I write to you this evening from Chang Mai in the north of Thailand. Chang Mai is a lovely city, that is a great contrast to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

I met Selim in Bangkok on the 5th when I arrived late in the evening. I met him on the street in Khao San, which is heaving with tourists. We spent the next day touring the city in a Tuk Tuk. We worked out a wonderful little game with the drivers, where by if we allowed them to take us to partiular shops, where they would get a commision for bringing us there, and then they would drive us for free! It was a very cost effective way to tour the city, if you have the patience to pretend to be interested in each shop.

We then caught an overnight, 12 hour bus to Chang Mai and arrived at about 5am this morning. The most amusing thing about this was the bus showed a horrible B-grade version of the Mummy gone wrong. At least it was a good starting point for conversation with the people around us.

Today we rented a motorbike and rode it into the hills to visit a beautiful temple. At the temple we had a wonderful chat with a monk about the foundations of buddism. It is such an interesting philosophy and I hope that I can learn more about it as I travel through this country.

This afternoon I have had a full body Thai massage! It was amazing. It involved this little Thai woman walking on my legs and back and bending me into all sorts of wonderful positions.

As I had thought, the best thing here is the food. I'm going crazy! I can't help myself , I'm trying everything! Today I've had stir fry basil and Chichen, and some really crazy sweet and sour soup that had taro fruit in it!!! But winning my vote for food of the day has been banana roti, which I ate this evening at a fundraising concert for the hill tribe people. Luck I Have Selim to polish off everything that I buy and can't finish. My eyes are way to big for my belly!!!

All in all it has been a great start to the trip.