Thailand Day 6

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Today was supposed to be another relaxing day, this time spent at the Thai Farm Cooking School.
We were picked up at 08:30 and along with four others taken to a local market where they introduced us to some of the ingredients we'd be using throughout the day! We were then given fifteen minutes to browse. From here we headed off to the school seventeen kilometers outside of the city. The first half an hour were spent walking around the farm and getting familiar with the other ingredients. We were then guided unaided in cooking 5 different dishes each. But I'm sure like the Bali Cooking class we undertook 2 years ago the Cook book we received will go unused...
Suitably (& surprisingly) shattered from the class we took a long soak before taking a walk to the Tailors for a skirt fitting.
Our evening had a little more spice than all the others in that we decided to visit the two roof top bars in Chiang Mai. The first was the Backpackers Roof Top bar. After ascended to the first two flights via a rickety staircase with Backpacker comments and general Graffiti we were then faced with a set of rough steel steps with no railing to reach the roof. Talk about bohemian, the very uneven floor was covered in Thai rugs with low tables and cushions scattered about, the lights were off (if they even existed) with the only lighting being supplied by fairy lights. The walls were painted in the colours of the Jamaican and reggae was playing at a level slightly(!) higher than ambient! That said, what an amazing place, the stereotypical 'Thailand' Bohemia. Comparing this bar with the Bangkok version is like comparing Nuclear Holocaust with a handbag fight between two Thai Ladyboys! From the sublime to the ridiculous, the next bar aptly named 'Pornping' was just weird, the reception of the hotel was grand and spacious however once we reach the 20 floor it was grotty with peeling paint and warn carpets. The bar on top was no better, I even thought about wiping the bench seat before I sat down. The table next to us had four (sex) tourist with six not the most attractive giggling women, with the view from the top being only slightly better.

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