mmmmm....judy , one of our dogs was doing her annoying barking bit and i was just about to shout at her to shut up when i noticed that she was barking at something in the flowerbed. having spotted snakeskin recently i went to investigate. i couldnt see anything cos it was too dark and i couldnt find the torch so i gave up. a couple of minutes later the intruder showed itself.

a bloody big  black scorpian!

have to admit to being pretty nervus as it approached at some speed as i took the photo.

Boon bravely tackled it with a stick and bucket and carried it away to a neighbour who first screamed and then killed it and it is probably being used to add potency to the local whiskey now.

Don't know about 3-4 days, i think they should keep Song Kran running all month. Its around 40 degrees here in Chiang Mai and i'm melting!

at least i am every time i venture out of the bedroom.

yes i've resorted to the air conditioning.

I dont even want to venture out to the waterfall..well i do but you can never bank on not getting stuck in traffic and the heat is such that i'd rather stick it out here.

i've actually been doing a little work in the garden which had started to get a touch untidy and overgrown. was up early at around 6.30 and got a lot done whilst it was still cool.

then ive been doing about 10 minutes evry hour until about an hour ago(3.30 now). no more till the sun goes down!

i've done a curry ready for tonight and have plans to mop thru the house...proper little domestic day:)

checked out a lawn service busines the other day that looked like the perfect thing for me until i discovered thru Boons translating that two of the workers were migrants which would be no good for my visa requirements.

so still looking...theres a thai cafe restaurant up for grabs at very reasonable cost and might take a look at that, when it cools down a bit.

had a nice afternoon at the waterfall up Suthep a couple of days ago....more photos:)

need to do alot more on my official website but it involves going out and getting more photos for the chiang mai guide and im afraid thats just gonna have to wait for a weather change.

it started a few days ok in many parts of the countryside, but the Song kran festival proper has been happening in ernest here over the last 3 days, with throngs of people playing water games around the city, mainly around the moat roads.

all manner of water pistols have been in action as well as buckets, my weapon of choice, cheap and easily filled from the moat.

I'm still a little unclear as to the true meaning of Song Kran, I know its connected with the Chinese New Year , but have also heard more specifically that is to wash away the sins of the year before and start afresh, also heard it said that its to celebrate the coming of the rains, but i think these days its mainly an excuse to cool off in the extreme heat and have some fun and people have certainly been doing that.

we've spent the last 3 days going in and joining in, today was certainly the busiest.

here in chiang mai people just drive round and round the square, many in pick-up trucks laden with water butts and many people on board, throwuing water over the crowds lining the street who answer by dousing them back with water gathered from the moat.

i got pushed in the moat today, came out smelling like canal water , but what the hell.

it will probably go on for another couple of days but today was the main 'official' day.

back safe and well from our trip to Phayao with Lars.

we set off on friday morning around 8.30am. it was already well hot, up in the 30s and although the wind from riding helped the air was very warm too, so there wasnt much cooling effect.

we stopped for breakfast at the national park stream out on the road to chiang rai and then again for coffee at Pong Nam Ron, before breaking off that road and heading east to Phayao.

we found a wonderfull waterfall about 20 k outside phayao at, at around 2 and stayed there for quite a while cooling off , along with a party of thai kids who had been brought out there by a group of Monks.

before hitting Phayao we stopped off at Wat Analyo, a complex which includes 3 sites close to each other, one of which holds a replica of The Buddhas Temple in India.

the first site was clearly very old and there was a long walk up many steps to a beautifully serene location , where we found several small Temples, of various styles and ages. there were also many sculptures, fountains etc, all set amongst mountain forest. the only noise was that of the forest insects busying themselves and if i ever make that step to monkhood its another location on my list of choices for signing up.

finally we arrived in Phayao at around 7pm and went and had coffee by the lake before hunting for somewhere to stay.

after a frustrating search, during we we discovered a great lack of guest houses,(apparently none), old lakeside bungalows that were closed down and a brand new lakeside room complex yet to open, it was looking like we may have to stomach paying the exhorbitant price of 5-600baht for a room at one of the Hotels or resorts.

just as we were about to cave in we came across a 'hotel' wghich offered us rooms at 220 a night. the reason there are no photos of this place is that its main business comes from people who just go there to have sex , (bit like our motels i guess), lots of 'Mr and Mrs Smiths:)

after booking in and grabbing a shower and an hours kip we went back lakeside for a very nice meal, returning around 11 to get a good nights sleep before heading south in search of lakeside peace for the day...at least that was the plan.

off at 8.30 next morning we heading down the road to Lampang in search of the Mae Chom national park and huge lake marked on the map nearby.

there was some rough riding to do as a large section of the road is under reconstruction.

finding the turn to the national park we stopped for brunch at a local cafe where they told us that the signposted waterfall was 40 baht to get in.

on getting to the national park check point we found that for farang it is 400 baht and skinflints that we are we turned away and went on to look for the lake.

the plan had been to find a nice spot and chill out rather than spend all day riding again. but the lake, despite seemin quite extensive on our road map , proved to be very elusive and we didnt find it until around 3pm.

once again we also found little signs of anywhere to stay unless you wanted to spend silly money.

deciding on heading back towards Chiang Mai via a mountain ' shortcut' , we continued to hope we would find somewhere on the way.

we headed  off from the lake around 4 and after a few wrong turns, and a few soakings from the kids playing 'Songkran', finally got onto the mountain road.

 what a ride we were in for.

the narrow winding roads took us up and down some of the steepest roads i have been along so far and i seriously worried about whther the chopper would make it, as we had to drop to second and first gear quite a few times and the bike was already well hot from the days riding.

it was one of those rides that i am chuffed to have done, but not if i did it again would amke sure i was more prepared with things like, tools and spares for the bike, and a tent for sure. lord knows what we would have done if we'd broken down up there. the road seemeed to go on for ever, and just as you thought that you'd reached the peak, round the next hairpin would be a near vertical climb on roads that were visibly breaking up in places and littered with the remains of landslides every few hundred metres, some that looked very recent.

but still, the occassional thoughts of ' what an earth am i doing' we overidden by the stunning views and then the wonderfully eery atmosphere as the sun went down and at least half the journey continued in darkness.

i'm not sure how high we got but on the way back down we passed a sign saying 14, 480 metres and id say that was at least half way down, maybe even 3 quarters.

we eventually rejoined the Chiang Mai chiang rai road at around 8.45pm and having failed to find any places to stop over we carried on back home, tired and aching but extremely exhilirated by the crazy ride we'd made.

 

been a while since i caught up in here , mostly cos i was concentrating on getting my official website up and running, until an electrical surge damaged my harddrive.

still got that fixed at last so hope to be back into catching up on the website next week after a short moral boosting motorbike trip tomorrow. probably going to Phayao for a couple of days, where there is a replica of Buddhas temple in india.

had my first visit from a UK friend last week. Conga Dave the Rave turned up with a Danish guy , Lars, that he met whilst on Koh Chang.

 dave was only here for a week but it was great to see him and he says he'll be back for longer in the future having had a taste of Chiang Mai.

Took him out to Huay Tung Thao and up to the waterfall up Suthep, which is a great place to cool off in the extreme heat we have at the moment. Lars is still here till the 15th. he went off for a couple of days for a ride down to Op luang and will probably come with us to Phayao.

then i have to get back to some serious work on my website.

went to see Mr Beans Holiday couple of days ago...hilarious!