Dinner was western style in the hotel restaurant last night. We were meant to eat in their outdoor area but as it was raining we sat inside the formal part. The food was good and a pleasant enough change from everything Asian. I tried Thai whiskey but won't be changing brands any time soon. By the time we had finished dinner the rain had stopped so most of us decided to venture to the night markets. Once there we all went our separate ways. I wanted to buy a key ring (I attach a key ring from the country I am in to the relevant USB that I load all the photos onto). Anyway, 2 cushion covers, 2 pair of casual pull on pants, a dress and a material shoulder bag later, I head back to the hotel about 10.30 and don't give the darn key ring another thought until breakfast this morning. What a numpty!!! No time for photo uploading so you miss out again.
Awake at 4.45 a.m. for no good reason and that was the end of sleep for the night. Breakfast was a busy affair as many of the JW's were already in the restaurant but I managed to find a table with a couple of my kittens. They leave Saturday so at least we won't all be trying to book out of the hotel at the same time in the morning.
The weather is fine, hardly a cloud in the sky. We continue to be so very lucky. The only bit of rain we saw was yesterday and then only while on the coach and during dinner last night. A light breakfast had by all as we are off to a Thai cooking class for the morning. We meet our chef Anporn at a fresh vegetable and food market where she shows us what vegetables are which and what spices, etc we can use. She then selects all the raw materials we will need for our lunch. Back on the coach and then to her cookery school where our first order of business is to don chef's hats and aprons. She patiently then shows us how to make Pad Thai and we then all had to have a go at making it for ourselves. It was delicious. We then do all the preparation for green chicken curry and hot sour soup. When we then had both these dishes cooked we got to eat them while our bananas in coconut milk were cooking. What a great way to spend the morning. I think most of us were a bit 'unfussed' about the cooking class, but Anporn was so lovely and the set up in the large kitchen was so well done tha it amde it both easy and interesting for us. then when we had finished devouring our cooking she presented us each with one of her cooking books which is a professionally published book that she was more than happy to sign personally for each of us. Even our one token male in the group ended up enjoying himself.
But time to get back on the coach and we started heading toward an orphanage to visit but when Joe called ahead to confirm our attendance he was told that the orphanage is closed for a few days as one of the children has chicken pox. So we all agreed that we were happy to move to the next thing on our itinerary and potentially get back to the hotel a bit earlier as we all ahve to pack and as we have a big special farewell dinner tonight a bit of a rest on the hotel beforehand will be a bonus. So we head to the top of Wat Doi Suthep where there is large temple (no surprise there) but offering fabulous views over Chiang Mai. I think we were about 2 km above sea level. The road was really windy and steep and thankfully we were visiting on a week day because on weekends it is such a popular spot that buses are banned and so we would have had to be conveyed to the hill top via one of the truck/utes. Once we were at the base of the temple we took at lift up to the top. It is about 400 steps otherwise and Joe suggested if we really wanted to do the steps to do them going down rather than up and I liked his thinking!
Back on the coach and back to our hotel abut 3.30. A few wanted to do some shopping and/or exchange money so I headed back towards where the night market was starting to set up but very little was open as it doesn't really get underway properly until about 7ish. However I helped one of my kittens get some money exchanged and I then headed back to the hotel and I want to get the suitcase packed and have a quiet moment to myself before dinner.
So suitcase duly packed and I still have plenty of room. Hoever I am really cross with myself as I realize that I have managed to leave my digital luggage scales behind in one of the hotels as they are no longer in my suitcase. I am certain I had them with me as I have taken a fan and my travel clock out of the smae little bag I had them all in. But now no bag and therefore no scales... bugga! Add this to my sunglasses I lost at the last hotel and I am not faring well. I never lose things and to lose 2 items on the 1 short holiday is really annoying. So I told myself that worse things happen at sea and I should know because I've been on the Fairstar. No point stweing over it. I've been online and found where I can ge another one so will do so as soon as I get home. With that decision made I have a shower and get myself dressed up for our farewell dinner. I went downstairs a bit earlier than needed and found a few of my kittens already there. I was telling them my sorry tale of losing my sunglasses and then tonight realizing that I had lost my luggage scales. I then said somehting like, as things tend to happen in 3 I hope I don't lose anything else, or perhaps I might lose one of them. With that my little ditsy kitten who is definitely suffering early Alzheimers shoots up from the loungs and takes off. We are all left looking at each other wondering what the heck has happened when one of the other kittys tells me that she thinks she has left her handbag with her money, ticket and passport in it at the hairdresser that she had been to some time earlier this afternoon! After about 5 minutes of panic, the handbag is located and all is well, but her timing couldn't have been worse when I had barely finished my sentence about losing one of them! Manage to calm the kitty down and no amount of talking could convince her to lock her valuables in the hotel room safe so bag with passport, etc comes with us on the coach to dinner. The friend her loaned her this stupid alleged trave bag should be horse-whipped. The bloody thing has more pockets, flaps and zips on one bag than necessary should war break out! Kitty puts her room key in one pocket and bare moments later spends up to 5 minutes checking every nook and cranny of this Pandora's box to check that it is still there. she was upset that she still hadn't found anything as a thankyou gift for the lady who loaned the bag to her. I told her to forget getting a gift as the person who loaned it to her is no friend of hers to fob off such a dud of a bag!!!
