Foraging in Stanmer Park - June 2010

Today I went on a wonderful free workshop run by Anna Richardson in the grounds of Stanmer Park. We nibbled our way round lots of plants and Anna explained the medicinal and nutritional properties of various plants and how to use or cook them. I'm not really into making potions or pickles but I did make notes on how to cook some of them. Most exciting discovery of the day was digging up a wild parsnip. It smelt five times stronger than a shop bought parsnip!

If tempted to try any of these ideas, please remember the countryside code and only pick 1 in every 19 plants and only pick enough for yourself. Leave enough for the animals and the next generations.

Lime
The Lime, or Linden, tree has edible leaves (when they are young) and the blossom tastes incredible. The lime trees in Stanmer Park should blossom in a week or so and I hope I have a chance to go back and try them. They don't last long so you have to be quick.

Ash
The beautiful Ash tree has clumps of seeds called Ash Keys. You can just about see them in the first photo above. In Spring, when they first appear, you can gather the Ash Keys and steam them like spinach.

Elderflowers
These are in bloom right now. I like them dipped in batter and deepfried then dusted with icing sugar. Anna suggested packing the flowers into a jar of runny honey, leaving it for a month and then using the elderflower flavoured honey in drinks with a squeeze of honey (hot or with sparkling cold water), or to use the honey t cook fruits like rhubarb. I have duly made my honey this afternoon!

Daisies
I never knew you could eat daisies. But you can. And the leaves. The leaves are very small and very near the ground. We picked ours in the graveyard away from the dogs. The leaves taste like rocket. Delicious.

Rosehip
In Spring you can eat the new shoots of the leaves in salads. You can also use a rose petal on a cut, like a plaster, to stop the bleeding.

Blackberry
Bramble leaf tips can also, in Spring, be eaten. They are best steamed and served with butter. The photo above shows a new bramble shoot. The stem should snap easily.

Nettles
Most people know about Nettle soup and such like. Nettles should only be used for cooking before they go to seed. Once they've gone to seed you can cut then down to the ground and fresh shoots will grow.
What you may not know is that you can pick the seeds, crush them into a ball in your hand and then eat them as a tasty, healthy snack. Nettles are apparently 20 - 30% protein, so one of the few foraged foods that supply protein. Being naturally inquisitive, I tried a nettle ball, but sadly it was not that tasty and it caught in my throat a little!

Garlic Hedge Mustard
This plant sounds divine. We didn't taste it as it was too close to the road and dog walking routes, but it smelled of garlic and sounds like it would make a lovely salad leaf. There is a close up of the leaf above.

Hawthorn
Supposedly very good for you, you can eat the fresh young leaves and the new flowers. The flowers have an almond flavour due to the cyanide in them!

Sticky Willies
This is the plant that leaves little sticky balls on you on country walks. It has lots of uses, and Anna even fashioned a makeshift sieve out of it! The plant is very good for detoxing the lymphatic system and you can juice it and drink the green juice, or simply immerse the plant in warm water and later drink the green water. In winter the plant has a second tier of leaves that grow near the ground and these can be eaten, raw, in winter salads.

Knapweed
This plant looks a bit like a thistle, and has thistle like flowers. The buds though resemble baby artichokes. We peeled off the petals, scraped away the choke and ate the minuscule heart. You'd have to be very hungry or patient to eat many of these.

Wild Marjoram
This was growing in huge clumps in a meadow in the park. Anna recommended crushing it into a pesto.

Red Clover Flowers
White and red clover flowers can be eaten in salads however the red ones have more health benefits. If you are thirsty on a walk you can suck on a red clover flower and it will stimulate your saliva glands and quench your thirst. I tried it and it works.

Wild Parsnips
These were hard to spot; the roots are ready in early summer and in autumn, however you shouldn't dig them up when they are in flower. If you collect the seeds in the autumn you could grow them in your garden. There is a photo of the one we dug up above. It was smaller than your regular parsnip but with a more intense aroma.

Mallow
A very versatile plant which can be used in soups or salads and is also good steamed. A photo of it is above.


Ground Ivy
This does not look like regular ivy and is actually part of the mint family. It has little purple flowers. It can be eaten in salad but is quite astringent. Best made into a tea with boiling water for aid the digestion.


