Kidnapped by ephalants

Hi all, just a quick one, stinkin hot day in Chiang Mai which is nice, we did a package tour thingy today which included an elephant show at one of the parks plus a buffalo cart ride, elephant trek, visit to 'hill tribe village' and was supposed to include a river rafting trip but the rivers were "too high, too dangerous" (they told us this once we got there rather than when we booked... no refunds for weather, sorry)... but a fun day all in all and the elephants were pretty cool, a baby one took a liking to me and climbed up on the fence to give me a hug... or possibly try to drag me away... it was hard to tell. Eve is a long time elephant lover and she was happy as larry, so much so she has come back to book a full day elephant experience tomorrow which includes riding bareback and learning how to control and feed them etc. One day was enough for me, I did get my own elephant though so I rode through the countryside pretending it was back in the days of the Raj and I was a wealthy plantation owner... sadly I had no peasants handy to smite.

We are here tonight and two more nights now as the weather is looking ok and it is more pleasant here than in Bangkok, but we will be on the train south in time for a couple of days in the capital before moving on to next country!!

Thanks for all the hundreds of comments praising my immense writing skills and seeking help with questions from my vast wealth of knowledge on travel in this part of the world (ok, there was no praise, but anyway)... for all those I have talked to who are interested in travel tips I will do my best to write some points down and post them once I am home, and obviously will talk over beers. There are more and more people interested in coming this way, and since I have spent a bit of time here and there I am glad to help if I can, or at least help people avoid the same mistakes, haha... With that in mind if you know anyone else interested in travel or even just reading my drivel you can give them this blog address if they want a read. Hope all is well, missing home if only for the people... well, not ALL the people, I don't have that much love to give... but some of you... and my car... and a selection of premium beers...