Back in Chiang Mai with a lot of new friends. All Thai. Its so great to see the parts of the city tourists never get to see. I feel quite special actually.

I met a wonderful new friend. Its a girl (Don’t worry Sarah!). Her name is Naree and she was a Burmese street child. IE: she grew up on the streets and has never had a family. She Showed me around the Tae Phae Gate area and I had so much fun speaking the language (the little I have) and meeting other Thais.

She brought me to visit lots of homeless people sleeping on the streets and I had a great time hearing their stories and realizing that none of them want to kill or harm tourists. One Old Thai man asked me for a smoke. I Gave him 3 and he was so thrilled that he started massaging me. I was weirded out but Naree told me this was a Thai tradition. He MUST give me something in return and that it was OK. So anyway, there I was in the middle of TPG getting a massage from a really old man while he told us his story. Really sad. Like them all. Really sad. Makes you realise really how lucky you are.

We stayed up all night, met some friends, went for some drinks and watched movies. Pretty cool experience.

Next morning, I left for the Airport CMX. Had my hugs and a few tears. Not as bad as leaving Sal though!