Chiang Mai was a breath of fresh air (literally) after Bangkok. The place has a small town feel to it, unusual in a city that has more inhabitants than Manchester and Birmingham combined! The city is surrounded by a centuries-old defensive wall, originally built to keep out Burmese invaders. Only parts of the battlements are still standing, but the moat remains intact, and forms a watery boundary, interspersed with fountains and footbridges, around the city centre.

The first day we rented bicycles. The bikes were set to a perfect gear that required minimum effort to attain a leisurely pace. Once we got used to the inane traffic signals – Amy had a few near-misses (don’t worry mum my road coordination is much better now!!) – the bikes were a terrific way to see the city.

The next day we went on what they call a trek in the jungle; it was more of an activity day really. We visited an orchid and butterfly sanctuary, went on an elephant trek, dropped in on a tribe of ‘long-necks’, went bamboo rafting, visited a waterfall, and went white-water rafting.

The elephant trekking was great fun for us, but not so much for the poor elephants. The tribe of ‘long-necks’ was an interesting aside – the woman of the village disfigure themselves according to an ancient Burmese legend by artifically elongating their necks using gold bands weighing over 6 kilos. But undoubtedly the activity of the day was white-water rafting! There were 6 boats, each with a team of 4 or 5 people, all racing eachother to the bottom of these frothing, rocky rapids, and trying to get eachother as wet as possible in the process. We loved it, a fully active day in amazing surroundings.

After a few thoroughly pleasant days in Chiang Mai we caught two public buses (the last of which was a real bone-shaker which left us sweaty and saddlesore!) to get to Chiang Khong, the Laos-Thai border.

After the well ordered civility of Hong Kong, it was a culture shock to arrive in the absolute chaos of Khao San Road. The taxi driver from the airport tried ripping us off; we argued him down but I think he still did us out of a few quid.

Khao San road really was a shock. There were people – mainly backpackers – milling about everywhere; music blaring from the many bars which lined the street; hawkers hawking miniature Buddhas, lighters and these annoying little instruments that sound like toads; colourful market stalls and dubious street-food sellers; the requisite Arabs offering a new suit every 2 yards; and the whole thing lit up by an eerie neon glow from the multitude of signs.

We found a lovely little hostel straight away, with our own bathroom and a swimming pool, so we had one night there. Unfortunately it was 14 pounds a night – far too much on our backpacker’s allowance! – so we moved to what can only be described as a room with grubby walls, without the luxury of so much as a window!

Are we being ripped off yet?

We did fall for the oldest trick in the book though: a tuk-tuk driver offered to take us round the main sights of Bangkok for 30 baht (about 60p). Great, we thought, and it started off well – he took us to another Big Buddha (this one much more authentic!) and a couple of palaces, but then we started being taken to various shops in the hope that we’d buy something and he’d get a backhander! In the end it was all harmless, and we ended on good terms with the driver. But it is still galling to fell like you’ve been hoodwinked.

Bangkok feels more like you’d imagine an Asian city to be: hot, smelly, dirty, raucous, and burdgeouning with slums and poverty. It feels like people are always trying to rip you off, which most of the time they are!

If you can’t stand the heat…get the hell outta Bangkok.

We didn’t think much of Bangkok at all, and couldn’t wait to leave, so we booked a night train to Changi Mai (14 hours!) We arrived about 2 hours ago after a surprisingly painless journey – we had a bunk each so the time flew by! Chang Mai is so much more relaxed than Bangkok, and we both feel much happier for being here. The hostel is lovely, more like a hotel really; it’s not so hot, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing!