adding the hanging to my purchases. Ah well, how many blue -ginger customers have sighed as they've handed over their credit card while whist fully claiming that they'd only dropped by for a coffee. Back at Baan SongJum I dumped my loot on the ever growing pile of things that I optimistically believe will fit into my bag and still weigh the 20kg I need for the Bangkok Airways flight to Bangkok this evening, and hurry out again with Christiane to catch a song taew to the Women's Prison in the old city where we plan to have lunch. Nui told us that the women here have usually done small crimes or have been partners of drug dealers who've been imprisoned for more serious offended. There is also a handicraft and massage centre on site and the idea is that the women train for a job outside where they can be independent when they finish their prison sentence. We sat out in the garden under a leafy tree and enjoyed pad Thai. The queues for massage were constant, and I've heard that the massages are mediocre. Also I don't ache from the walk ( yet) Christiane and I wandered around the graffiti decorated walls of the women's prison building after our lunch and were puzzled by its dilapidated state. Later Nui told us that the prison itself is now out of town and the old prison building we saw is awaiting development. Originally this building had been a palace, but after an insurgence from the north it was sacked and turned into a prison as some sort of insult to the ruling classes. I walked with Christiane to find the Burmese Embassy where she has applied for a visa. She's off to Burma next week , and yes, I'm a little bit envious. Burma will have to wait for me. But even walking these unfamiliar streets I realised that there's still a lot of Chiangmai I haven't discovered! I packed my bags when we got back to Baan SongJum- in fact Christiane gave me an extra bag. My flight to Bangkok only allows 20kg, but on internal flights Bangkok Airways only charge about £1.50 excess, and I'm just 5kg over. Must remember not to buy anything in Bangkok! I made a carrot cake , and it wasn't cool enough to put on the topping before I left. I delegated that job to Kung. So I'm hoping the cake was okay. It's sad to leave, but I really can't stay here forever. Pun and Nui drove me to the airport. Hugs and goodbyes. Really lovely to be seen off by friends. My flight was the last one from Chiangmai to Bangkok I think, and we landed in Suvanabhum airport at 11.30pm. Easy to collect luggage and get out because it's a domestic flight. I jumped into a taxi , and within half an hour we were at Lodge 61, Sukhumvit soi 61, and although the streets were still very busy there weren't the usual daytime gridlock traffic jams. However , on the flight my throat had become really sore and I wasn't feeling too good. So I dumped my things in the room and trotted down the dark streets to the 24 hour supermarket . The pharmacist was a really nice lady and so friendly and jolly considering it was getting on for 1am by now. She sold me a throat spray and some quick acting Ibruprofen and told me to come back for antibiotics if it didn't improve. You can buy them over the counter at a pharmacy in Thailand. The medicine gave me a good night's sleep, but I did feel a bit fragile in the morning and my voice was even huskier. Never mind , the hotel serves a Thai breakfast and one of the items on the menu is Hainanese chicken rice: very soft slivers of chicken breast on a bed of soft rice cooked in stock and a clear soup. Just what my throat and stomach wanted, and I soon revived. I'd arranged to meet Louise Truslow the glass artist, for lunch at a restaurant called Kuppa. I'd originally planned to meet Thai friend Somsri there, but she'd had to go to Hua Hin for the weekend. Louise had organised a watercolour workshop at her house the day before, and she's busy selling off some of the lovely bits and pieces and antiques she's collected during her 25 years in Thailand. I was tempted to go back to the house with her...... but I really don't have any more space in my suitcase! That evening I walked down the road to Counting Sheep Corner, to finish my book, answer e mails and carry on with the blog. I didn't expect any of the young people to appear: two have had babies very recently, others have colds or dinner dates or are out of the country. But it's always very friendly there so I was quite happy. Later in the evening the door opened and Bai came in. He'd only just finished work and came to join me for a beer. I really enjoyed chatting to him. Last time we met up there were lots of other people and although it was fun I didn't get to talk to him much. A little later and Oun came in , after his last teaching session. I felt very happy having a night out with two handsome young men! They walked with me back to my hotel and then Oun went to get his car and drive home and Bai went to see a film at the Multiplex cinema around the corner. It was 11.30am but Sukhumvit Road was still humming with night life. Next day I had a good lie-in ( still a bit anxious about this sore throat which comes back every time the Ibruprofen wears off) and sent a text to Oun saying that I didn't think I should go and visit Ann, who is very poorly. But he insisted I should. So I went to buy her some very special pastries piled high with strawberries, mango and dragon fruit from Pauls in Central shopping centre. Then took the Skytrain to the end of the line to meet Oun. The end of the line is Mo Chit, and it's here that the biggest weekend market in Thailand is set up-Jatujak. There are over 8000 market stalls and the