Farewell to Indochina

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Back in Thailand - Chang Mai. This was to be our last night with the group. We went off for the last supper which included some emotional speeches. The evening was quite eventful, as we walked around the night market (poor cousin to Luang Pra bang) then went to a night club (way too early and too expensive). This had a lot of local bands playing which seemed to resemble Thailand's version of Thailand's got 'no' talent! We rapidly moved on and ended up in a local bar where Gary played pool watched by a number of lady boys.
In the morning we said our final goodbyes to the group before leaving for our resort we were staying at - for a few days of relaxation. It was actually very sad saying goodbye to the group, but all good things must come to an end.
Our Hotel was about 20 mins out of town towards the mountains and at this time of year it was very quiet. We spotted about 10 other guests during our 4 night stay and the veneing meal was ofetn just us two + 6 staff. It was a great place to chill out though.
The grounds of the hotel were beautiful as it was situated in a botanical garden to which we had free access. The gardens employed a lot of locals that busied themselves by cutting a huge array of animals from hedges. Topiary seems to be a big thing here in Thailand! They also had a small zoo which had such diverse things such as camels, cassowary and ostrich.
Each morning started with a stroll round the gardens, a quick work out in the gym and a swim in the pool.- luxury. The only change to our routine was a trip into town - Chang Mai, and a work over by the resident masseurs. Gary felt really intimidated by the workover he got from his young masseuse, he had his eyes closed through the whole experience even when she was pushing hard near his toilet area and he could smell the garlic on her breath Gary could not walk for 2 hours afterwards, but this may have been due to the new stocking pants he was given!
We did not spend enough time in Thailand to do it justice and it just means we have to come back.
A quick stopover in Bangkok and Singapore was pretty uneventful apart from a 24hr sickness that kept Gary close to porcelain.

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Photos

Elephant
The elephant was rubbish at disguising himself with leaves.

A visit to the zoo
The camel seemed very pleased with himself.

Cassowary
Missed these in Oz. We are quite pleased as they are aggressive buggers.

More bushes!
Horse!

Gary working out
There was an inside gym too!