Please do not go picking any of plants in the wild without a good book to identify the plants and permission of the land owner if its not common land. And always remember to only pick 1 in 19 plants so there is plenty for the future.

April!

What happened to the month of April? I flew back from Thailand on 27 March. Nearly didn't make my flight as I woke up that morning to gale force winds and 5 metre high waves. The Sanctuary reception told me that the taxi boats might not be running and I thought I might be stuck there for another day, missing my flight. Luckily after breakfast (which consisted of some lovely pancakes) the wind had died down a bit and the taxi boats were braving the waves. My rucksack was wrapped in a large bin bag to protect it, and I took a change of clothes in a plastic bag as I reckoned I was going to get drenched. We got pushed out to sea but then the motor on the boat cut out and one of the Thai boat drivers was bailing water out the boat with a cup while the other was trying to hotwire the battery! Luckily they got the boat going and I made it back to Haad Rin to catch the ferry to Samui and then onto Bangkok.

In Bangkok airport I treated myself to one last meal which I had saved 300 Baht for. I chose wisely so that I would have enough for a tip, but when the bill came I didn't realise that they also added a sales tax on as well as service and I didn't have enough money. A Thai couple on the next table very generously added to my 300 Baht so I could pay the bill. What a lovely gesture to experience as I left exquisite Thailand.

So I've been back in Brighton for a month and have spent it catching up with friends, cooking Thai food, getting building work started on my house (scaffolding is up and the chimney has been rebuilt) and now I am volunteering for two great charities to give me an insight into the charity sector and which will hopefully lead to a job in this sector in the future.

The first charity has an office in Brighton and is called Bottletop. I'm helping them with marketing projects and also their grants programme. You can check out there website here, although we are working on a redesign of this at the moment.
http://www.bottletop.org/
I love working in Brighton as I can meet friends for coffee or lunch really easily. Dad came and met me for lunch last week and we visited the newly-opened Ginger Dog in Kemptown which was very nice. I had a delicious courgette and mint risotto. They do a bargain £10 two course lunch which is also available as an early dinner from 6 - 7pm!

The other charity I am volunteering for is a Theatre production company called Artichoke. They put on large scale, free public theatre / art spectacles which always suprise and delight.
Check out their website, you may well have seen some of their productions!
http://www.artichoke.uk.com/
I'm helping them on the development side which is a new area for me and I am loving the experience. Their office is near Spitalfields market in London and so I am up in London two days a week and hope to explore more of what London has to offer while I am up there. I'm walking part of the way to work each day so I see other sides of London. The photos above are from my walk on Friday!

Anna and Dermie are kindly letting me lodge in their box room on the nights I am up there. They live in the Portuguese quarter (Stockwell) and so I hope to report on the yummy food I sample there, although first I must cook them a Thai meal!

So that is April in a nutshell. I will start blogging more frequently again now as Brighton Festival has started and I've already seen some great shows, so I'll share these experiences here.

Shamanic journey: Wed 24 March

Today I throw myself into the experiences that the Sanctuary offers. I start the day at 8am with an hour and a half meditation session focussed on health and wellbeing. This starts with chanting to open our left and right sides of the brain, and then we focus our breathing on each gland in our body. I find it incredibly calming and enjoyable. The meditation is a guided one and as I'm new to this it really helps to have a guide.

After breakfast (of a very filling vegetarian version of my rice soup) I join a Trance and Dance workshop thinking that it will all be dancing. The first half hour is focussed on dancing and we are guided through the 5 Rhythms dance by Gabriella Roth (on tape). This dance is based on the idea of the energy within a wave and leads you through from flowing, to staccato, to chaos (great fun, mad dancing), lyrical and then stillness. We all dance with a blindfold on so we are not influenced by anyone else and also so shy people can dance as madly as they want. The dancing actually leads you into an ecstatic state and at one point I think I am levitating!

I'm sure this dancing can be found in Brighton and I'd definitely do it again. Further details are here if you are interested.
http://www.movingcenterschool.com/about-5rhythms

Then we are invited to go on a Shamanic journey to the underworld. I was not expecting this but I'm intrigued. The mission is to find our 'power animal'. This is harder and not as natural to me as the dancing. I really want to go on a proper journey but find it hard to 'see' where I'm going once I'm in the trance like state which our shamanic leader has put us into with his constant drumming. I do see lots of images of animals though and the one that keeps appearing is an owl.

The owl is magical and all seeing and your animal can often complement your life in areas where you need it. I think he'll be of benefit to me as he's supposed to help you see the truth in people.

Sanctuary - Koh Phangan: Tue 24 March

Very short update here. Spent half the day travelling from Koh Tao to Phangan via ferry, then taxi and then waited an hour for a taxiboat to take me round the coast to Haad Thien where The Sanctuary is located on a private beach. It is a hippy idyll, recommended to me for cheap spa treatments by Fran. I think it has developed since Fran was here but has stayed true to being at one with nature and the restaurant serves delicious organic vegetarian food (although there are some other cafes serving meat and authentic Thai food so I can still get my rice soup!).

I've splashed out on a wee house for my last four nights in Thailand and it is up on the hill in the jungle. I finally have a bath too in a wonderful openair bathroom. I love the bathroom so much - it is wonderful to have a shower under the blue sky or under the stars. I've included a photo of my little house and one of the beach. The bath photo wont upload though for some odd reason.

Swimming with Sharks: Mon 22 March

My last full day on Koh Tao and its packed full of fish. I meet Chris, an English woman staying up the beach, at 8am and we hire a small boat and full snorkel gear to go round to the next bay - Shark Bay - to swim with sharks. A Thai family went the morning before and saw loads but you have to go early morning or late afternoon when they come in to feed. I saw two sharks, quite large ones too. Chris took some underwater photos so I'll add these when she sends them to me.

Following lunch at the Buddha Cafe (where I have yet another veggie omelette made with spinach and shiitake mushrooms - so good I must recreate when I get home!) I join the dive school for two fun dives. I'm in quite a small group and have an instructor as my buddy so I see loads of fish including the supercute Box Fish. We also see two different species of Trigger Fish playing together which is quite unusual.

The photo above is of the Buddha shaped rocks on the headland at Chalok Bay.

Festival on Koh Tao: Sat 20 March

Every year Koh Tao have a festival and I happen to be here for it. The theme is on preserving the natural beauty of Koh Tao and included conservation exhibitions and giant sculptures made from waste. Some of the photos show the tunnel we had to walk through to get into the festival. There were lots of food stalls and two stages. I saw one pretty good ska / reggae band and then when the bands finished about 12.30 there were then some DJs playing some wicked dance music. I had a really good dance until 3am, and left when the DJ started to repeat himself.

Last day of Scuba Course: Thur 18 March

I wake to torrential rain which means that conditions out at sea will be choppy. Its a very early start (7am) and I take-up the offer of a seasickness tablet from my instructor, just in case the big waves make me queasy.

Our first dive is at Shark Island. So named because the island is supposedly shaped like a shark (see photo) and not because there are lots of sharks in the water. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to be face to face with a shark yet!

When we go to jump into the sea the waves are very big and the current strong. We descend down a buoy rope for a bit. This is our 18m dive and it does feel quite deep! Luckily the visibility gets better as we go down and we see more Puffer Fish, a Trigger fish (who does not attack us but does go for another group of divers!) and quite a few Goat Fish which our instructor gets to change colour however I sadly miss the colour-change.

After an hour's break on the boat, tea and some fresh pineapple we then do our second dive of the day at Three Rocks. This is a shallower site at 10m however we get to dive for 46 min. The visibility isn't brilliant however we get to swim through lots of rocky corridors which is great fun. I see Sea Cucumbers, some Prawn Gobis and the stunning Parrot Fish.

Once we are back at Chalok I have a quick lunch and then take my final exam, getting 100%. Apparently it is tradition for your instructor to buy you a beer if you get full marks but I'm yet to nab Sarah and make her pay up.

