i hope the mangoes are delicious

On our last day in Chiang Mai, we made a second attempt to go into the jungle (the first had been rained off the day before and had been substituted for deciding which Hogwarts house all our friends would be in during the taxi ride). That morning we made it into the forest to cool off in waterfalls.  

Back in town, after some coconut soup and pad thai, the girls set off for some last minute temple viewing. 

Unfortunately at that time of day the heat proved to be too much, so Sinead and I set off for massages - with a difference. It was at a place run entirely by blind people - a simple little front that looked kind of like a dentist's down a backstreet. Inside it was dark and cool with several futon in each room. The massage was no frills, but it was the best I'd ever had. The lady assigned to me kept coming back to my feet as if to check progress, and instantly found all my knots and sore points, instead of just giving me a one-size-fits-all service. It's a lovely place and for about 7 quid you can get a fantastic one hour massage. Leave a tip! 

After an hour it had cooled down a bit so we carried on temple-hopping. 

Tired and dusty, we flew to Bangkok that night in the middle of a lightning storm... but at least we had Annica's most treasured newspaper clip to entertain us. (Full disclosure: the moment she withdrew this from her purse and read it to me deadpan in August was when I knew we'd be friends). 

696km later, we were ready for our next adventure.