Chang Rai was only a 3 hour bus journey north of Chang Mai. The buses in Thailand are cheap and efficient and also air-conditioned, which is essential in the current and typical heat. Booked a hotel with a swimming pool which proved to be an excellent choice and only a 30 minute walk into the centre of town. Met a couple of fellow travellers poolside and spent time in the evenings visiting the night market that also had a cheap and cheerful food court in the centre with free entertainment. This market is cheaper than Chang Mai with a larger selection of food and is set in much pleasanter surroundings with more space and less hassle from stall holders! The Hilltribe Museum was a worthwhile place to visit, not only informative about the various tribes but also specialised in providing 'ethical' treks that tried to avoid exploitation of the hilltribe people. Booked a 3 day/2 night trek with 5 other trekkers from Germany, Holland and a couple from Eire. The guide, Goy, was a member of the Yao tribe and very knowledgeable, and also spoke good English. The trek was mainly through tropical forest, much up and down hill climbing starting with a long tail boat ride up river to the elephant camp followed by an elephant ride (my second also left me with a tender spot on my backWe stayed in 2 villages at night, in mixed dormitories, and ate tasty basic Thai food, cooked by our guide. One lunch was had in the forest cooked using bamboo utensils and plates etc and followed by a swim in a waterfall. We all played cards in the evenings and generally got on well together as a group, drinking a lot of beer together. The final day was spent journeying to the hot springs, and relaxing there followed by a pick up truck ride back into Chang Rai. Though a bit more expensive a trek than the Chang Mai based one it was very worthwhile experience with a better quality guide and organisation. Am unable include pictures of this trek until return to Chang Mai.
Photo 1. The Akha Hilltribe village were we stayed the first night of the trek.
Photo 2. Swimming in the waterfall visited on the trek.
Photo 3 and 4. Our guide made utensils from bamboo for our forest lunch on the final day of the trek.
Photo 5. The jungle view from the first hill climbed on the trek.
Photo 6. A boatload of intrepid trekkers.
Photo 7. Wat Phrau Kew, the principle wat of Chang Rai.

The weather varies very little and continues to be sunny and warm, usually reaching 30C most days. Everyday have made full use of the local outdoor swimming pool which also has an excellent restaurant serving good Thai and English food at a very reasonable cost. Whilst in Chang Mai have managed to find a reasonable optician where I have been able to replace both pairs of specs (one pair lost while trekking in Nepal) at a fifth of the cost in England and this included a free eye test.

Staying in Andreen and Martin's condominium has provided me with a good base for Thailand and also boasts a bistro on the ground floor with free internet access. Our respective stays in Thailand overlapped by a few days , this enabled my hosts to show me significant places in the city, including the night market and good eating places, for example the Gekko Bar, run by an ebullient American, and some riverside restaurants. Having a base in Thailand that is situated in the north of the country whilst staying here makes a lot of difference enabling me to relax between travelling to other places such as Chang Rai, Laos or Cambodia. Northern Thailand is also cooler than the more popular southern part of the country and slightly less 'touristy'. Whilst in Chang Mai I managed to acquire a ticket for a piano concert which was part of the Chang Mai Music Festival. Met a number of ex-pat Brits who gave me some useful ideas for places to visit in Laos. The concert was a showcase for 3 music students from Korea, all of whom played to a very high standard in a concert of music from the Romantic era ie Grieg, Tchiakovsky and my favourite composer, Chopin.
Trekking in Thailand tends to be for shorter periods than Nepal so a 3 day trek to the hill tribal areas in the mainly jungle area typical of Northern Thailand was a great experience, but with less trekking than I have been used to.Experienced my first elephant ride , swim in a pool by a waterfall and finally a bamboo raft ride through rapids as well as trekking, all in the space of 3 days. The first night was in a hill tribe village of the Karen people, where we were made to feel very welcome. The villagers lit a bonfire and gave an impromptu rendering of their traditional songs, and we were expected to reciprocate with some of our own (I sang 'Amazing Grace' jointly with a Canadian fellow nurse). The second night was in the jungle in huts at the side of the waterfall, falling asleep to the sound of the fall.
Finally before leaving Chang Mai for a visit to Chang Rai I visited the flower festival which took place around the old town moat, the parade taking most of the morning to complete! A really spectacularly colourful occasion where I was able to take lots of photo's.

Photo 1 Tuk-tuk 'float' at flower festival

Photo 2. Start of parade , somewhat disappointing!

Photo 3 Waterfall close by Karen village. We slept in huts at the side of the falls

Photo 4. Chang Masi flower festival, leading float.

Photo 5. Sue at waterfall pool, cooling off.

Photo 6. Karen House (slept here) , hilltribe village.

Photo 7. Sue and fellow trekker feeding elephant.

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