That night Karine, Alex and I (who all passed our Open Water today) celebrate at the Buddha Bar where there is a cross-dressing party going on (I administer make-up to one of the boys) and then some of us head up to the Castle where there is a party going on. The venue is fabulous however it hasn't really got going at 1am. We explore a few other places with a plan to go back there later but then fatigue sets in and when I get home I realise it is 3am which is why I'm so tired. I was up at 6am for my morning dive! Luckily I can sleep in and take it easy now as I'm not diving for a few days. I don't think I'm going to my Advanced Open Water this trip but I definitely want to get some fun dives in before I leave.

3rd day of Scuba: Wed 17 March

I have a wonderful breakfast at the beautiful Buddha Cafe on the beachfront - cinnamon roll French Toast (very healthy!). Pictured here is Erin (from Frankfurt) on the cafe deck. Then I have a morning of classroom before our two dives in the afternoon.

The first dive is to a site called Twins (photo above). The dive is 12 metres deep around some underwater pinnacles and we see a Trigger Fish, some Banner Fish, a Coral Grouper and the famous Nemo! Nemo is actually a Clownfish however it is very protective and will try to attack you if you enter its area. The divers have marked Nemo's lair (it protects the Anemone it feeds on) with a circle of stones and we are advised to stay outside the circle of stones. Anna had texted me asking if I'd seen Nemo the day before and I didn't understand the reference - however today it all made sense!

The second dive is at Mango Bay (photo of Mango bay above) and here we have to practice lots of skills before we get to explore. The variety of fish at this site is breathtaking. I see a puffer fish (not inflated though), a File Fish which is incredibly beautiful and thousands of Fusiliers (yellow and white fish) which I swim through in awe.

First sea dive: Tue 16 March

We have the morning off as we are doing our Open Water certificate over four days, rather than three. I eat a big breakfast / lunch to keep me going (my first non-Thai meal of a breakfast burrito from the lovely waterfront Buddha cafe). We then meet at 12.20 to collect our kit and then drive to the port to catch the big Buddha View boat.

There are a lot of people on the boat, either doing skill dives (open water, rescue etc) or fun dives. Our first dive is in Japanese Garden which is shallow enough in places for us to do our skills and then we get to swim lower to explore the coral reed. The water is really clear and we have great visibility. I love swimming slowly and silently like a fish, but I'm not so keen on all the skills we have to do including swimming 10 m without my mask. I actually do the swim with my eyes open in the end as closing my eyes feels really weird.

We see an Indian Walkman fish which is quite rare, very ugly and extremely poisonous. Our instructor, Sarah today, nearly gets us to do our fin pivots on this fish however luckily she spots him in time! We also see lots of other fish including Angel fish and Butterfly fish. Karine and I are buzzing when we resurface after 42 minutes.

Sorry for the lack of photos!

1st day of Scuba: Mon 15 March

Our instructor, Dave, reminds of Jack Black. We have class for 2.5 hours and then a light lunch before we start in the pool with various skills tests. I find breathing through the regulator weird but not as scary as I thought it would be. I do get some water in my mouth but quickly learn to purge it. The only skill I really don't like is clearing my mask of water.

Underwater Dave looks even more like Jack Black and after we give him the OK sign he always wants to bang knuckles, which seems a very Jack Black thing to do.

After our class we have some time to sunbathe on the beach and I meet a German girl called Erin who I later meet for drinks in a really cool waterfront cocktail bar, along with her friends Anna and Daisy. The vibe is very relaxed here and it is so much easier to meet people. A lot of people seem to come for two weeks and end up living here!

Photo here of Erin and Daisy at the bar.

Koh Tao: Sat 14 March

I arrive via Catamaran at 2.30pm and am met by Buddha View Dive Resort at the port. A short drive to Chaolak and I then I have time to settle in and a quick swim before my dive briefing.

I agree to start the next day and meet Karine who will be doing the course with me. We are very chuffed that there are only two of us. We watch a video that afternoon to kick off the course and collect our books. We're told to read chapters one and two that night before class tomorrow, so that scuppers my plan of exploring the local bars! I'm up til 11pm just reading and finding it all very technical and bewildering (a bit like a school science lesson).

Buddha View gets its name as it overlooks a beautiful bay with giant boulders at the headland that resemble a large buddha. I marvel at the beauty of the island and the bay I'm staying on. It really is paradise.

