Bye bye Laos, hello again Thailand

No more Laos, me sad. We left on the slow boat from Luang Prabang. And is it ever slow. Its a two day ride west on the Mekong River, but a few more hours each day than we expected. The second day, we arrived in whatever the name of the town is about an hour too late to catch another ferry into Thailand and then to cross the border. We had to stay in this town overnight and get the boat and then another bus the next day. I was hella cranky at first, but we met a really cool couple from Holland and had dinner with them.

We spent 2 days in Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand. We did a one day Thai cooking course, a definite highlight of my trip. We learned how to make 8 different dishes and got a market tour. It is so easy. Its really all about having the right ingredients. We had the class to ourselves and our teachers were so funny. There was also a litter of puppies at the house nearby so I couldn't have been happier. One of the puppies was a wooly little Golden Retriever named Fat Boy (just a nickname). Romi and I really lose our minds when we see puppies. Leesa and Denise lose their minds more when they see babies. Babies, no thanks. Get me a puppy.

Chiang Mai was a cool city, a lot bigger than I expected. And there are a lot more lady-boys than I thought too. Its seems to be a huge part of the culture. And it seems to very accepted, just from talking to people. I gather that it is something that is accepted as a person grows up. Its just interesting.

After the cooking class, we got dropped off at a tattoo parlour cause Denise was thinking of getting one. I got one instead. Oops! Its really cute and I wanted it for over a year, 3 little stars on my wrist. We also explored the night bazaar. The next day Denise and Leesa went to the long-neck hilltribes for the day and Romi and I got massages and ate middle eastern food. Last night we took a 12 hour bus ride back to Bangkok, where we are now.

We've been here since 5.30 this morning, just loitering anywhere we can. Romi is coming down with a flu and Leesa has had stomach problems for the last 3 days. All the moving around is taking a toll on us. So tonight we are heading south to the islands. I can't believe we are already at that part of our trip! The first stop is Kho Pang Nan for the full moon party. Then I want to visit about 5 other islands, do some scuba diving and kayaking.

Over and out.