Anyway, that was me getting side tracked aain. We all get on the coach and head to a Kantoke dinner which is traditional norhern Thai, along with traditional dancing. Apparently traditionally the northerners sit cross legged on the floor to eat their meal. Thankfully to venue caters for Westerners and we were able to sit at floor level on cushions but with our feet in a pit. Not easy to get into or up out of , but we managed. The food was great and again way too much of it. And then it was time to come back to the hotel for our very last night inThailand. I took a couple of the kittens down the road to a small shop I'd found this afternoon when I finally got the keyring for my photos USB plus a sweet little brooch that was really cheap. They bought a couple of things they liked and back to the hotel we came. The vening was perfect weather and having no idea what it is like back home, I really am quite happy to stay here longer, but that ain't going to happen so back to the hotel and my room with just enough time to pen these lines and then it is off to bed as I am very, very tired now.
Am in denial that it is our last night inThailand. It has been a super trip, going far beyond my expectations. Who's the spoilsport that said "All good things must some to an end"? What a killjoy.
But time to get back on the coach and we started heading toward an orphanage to visit but when Joe called ahead to confirm our attendance he was told that the orphanage is closed for a few days as one of the children has chicken pox. So we all agreed that we were happy to move to the next thing on our itinerary and potentially get back to the hotel a bit earlier as we all ahve to pack and as we have a big special farewell dinner tonight a bit of a rest on the hotel beforehand will be a bonus. So we head to the top of Wat Doi Suthep where there is large temple (no surprise there) but offering fabulous views over Chiang Mai. I think we were about 2 km above sea level. The road was really windy and steep and thankfully we were visiting on a week day because on weekends it is such a popular spot that buses are banned and so we would have had to be conveyed to the hill top via one of the truck/utes. Once we were at the base of the temple we took at lift up to the top. It is about 400 steps otherwise and Joe suggested if we really wanted to do the steps to do them going down rather than up and I liked his thinking!
Back on the coach and back to our hotel abut 3.30. A few wanted to do some shopping and/or exchange money so I headed back towards where the night market was starting to set up but very little was open as it doesn't really get underway properly until about 7ish. However I helped one of my kittens get some money exchanged and I then headed back to the hotel and I want to get the suitcase packed and have a quiet moment to myself before dinner.
So suitcase duly packed and I still have plenty of room. Hoever I am really cross with myself as I realize that I have managed to leave my digital luggage scales behind in one of the hotels as they are no longer in my suitcase. I am certain I had them with me as I have taken a fan and my travel clock out of the smae little bag I had them all in. But now no bag and therefore no scales... bugga! Add this to my sunglasses I lost at the last hotel and I am not faring well. I never lose things and to lose 2 items on the 1 short holiday is really annoying. So I told myself that worse things happen at sea and I should know because I've been on the Fairstar. No point stweing over it. I've been online and found where I can ge another one so will do so as soon as I get home. With that decision made I have a shower and get myself dressed up for our farewell dinner. I went downstairs a bit earlier than needed and found a few of my kittens already there. I was telling them my sorry tale of losing my sunglasses and then tonight realizing that I had lost my luggage scales. I then said somehting like, as things tend to happen in 3 I hope I don't lose anything else, or perhaps I might lose one of them. With that my little ditsy kitten who is definitely suffering early Alzheimers shoots up from the loungs and takes off. We are all left looking at each other wondering what the heck has happened when one of the other kittys tells me that she thinks she has left her handbag with her money, ticket and passport in it at the hairdresser that she had been to some time earlier this afternoon! After about 5 minutes of panic, the handbag is located and all is well, but her timing couldn't have been worse when I had barely finished my sentence about losing one of them! Manage to calm the kitty down and no amount of talking could convince her to lock her valuables in the hotel room safe so bag with passport, etc comes with us on the coach to dinner. The friend her loaned her this stupid alleged trave bag should be horse-whipped. The bloody thing has more pockets, flaps and zips on one bag than necessary should war break out! Kitty puts her room key in one pocket and bare moments later spends up to 5 minutes checking every nook and cranny of this Pandora's box to check that it is still there. she was upset that she still hadn't found anything as a thankyou gift for the lady who loaned the bag to her. I told her to forget getting a gift as the person who loaned it to her is no friend of hers to fob off such a dud of a bag!!!
Anyway, that was me getting side tracked aain. We all get on the coach and head to a Kantoke dinner which is traditional norhern Thai, along with traditional dancing. Apparently traditionally the northerners sit cross legged on the floor to eat their meal. Thankfully to venue caters for Westerners and we were able to sit at floor level on cushions but with our feet in a pit. Not easy to get into or up out of , but we managed. The food was great and again way too much of it. And then it was time to come back to the hotel for our very last night inThailand. I took a couple of the kittens down the road to a small shop I'd found this afternoon when I finally got the keyring for my photos USB plus a sweet little brooch that was really cheap. They bought a couple of things they liked and back to the hotel we came. The vening was perfect weather and having no idea what it is like back home, I really am quite happy to stay here longer, but that ain't going to happen so back to the hotel and my room with just enough time to pen these lines and then it is off to bed as I am very, very tired now.
Am in denial that it is our last night inThailand. It has been a super trip, going far beyond my expectations. Who's the spoilsport that said "All good things must some to an end"? What a killjoy.
My goodness! It's all come to an end too quickly. What are we to do for our morning reading now? Loved travelling with you and the kittens and what great adventures you have had. Awesome trip and everyone will have lots of stories to tell.
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