We've been in Chiang Mai for the last 4 days now and it's been fantastic. We really like this place. With so many things to do, such as massage and cooking courses, treks, rock climbing, rafting, meditation retreats, yoga and Tai Chi, it's impossible to get bored. There's also an amazing array of cafes, bars and restaurants that offer incredibly good food and drink at ridiculously cheap prices. Even though Chiang Mai is Thailands second city, it's much more chilled-out than Bangkok.

On the first night here we went to see a Thai boxing match. And I have to say it was quite brutal. These guys really go at each other, using hands, feet, knees,elbows and even head butts! Though we didn't see any of the later, there where plenty of knees being jabbed into the ribs and tighs. Ouch! Most of the matches went the full 5 rounds with only one being stopped and declared a knock out. It wasn't that spectacular though. More a case of too many kicks to the legs, so the poor guy couldn't actually physically stand anymore. Isabelle got really into it. She was practically shadow boxing (and kicking!!!) from the ringside, hurling abuse at the underdogs as they took some punishment.

Yesterday, we took a one day cooking course at the Thai Chocolate cooking school. Thai chocolate is the locals pet name for those mouth-scaldingly hot chillies that they put in the green and red curries. The course was so well organised that we couldn't help but have a brilliant time. Again Isa surprised me, showing some really fine culinary skills that left me scraching my head thinking, '.....and all this time she'd being pretending that she cannot cook! Well, somethings are gonna change after this trip!'.

At the guesthouse where we are staying, they have the cutiest dog ever-well after Ernie dearest. I've never seen a dog quite like this one. He's a cross between a chitsu and a scottish terrier. Really unusual. He's got this really funny way of lying down, his belly against the floor, his hindlegs sticking out straight behind him and his front paws crossed over each other in the funniest manner you could imagine. It's like he's got his arms folded. Absolutely hilarious. We'll be a bit sad to say goodbye to him and our lovely hostess as tomorrow we head off on a 3 day mounatin trek. Though I'm sure we'll see some really interesting tribes and spectacular landscapes as we travel in the InThanon National Park. Keep you posted!