1st feb - Sorry for not writing sooner and this will be a quick update as been busy lately - in a good way.
Flew up to Chang Mai which is a lovely old walled city in the north of thailand with some great mountain views. Most people come up here to do some trekking to some nearby hilltribes but i just had a few lazy days visiting the usual temples, night market and went to see some thai boxing which was good fun. I didnt fancy the trekking as i'd heard it was very commercial now as they have been doing it over 20yrs and i also heard the elephants are treated quite badly and having done an elephant trek in kanchanaburi which i cut short after 2 minutes because the mahoot was digging a stick with a curved steel end into the elephant, i didnt quite fancy endorsing the same thing. Instead i booked a day at an elephant sanctuary which was a hightlight of my trip. they all looked healthy and were kept well and we were lucky enough to be able to feed and bath them. Sadly all came with a story of being mistreated. one poor elephant was used for logging and one day she gave birth to a baby while on site and it rolled down he hill and died in its sack. As she wasnt able to save it she refused to work and the mahoots decided to throw stones and arrows her eyes to force her to work which eventually blinded here in both eyes. when she arrived at the sanctuary the oldest female in the herd felt her with her nozzle and realising she was blind has never left her side since after she took the blind elephant under her wing - you see them both today - inseperable.
After a few days headed off to Pai - a lovely riverside "hippie"town. found a bungalow with an amazing view over the river and had a wonderful 2 days in Pai , again not really doing much other than soaking up the atmosphere but trying to avoid inhaling all the dodgy stuff that was being smoked in just about every bar around!!. Because of the chinese new year the town was packed with tourists and there was also a reggae festival on which i am sure my bro wld have loved but i was glad i made the trip up.
LH - thanks for your emails - bit bored and yes i am keeping busy thank you.x
will update again in about a weeks time
M.x
