Tuesday 16 to Wednesday 24 November - North Thailand: A spot of cooking, a few elephants, a big Loi Krathong celebration and a whole lot of relaxing

2 After visiting the incredibly slick Hong Kong, Matt and I decided to move on to the north of Thailand. We had to book our flights to Kuala Lumpur for Christmas early due to the price, so we are now having to be quite tight on time to ensure that we manage to get everything in before then. As such, we decided to head directly to Chiang Mai, rather than work our way up slowly as we had wished. Unfortunately, we only decided this whilst in Hong Kong, so how we were going to get to Chiang Mai was a decision we still had to make, and fast.

Ideally, Matt and I would have taken the sleeper train. This was a very comfortable and convenient way of getting to the south of Thailand. However, the sleeper train is incredibly popular and you must book a few days in advance. We considered trying our luck, and then failing that going to the bus station and getting on a sleeper bus. This idea didn't really appeal to us, mainly because the Bangkok-Chiang Mai bus trip is notorious for having things stolen. Having been victim to this already, we decided to check out flights first.

We were both convinced that flights would be too expensive, but after setting a price, we decided to shop around whilst at Bangkok airport. Amazingly, our price was spot on, and three hours after landing at Bangkok, we were taking off again, this time bound for Chiang Mai. The flight was incredible value for money. Our flights during our travels have so far been with AirAsia, but this time we flew with THAI. And what luxury! Reclining seats! Inclusive food! Air conditioning that actually worked! For only a fraction more than the price of the sleeper train we certainly did well with our flights, and I don't think we will be that lucky again for a while!

Before we knew it we had arrived in Chiang Mai, and we quickly noticed the relaxed atmosphere. In our usual style we quickly checked into a hostel and immediately began looking around. I think Matt and I both very swiftly fell in love with Chiang Mai. Unlike Bangkok, you are not constantly hassled. Everything is also a fraction of the price of the capital, and the people far friendlier. In fact, Matt and I liked Chiang Mai so much that we quickly worked out which dates we needed to be where to prolong our stay.

In total we spent a week in Chiang Mai, which is actually quite a bit longer than we originally planned. We were going to move from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, where we would do a trek. However, as Matt developed a chest infection whilst in Chiang Mai, we decided to delay the trek to later in our trip, and stay an extra night in Chiang Mai.

I must admit that we spent a lot of time in Chiang Mai relaxing, simply watching the world pass by. However, we did do a couple of active things during our trip, both of which will stick in my memory for the rest of my life.

Firstly, we arranged to do a cooking course. It was great fun, and you had to choose an appetizer, a soup, a stir fry, a desert, a noodle dish, a curry and the paste for the curry. I can confirm I am now an expert at making spring rolls, coconut milk soup, sweet and sour, sticky rice and mango, pad thai and penang curry. I particularly enjoyed the pad thai, and I was surprised at how easy it was to make everything. With a cookbook of all the recipes we learned safely tucked in my bag, I am sure I am going to be practising my new found Thai cooking skills on every unfortunate volunteer.

The second, and more incredible, excursion was a trip to an elephant sanctuary. We had considered going on a day hike that involved an elephant trek. However, one night we were sat in a bar in Chiang Mai and someone walked past on an elephant. I had read about this elephant begging, and it is bad for the elephant for a variety of reasons. You can hardly blame the mahout; they probably made a living using the elephant for logging in the past, but after the government made this illegal, both mahout and elephant found themselves out of a job. However, it was such a sorry sight. Such a magnificent animal has no place on the street like that, and the elephant looked incredibly unhappy. I was quite upset by the sight of it, and I was very proud of everyone around us – not one person went out to see the elephant, and therefore encourage the begging.

At the beginning of our trek the man who runs the sanctuary spoke about such begging, and he explained that anytime he sees this happening he tries to buy the elephant. I was incredibly touched by this, and it was at that moment I was pleased that we had chosen the far pricier option of going to the elephant sanctuary rather than the trek. When he spoke of his ambitions I genuinely felt for him, and I really hoped that he is able to make them come to light. In particular, he has to keep the elephants on chains at the moment as he doesn't have enough land for them to be free without fighting with each other. He hopes to buy the field next to thesanctuary and build a high wall so they have lots of space and no longer have to remain on chains. In addition, he has two pregnant elephants, and as the Asian elephant is in severe decline, this is certainly to be encouraged.

The Baan San Elephant Park provides an amazing day. The mahouts must think we are completely mental – to them, the elephants are life, but to us, they were incredible, and we will pay a lot of money to be so close to them. Matt and I were quite fortunate, we were the only people at the (very) early morning session, so we got an in depth training session as well as a good walk with our elephant, Manoi.

We got changed into our rather fetching mahout outfits, before feeding the elephant bananas. We then got trained on some basic commands, as well as getting used to climbing onto the elephant bare back. Initially it was really scary, but you soon get into it and start enjoying it. The walk was amazing, so nice to see the elephant being able to eat when she wants, and they even let her wander into the jungle for a bit. The highlight however was when we bathed Manoi. She was in her element, and was clearly thoroughly enjoying us bathing her. She was a complete sweetheart and obviously very happy. I really do hope that the owner and all the mahouts are able to buy the field, and I will make sure to remember them if I ever find myself with a small fortune!

As well as cooking and elephants, we found ourselves in Chiang Mai for the annual Loi Krathong festival. The festival celebrates the river goddess, and many people place candles in the river to say thank you for the life the river provides. People also fly paper lanterns to wish for luck over the next year.

We were there for the first day of the festival, and it was great fun. There was a giant parade which led to the river. Matt and I let off a lantern, before wandering amongst the thousands of people that had arrived to celebrate. We did avoid the main crowds for one big reason though – the fireworks. As always, safety first in Thailand! The Thai guide to fireworks:

1. When lighting fireworks, ensure that you are in a crowded place.
2. You must be holding at least twenty fireworks about your person at anytime. If you are struggling to find places to hold your fireworks, consider placing them down your trousers or in your baby's pushchair.
3. Light as many fireworks as possible at one time.
4. Light the fireworks in your hand, throw them up in the air and then hope they explode before they start falling to the ground.
5. As a joke, throw lit fireworks into the crowd. Extra points for setting fire to people's hair.
6. The louder the better – if it doesn't sound like a war has started, it isn't a celebration.

Needless to say, I only had to see one woman's hair get set on fire before I insisted we stay a safe distance from the crowds! It was a truly amazing sight though, and I am sure that if it had been in the UK bureaucracy would have ruined it and it would never have been the same.

After a week of relaxing and enjoying the chilled atmosphere, Matt and I decided to move onto Chiang Rai before crossing the border into Laos. I won't go into any details – Chiang Rai was distinctly unremarkable, but it was an enjoyable enough place to spend time before an early morning start to cross the border. The best part was the market which was aimed at Thai people. This meant there were prices everywhere (no haggling!), although the clothes did tend to make me feel like a giant. I still managed to pick up a few cheap bits though.

I cannot believe it is already time to leave Thailand. Thailand has been a great place to start properly, but I am looking forward to moving on. I am pretty fed up of everyone trying to scam us; it feels like a constant battle to get a fair deal. Thailand is beautiful, although I can see that it is developing at an almighty pace. I will definitely come back, but I would be extremely surprised if it is anything like it is now.

Time to move onto Laos, and then Cambodia. I hear Laos is incredibly beautiful, and I am very much looking forward to our visit. Goodbye for now Thailand, see you briefly in December.