Koh Samui - the final verdict

Overall I wasn't a big fan of Koh Samui. Granted I liked the airport (although Bangkok Airways own it which is why its so expensive to fly into as they have the monopoly on it) and I also ended up loving shambolic Shambala because it was very laidback, had an empty beach where I could hula in the morning and their rice soup (Kao Tom Gai) was the best yet.

I also loved my spa treatment, the waterfalls, Bo Phut and my noodle man. However the island felt too touristy, lots of ex pats, sex tourists, pole dance bars and it was hard to meet people.

When I arrive at the port to catch the boat to Koh Tao I see and meet loads of people - where had they all been hiding?

Water Nymph again: Sat 13 March

Its my last day on Samui and I decide to hire a jeep to see the rest of the island and check out some of the waterfalls. The first one is disappointing (very small with a murky pool that I don't want to swim in). The 2nd and 3rd ones are close together and much better. At the first swimming hold there are lots of tourists but when one jeep load leave I'm left along for about 10 mins and I cam pretend to be a water nymph again. Bliss.

Some people then tell me about the next waterfall and they say it is even more impressive so I hike uphill a little further to find a very high waterfall with water that runs over giant boulders. I'm not sure the photo shows this very clearly though. I can't see a pool here however a Thai man asks if I want to swim and motions for me to carry on up the hill. I see a rope to help guide me and then realise he is following me. He jumps infront and then leads the way, helping me with his hand when it is very steep. I am a little wary, as it is just the two of us, but reckon it is probably his job to guide people.

It is about a 15 minute trek up a very steep route and I would never have found this pool on my own! We reach the pool and there is nobody else here at all. He flings off his shorts and shoes and does a running jump off a high boulder into the pool. I follow him in and the water is cooler than the last pool and it has an amazing view across the hills and down to the sea.

After my swim, while I dry off, my guide clears the leaves from the pool and then hops out and plucks a yellow flower off a tree for me to wear in my hair - it matches my outfit too! He probably does this for all the women but it does make me feel special.

After waterfalls I explore the beaches on the south of the island, stopping for a spicy prawn and squid salad in Bangkao, a small fishing community, and then later heading to Big John's Seafood place for dinner.

Big John's has come highly recommended in the Lonely Planet however to me it proves the inverse theory that seems to be the case in Thailand, that the less you pay for a meal, the better it is. I spend the most yet on a two course meal (about 10 quid to be fair!) and it is disappointing. I order their recommended 'the lovely tower' which is a glorified tall, thin spring roll, supposedly filled with prawn, squid and pork, but in reality filled just with pork. Then, I want Red Snapper or Sea Bass but the don't have any small fish so they recommend I order Barracuda. Unfortunately it tastes like swordfish and is too meaty and heavy for me. For the first time yet in Thailand, I cannot eat all my dinner.

The best bit about the location is that I witness a wedding on the beach and then get to watch the sunset and get some great photos of it.

Best roast pork noodle soup yet: Fri 12 March

I want a light dinner so go looking for some noodle soup. Although I'd like to try something new I keep getting lured back to roast pork, wonton and noodle soup. This time it is in an open air canteen where there are three or four cooks at different stalls, each preparing a few dishes.

My noodle guy serves me, honestly, the best version of this soup I've yet had. It has wonderfully dense stock, bits of crispy garlic and lumps of pork crackling in it. When I pay him I watch him and for a while. He has a very slick process witih everything prepared and ready to be cooked. The noodles are fresh and cooked to order.

He refills his crispy garlic and pork crackling jar while I'm watching and sneaks me a piece of crackling as a wee present. Little things like that just make my day!

Finally, a day by the sea: Friday 12 March

A day of relaxation, reading and generally being a beach bum. I did walk up to the next beach, Bo Phut, to explore the old fisherman's village and treated myself to a crab curry for lunch.

Rather than all the minute details, here are some photos I took.



BOOK RECOMMENDATION
I'm mourning the end of a brilliant book which was recommended to me by Jen. It is called Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and it is set in the 1960s in the Nigerian civil war. At turns horrifying yet poetically beautiful. Read it!

Forest Water Nymph

I wake to torrential rain, thunder and lightning. When it finally stops for a bit I do a little hula practice on the beach and have a swim in the sea.

