The beginnings

So i realise it is still very early in my trip....some may think too early to already be telling people of my grand adventures. But i'm going to be using this as much as an online travel journal, as as a way to keep in touch.

The flight over was relatively uneventful. I slept for the entire thing except for when food came out and the lovely lady beside me woke me up for it. Just before landing we had a huge chat, and it came up in conversation that i hadn't actually changed over any money yet. Just before i got off the plane she gave me 500baht -around $20- (and when i say gave i mean she shoved it in my bag when i kept refusing) so that i wouldn't have to change my money over at the airport (and thus get a better rate somewhere else). And flat out refused that i pay her the Australian equivalent. So that started me out on a very good note about people in general.

I didn't really want to hang about Bangkok so i booked a train ticket to Chiang Mai and took the overnight train there that night. On the train i met this awesome girl called Monique. We're now sharing a room at this fantastic hostel in the centre of the old city. It's so clean and colourful and CHEAP! The staff are amazingly friendly and greet us by name everytime they see us. Unfortunately this means anywhere else i stay from now on is going to fall under harsh comparison!

Yesterday we went on a tour that lasted about 12 hours! We went white water rafting, elephant riding, forest walking, swimming under waterfalls, bamboo boat riding and hill tribe and orchid farm visiting. Sooooooooooo much fun! We were going to watch Thai boxing last night but we were so exhausted from the day we decided to have a quiet one instead.

I was going to make my way down to Kanchanaburi (2 hours south of Bangkok) over the next few days to visit the tiger temple. But after making that plan i found out that the monks there have been drugging the tigers to keep them docile - which i really don't want to support. So instead i'm going to hang round here a bit longer, apparently there is a tiger temple around here somewhere so i might check it out. 

Today i'm going to have a lazy day. Get a massage and work out how to get my visa for Vietnam.

I'll fill you in on more stuff later. Hope the Brisbane weather is clearing up.
xxxx