Very Merry Christmas

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The night markets in Chiang Mai were pretty much the same as we'd already seen - you get tired of seeing the same old stuff over and over (especially when it's cheaper somewhere else). Will probably hold off doing any more shopping until we hit bangkok again, otherwise my backpack will explode. We split into teams of 2, me being with milney (diesel) who did have a compass on his watch in case we got lost. I picked up a couple of presents and a new metrosexual watch (to match my other metrosexual watch back at home). This one has a baby blue strap!! Milney and I stopped off for dinner in some place which may or may not have served rat disguised as meat. We ordered the same thing so at least the next day we'd feel eachother's pain. Luckily, right now i'm feeling fine and he's not looking too bad either.

After doing a bit of shopping, we stumbled across an international beer place which milney suggested would be great for picking up some coasters - to complete my task of collecting 12 different ones. I tried to explain this to the waiter who said 200 baht (around $7 AUD) for 12. However, part of my challenge is that i can't pay for them and it is extremely hard to find coasters in Thailand. I managed to negotiate the coasters if we bought a round of drinks and STRESSED that they had to all be different. You could guess what happened next: after some watered down excuse for kilkenny (for an australian price), the waiter brought out a stack of coasters of two different kinds. Pissed off and slightly more hydrated, we then hit the tourist bar strip to hit up a few more places. I managed to collect around 6 different ones and we found a kebab store (bonus!!). It was gross seeing lots of old white men, all with young thai women, in the bars - it got a bit depressing after a while.

However, our spirits were once again lifted when we stumbled across a greek restaurant that will be opening christmas night (tonight). Our christmas morning was very exciting (almost as good as home) with us opening our presents from secret santa. I got arno a back scractcher and a thai dressing gown. Andy B got me some jocks with robots on them, a money bag and some handcuffs (very dangerous). We had a pretty quiet day today, with me and burty heading off to try and find a cheap guitar. No dice on the guitar but i did score 2 harmonicas and a holder for around $10 AUD. Now i can where these at the claremont on sundays with my new bob dylan t-shirt!! We also got some rings with our names etched on them in thai.

All the boys had a big christmas lunch, with a minimum of 2 meals each at the corner hotel. The first round was gin & tonic(s) with our various dishes. We then had some thai whisky with our "french fried" (seriously that's how it appeared on the menu). Feeling quite full and a bit sleepy, the group split with half getting massages and i headed into the markets that have suddenly appeared right near our hostel, to find some sheets for making togas and some plates to smash! Just popped into the net cafe to update you all because we're heading into the mountains tomorrow for 3 days for a trek. I willl update with photos as soon as we get back so i hope you all had a great chrissie and enjoy the boxing day test - lucky alex brought a cricket bat for us to play in the jungle.

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Photos

Night Markets
Pretty much the same range as in Bangkok. My tip would be to go around midnight when they are closing up - for a real bargain - and buy things in groups (for more discount).

Zorba the greek
Can't wait to hit this place up tonight with our togas and plate smashing madness! Best christmas ever (sorry nanna)

Arno relaxin in his new robe
I have a feeling that this will be arno's only outfit at home from now in

Day market near our hotel
Don't know where this sprung up from. We came back from christmas lunch and this massive market was in our street. Hmm, that's thailand for you.