For breakfast I ask if they do Khao Tom (my favourite rice soup) - they do and I have my best bowl yet with lots of ginger and fresh herbs.

A taxi then arrives to take me to Tamarind Springs Spa in LaMai. I read about this spa in the UK and although it is very expensive compared to everything else here (it is more in line with UK spa prices) I decided before I left that this would be a special treat while I was here.

I arrive at a forest paradise and am greeted with a delightfully refreshing drink of iced tamarind and ginger. No mobiles or cameras are allowed so sadly I couldn't take any photos to show how beautiful this place is. Here is a link to their website though: http://www.tamarindsprings.com

The first 1.5 hours are spent enjoying the steam caves - literally steam rooms carved into boulders and scented with lemongrass - and the plunge pools on different levels which are also dug into the rocks and surrounded with jungle foliage, flowers, birds and butterflies. Snacks (fish cakes, spring rolls, fresh fruit) are also left out for me to enjoy. They have my name on them however I'm the only person in this magical land for the entire time I am there!

At 11.30 someone comes to collect me for my 2.5 hour massage. I've chosen a 'twice as nice' massage which involves some Thai massage and some hot herbal compresses on my skin. The website explains it so: 'Steaming Thai herbs, tightly wrapped in cloth, gently applied along the energy lines of the body in combination with Thai massage techniques relieve aches and re-energize the muscles. This unique ancient Thai healing massage is aromatic, nurturing and is especially recommended for stiffness and joint pain'.

All I can say is that it felt like a wonderously long 2.5 hours indeed. Afterwards I float down the hill to explore LaMai's strip and beach.

I find the beach quite disappointing. There is a lot of rubbish and it doesn't feel well cared for. While walking along the beach the sky suddenly turns very dark. I catch a photo of it before dashing into a very handy beach temple which shelters me from the torrential rain for a good 30 minutes. The other photos is of some boys crossing the bridge in the rain (taken from a long distance hence the blurriness, but I like the effect of the rain - makes it look like a watercolour).

To Samui: Wed 10 March

I decide to go out to breakfast, as its my last day in Chiang Mai, with the aim of finding some authentic Khao Tom Gai (rice soup with chicken). I find a local makeshift cafe and try their version. The chicken is very freshly cooked and shredded - it is very tender. The broth is light and flavoursome although I would have preferred a lttle more garlic and ginger. I then, unsually for me, go to a coffee house for a mocha. They have papers and I want to see what is happening outside Chiang Mai. The cover story is calling for peace at the demo in Bangkok on Friday - I hope it is peaceful.

I catch my first tuk-tuk of this trip to the airport around lunchtime and then have a quick and uneventful flight to Samui. I'm disappointed on landing that it is raining however this gives way to wonder at the airport which is the most beautiful tropical airport I've ever seen! It is all grass huts and green foliage. Even the baggage belt is housed in a wooden hut. The photo is of the ceiling in the baggage collection room.

I'm staying at Shambala on Big Buddha Beach. I chose it because it seemed more old style and authentic however my first impression is that Shambolic might be a better name. Or Ramshackle. Oh well, it has character and at night when all the fairy lights are on it looks postively magical.

Another plus is that their food is very good. I order Thai Fish Cakes and get seven! I also have a prawn and squid stirfry with chilli and basil which is also very good and the squid is super fresh.

Later on I walk up the strip in front of the hotel to see what other food places there are and see if there any bars that I want to go in. Most of the bars have girls to entice you in and one girl (called Tom) grabs my wrist and wont let go. I explain I'm going for a walk but she wont let go until I promise to come in on my way back - as she lets go she tickles the palm of my hand! I feel awful on the way back as I'm on the other side of the road and she spots me and starts yelling at me to come over. I shake my head and tell her I'm still walking, I can still hear her wail "You promised ... you promised!"

Jungle Flying & Crochet Art: 9 March

Today is my last full day in Chiang Mai as I head to Koh Samui tomorrow. I've heard that there is turmoil in Bangkok again and a big demo planned for Friday. There is no indication that it is spreading elsewhere though.

