We don't want to leave this place...

We're still in Chang Mai, and I don't regret this one bit. And Nick Posternino gave us an excuse to stay an extra day or two! He's in Singapore right now and decided to fly up for the weekend and meet up with us here! So far in Chang Mai we've kept very very busy. We're meeting more people here than anywhere else before and also getting the chance to take some classes and do other fun activities that we had hoped to be doing all along.

So far we've taken a cooking class, trekked through the jungle, attended a kickboxing fight, and eaten some of the best food so far on this trip.

The cooking class was a full day and we cooked 6 dishes. I LOVE Thai food so this was an excellent day. Not only did I learn how to make some delicious dishes, but I got to eat Thai food all day long. I received a cookbook from the class so I'm eager to continue making these dishes. The surprising thing was how easy most of the dishes are to make. Some ingredients may be harder to find in Seattle, but I don't think I cooked anything that cooked be whipped together in more than 30 minutes.

The trek took 3 days and 2 nights into the jungly hillsides surrounding Chang Mai. The first day we rode an elephant and then hiked our way up to the top of a hill. The view from our hut was amazing! And our bamboo huts were authentic. I expected touristy crap but we actually got to stay in bamboo huts with a hill tribe with chickens and cats running around. The next day we stopped at a waterfall to lounge before getting to our jungle camp. This was also a bamboo hut but this time beside a creek in the dense and lush jungle. Butterflies the size of birds flew around and a papaya tree stood right in the middle of camp. The 3rd day we rafted down some whitewater and then made our way back to town. But by far the best part was the fun group of people that trekked with us! I'm sure I'm spelling these names horribly, but thank you Peter, Andrea, Eoin, Sonne, Jon, Laura, Monica, and Ellen for such a great time! Hopefully we'll meet up again down the road!

Anyways it's noon now and a good excuse to eat some more food. But if I don't get online again before I leave Chang Mai, our plan is to take a bus north to Laos and then take a river boat down the Mekong for two days. I'm not sure that internet is widely available in Laos, but I think that may be one of the more appealing things about laid-back-Laos. So I hope everyone at home is doing well!