Cheeky monkeys!

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So still wandering aimlessly around Thailand. Well Ok thats not strictly true, I have some idea where I'm heading. I stayed in Pai for 5 days. It was actually alot quieter than I had expected, not as much live music going on. But it was a really nice place so I hired a scooter and just enjoyed the scenery. I spent one afternoon at the hot springs where the water is 80 degrees at the source and people take eggs there to boil them! At the bottom there were several mineral pools, it felt like stepping into a bath, not reall what you need when its 30 something degrees in the shade! On the Monday I took a Thai cooking class, I learnt to make excellent red curry paste and several dishes including Mango salad which had tons of chilli in it. So I can't wait to try out my new cooking skills.
I then headed back to Chaing Mai via a very windy mountain road, it was horseshoe bends for about 2 hours! Enough to make anyone car sick! Topped with getting water chucked at us in every wee village we passed through. This was the start of Songkran, the Thai new year which starts on the 13th of this month. It is celebrated but everyone throwing water over each other. Traditionaly people would be blessed with scented water but it has evolved to people running around with buckets of water, giant water pistols and in some places pressure hoses! But of course, in the mountains it starts early.
I stayed in Chaing Mai another couple of days. I went to Tiger kingdom which was amazing, you get to go into the cages with the tigers, pet them and cuddle them! It was such an experience being so close to them. I was surprised that their coats were so soft, just like a big cat really ( obviously!) I sat down by one ( a one year old female called Paula) she was sleeping facing away from me and when I started to pet her she rolled onto her back to let me pet her belly and she just lay there for ages. A recommemded experience for anyone going to Chaing Mai.
Yesterday I took the train to Lopburi, a couple of hours north of Bangkok. It took 11 hours, was two hours late and that was the express train! Lopburi is completely overrun with monkeys. They are everywhere. I walked around this morning thinking that maybe they were just in the temples they one ran in front of me and scooted up a telegraph pole and wher I looked up I could see monkeys everywhere, on telephone wires, on street signs, on window sills. The locals see them as pests but put up with them as they bring the tourists. I went into the temple and got mauled! The smaller ones are the cheekiest, jumping on me and trying to get into my bag. I was very popular when they realised I had peanuts!
Tomorrow I'm going to head to Ayuthaya, an ancient capital of Thailand with loads of ruins and temples. After that I think I'll head south as it's getting very hot and sticky here and not very pleasant so I need to head for the coast.

So hope everyone is well...

Big hugs & kisses

Lx

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