I've booked to go on a trip to the jungle to fly like Tarzan (or Jane) down zip wires rigged to trees. The day does not start off well as they forget to pick me up and then send a motorbike for me. There is no helmet and I have to grab onto the guy's waist as we dart across Chiang Mai to the outskirts where the minibus is waiting for me.

After a 45 minute journey into the hills we arrive and are kitted out in safety harnesses and helmets. For hygiene reasons we are given blue shower caps to wear underneath the helmets. Very attractive (see photo!).

The zip lines are very safe as we have two safety clips however the canopy walkways do not feel as safe as there is only one wire each side to hold onto. The scariest parts are the abseil sections. On one of these the Thai guide straps me up backwards so I don't have anything to hold onto, stepping off the edge feels like free diving and I am super scared! No one else was sent down that way and I think he picked me because he knew I'd scream.

The longest abseil was 40 metres and I chose this last one to go down fast which was a real adrenalin rush.

One of the women in the group kept ignoring the guide's instructions. For the zip wire they give you a forked wooden stick to use as a brake (you put it over the wire and pull down to slow down). At the start they always tell you if you will need the brake so you can hold it in one hand, so she should have been prepared to use it. She didn't hear them yell BRAKE and instead crashed into the guide at the other end with both of them hitting the tree. She lost one of her shoes in the kerfuffle.

After a good three hours wizzing through the trees we enjoyed a rustic Thai lunch before heading off to a very poor example of a hot spring (encased in concrete!).

Lunch consisted of:

- Clear broth with white radish
- Massaman curry (chicken and potato)
- Stir fried mix vegetavles
- Omelette
- Rice
- Bananas

On the way back to Chiang Mai we drop some people off near the university and I decide to hop out there to explore the shops and art galleries. I see an excellent exhibition of crocheted wall hangings and have included some photos of a couple of my favourites.

As it is my last night in Chiang Mai and I'm in the area I go back to the Roast Pork place and this time try their Roast Pork, Wonton and Noodle Soup which is also very good.

Last Day of Cooking and some Fish Therapy: Mon 8 March

My last day of Thai cooking and I'm quite sad it is almost over. We have the most people yet on the course today and it is quite chaotic (all the other days have run very smoothly).

We start the day at the market again however this time we're given a shopping list to go buy some of the ingredients we need. I'm asked to buy 10 limes and 24 Tiger Prawns. We were told the other day that the way to check a prawn is fresh is to squeeze its head, therefore I have to stick my hand into icy water and squeeze 24 prawns' heads!

While at the market I also pick up some spices from this 83 year old Chinese man (photo of him above).

When we arrive at the school, Sompon gives us a tour of his vegetable garden and we each pick some greens to go in our first dish. Sompon even has a cashew tree - I'd never seen cashews growing before!

Today's dishes are:

1. Fried Big Noodles with Sweet Soy Sauce (Phad Siewe)
I really like this dish (better than yesterday's noodle dish) as it has egg through it and is quite sweet.

2. Yellow Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Garee Gai)
This used yellow curry powder as well as Thai curry paste. I used a little extra curry powder and reduced my sauce quite a lot, so I ended up with an intense yellow sauce at the end. Nat said he preferred mine!

3. Steamed Fish in Banana Leaves (Hor Neung Plaa)
I really thought I would love this dish however I'm pleased I didn't as it uses quite a few very obscure ingredients (banana leaves, prickly ash, pepper leaves). You have to add ground rice to the mixture before you steam it and this serves to swell the filling so it resembles a heavy fishcake when it is done. The texture and sludgy brown colour put me off eating it! The photo shows it before I opened it.

4. Chicken with Cashew Nuts (Gai Phad Med Mamuang)
Every wondered why the cashews in Chinese dishes taste so yummy? Well, they've been deep-fried. This dish tasted more Chinese than Thai but it was still delicious and very easy - once you've deep-fried the nuts that is.

5. Spicy Prawn Salad (Plaah Goong)
Although I liked the prawns in this salad, the rest of it was mainly lemongrass, shallots, chillis and herbs and it just didn't have enough substance. The prawns were poached for a few seconds in coconut milk though and that's an idea I'll use in the future.

6. Bananas in Coconut Milk (Kluay Buad Chee)
Not a winner. The bananas were boiled in their skins before using them and soggy bananas are just weird!