weekend coming up has a public holiday on Monday, so the roads are gridlocked and the pavements are heaving with people, tourists and locals alike. I was a bit anxious that I wouldn't find Oun, but luckily he'd given me his car registration number ( the cars in Bangkok have such darkened windows that you can't see who's behind the steering wheel) He had little Annie, his middle daughter in the car, and the three of us set off to Nonthaburi where Ann lives. She'd just been to see a consultant at one of the big government hospitals that morning. She's very frail and extremely thin, but still displays grit and determination. She seemed pleased that we'd come to see her. Her husband Paan and Oun went out to buy some food and beer. He's doing a great job of looking after her. Her medication costs thousands and thousands of baht even though she goes to the government hospital. They don't have any other support like MacMillan nurses in the UK. They are just dealing with it day by day by themselves. It was heartbreaking. Take heed and we must do everything we can to keep our NHS. But I was delighted to see that Ann polished off one of the French fruit and unstated pastries I'd brought her, saying it was delicious. Eventually we had to leave , but not before she insisted on giving me some bags and two beautiful sun hats ( one for me and one for Aunty Nancy) from her back room stock. She's still trying to run her bag business. A gentle hug to say goodbye ( she feels like a sparrow) and " see you next year" we say. No photos this time. Oun and I are subdued in the car on the return to Bangkok. Little Annie has been a star and very good while we were there. We went back to Oun's house where his other two daughters are, and the nanny and one of his sisters who lives there too. His wife Oi has been working all day and not home yet. Little Ellie, the three year old , crashes out on the sofa so Oun, Aimmy , Annie and I go to a steamboat restaurant and have a healthy meal we cook ourselves at the table. We go to pick up Oi ( just got back to Bangkok from work) and they dropped me off at my hotel. The next day, Sunday, and my last full day in Bangkok, and Oun has promised a special day out with the family. But he has a three hour class to teach first! He picked me up at 11am and we went to collect the family. We have to keep stopping to buy roadside food: baked bananas in palm sugar, bags of ready washed and chopped chunks of fresh fruit. The plan for the day keeps changing, but it seems we are heading out of Bangkok to a place called Chachoengsao. So are a lot of other residents of Bangkok! So it took us some time to get there and then to meet their family friends at a roadside shack restaurant famous for their fish. We passed all the lakes of commercial river prawn farms along the road as we got nearer. Everyone was starving by the time we arrived so the food( re-ordered by the other family while they waited) kept coming. Oun's friend's wife made a good try at some English conversation , as did his friend's sister. I really have to learn a bit more Thai before my next visit! Luckily I know the word for delicious , 'aroy' and that was all I needed to say as each dish arrived. Eventually everyone had had enough, and we all got back in the car and went to Wat Saman Rattanam. It was queueing all the way as lots of other people were heading there two. It's on the banks of the Bang Patong River, some distance north of the city. There's a huge and very pink Ganesha , the elephant God, reclining and overlooking the river and lots of other huge statues of other Buddhist/ Hindu images. On the approach to the temple the road was lined with stalls piled high and overflowing with pineapples, mangoes, papayas and water melon. And stalls selling a wide variety of beautifully crafted brooms. It's here that they grow the grasses and reeds suitable for good brooms. Inside the temple complex it was all very garish and commercialised with every kind of edible snack. Oun was suffering with his football knee injury so I went for a wander around with Oi, his wife and daughters Aimmey and Annie. By now little Ellie had completely crashed out in her car seat. I was fascinated by the statues of large rats in different colours. People were climbing up on platforms to whisper their prayers and requests into the rats' ears. On the riverside, the opposite bank looked verdant and unspoilt. A large building was under construction and they told me that this would be a hospital for the poor, built with money raised by the temple. I'm not quite sure how the poor are going to get there as it's quite a hike from the town, but maybe there are buses and songtaews. Anyway, today I was the only 'farrang' ( foreigner) around. A day in the real Thailand! Back in the car and we headed into town as Oi wanted to show me how to pray at the temple. It was all a bit of a rush as the temple was about to close, but we managed to buy our bottle of oil ( to pour) into the receptacle where we lit our three joss sticks, kneel down , bow once and stick the josh sticks in an overflowing bowl of joss stick ash. No time to visit the Buddhas. Back across the road to through the food market and we were beleaguered with stall holders wanting us to buy their offerings. But we were all feeling pretty full. Back in the car and joined everyone else going back into Bangkok, the noises in the car reaching a crescendo as little Ellie had woken up, refreshed by her nap. Lovely family day out and they dropped me off at Lodge 61. Now I just have to repackage and reorganise myself. Tomorrow I'm flying to Muscat in Oman!