I buy one of the cookery school's knives plus a ladle and stirrer as mementos and because the knife is a brilliant multiple use cleaver.

On the way home I stop off for some Fish Therapy. I've been wanting to try this for a few days so I can get my feet ready for the beach. The fish eat dead human skin and so nibble at whatever part of your body you put in the water. It tickles in a weird way for the first few minutes and then is oddly relaxing. After 30 minutes all the hard skin on my feet has been removed and I much prefer it to using a pumice!

Punk Rock is alive in Chiang Mai

After Day Four of my cooking course I arrange to meet Nat off my course to 'do' the Sunday Walking Market. This is the same set-up as the Saturday market except closer to my guest house and MUCH bigger.

When Nat arrives to meet me a plaque of mayflies has just engulfed the guesthouse, and most of the street. On our walk down I need to use a cash point (which is housed in a plastic booth) and I get attacked as I withdraw my money. I find flies inside my clothes later when I get home. Eugh!

Diana meets us in the market and the three of us bargain our way down one side of the market before wandering into a temple where all the food stalls are laid out. And, yet again, here is a list of the food I sampled:

- Thai fishcakes
- Chicken in Pandanus Leaves (same dish I made on Day 1 of my course)
- Miang Kam (again) - twice. One of these was super hot and all the stall holders were laughing at the tears in my eyes.
- Fried Squid
- A Thai sweet (wrapped in leaves) which was black, hard jelly with a coconut taste
- A Chinese Pork Bun

I bought some lovely Mango wood bowls for soups / noodles and then we headed off to find a bar to have a drink in.

After wandering down a couple of streets to find nothing open we began to despair, until we heard a band playing and got excited. As we got closer we found a make-shift bar with corrugated iron walls and roof and a heap of young punks hanging around outside. It would appear that there is quite an established punk rock scene in Chiang Mai! All the bar seemed to sell was beer ... so I had a beer.

The kids had all the punk gear and were trying to act really tough and drunk, however when one boy stumbled out the bar and fell into a bin, knocking beer bottles all over the road, he very meekly picked up the bin and all the bottles.

We got chatting to an American guy whose girlfriend (Sophie) used to live here, running a tattoo parlour. She's apparently credited with kicking off the whole punk rock revival. I'd spotted her on the street the day before and she reminded me of Colette. Her boyfriend, Jay, was quite drunk and told us how they'd met. He'd been married for 15 years before and had vowed never to marry again. In fact he was going to get NO tattooed on his left ring finger. However he then found Sophie at the end of a rainbow!! He explained that he was heading to a party in New Mexico, which happened to be at the end of this rainbow, and as soon as he arrived he met her. Love at first sight and all that. I loved the fact that these super cool, hard rock guys were so soppy and romantic. Jay and Sophie are pictured about.

Day 4 of Cookery School: 7 March

Mixed response to the six dishes I cooked today. Will probably make about three of them again.

Before the class we all went to a super little market to learn more about Thai ingredients and how to shop for them. I've included some photos from the market. The Thai people only use about three types of rice (Jasmine, White Sticky and Black Sticky) however there were about 15 versions of these on sale. The large fruit/bulb being held up is the Banana Flower!

The dishes we cooked were:

1. Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup (Tom Kha Gai)
This was lovely however the coconut milk really needed to be heated with the main spices for longer to infuse properly.

2. Red Fish Curry (Gaeng Phed Plaa)
This was a tasty curry however it had fresh bamboo shoots in it and they were only marginally better than the tinned variety.

3. Fried Mixed Mushrooms with Baby Corn (Phad Hed Ruam Khao Pod Orn)
This was a delicious, quick and simple vegetable stir fry dish. I even carved stars into my shiitake mushrooms (see photo!)

4. Fried Big Noodles with Thick Sauce and Pork (Raad Nah Muu)
I was not a fan of this dish. Too greasy and non-descript

5. Papaya Salad
This was easy, fresh and incredibly yummy. We had to make it in pairs (my partner Becky is shown in the photo with our joint result) and although I was worried about the raw garlic in it, it worked - and with no aftertaste!

6. Steamed Banana Cake
I was also not enamoured with this. It was incredibly heavy.