Today was a day to reset.

The last couple of weeks have been not that great for me what with the food poisoning and then the disappointment with the elephant park last week.

Just a quick note on the elephant park – it’s a great place, it just wasn’t for me.   I didn’t like the manual labor and I just didn’t really connect with anyone there.

I met someone today who is going on the same volunteering week starting tomorrow and I bit my tongue when I was describing it because I didn’t want to taint her experience.

Like I said I’m sure it’s an amazing experience for alot of people, it just wasn’t for me so if you’re thinking of going and doing it please don’t let my single opinion sway you.

Anyway, enough about that – time for a reset!

I started by getting the hell out of that crap hostel I stayed at last night and back to Aoi Garden Home which is like a little slice of heaven.

It took about a half hour to walk in the beating sun with my big backpack slung on my back but I finally got there around noon.

And the sunglasses I forgot when I was here last week were waiting for me in the lost and found!   Yes!!!

I actually sold the pair of glasses I bought at the nature park for 200 baht ($7) to one of the employees here for 100 baht.

I took a much needed shower and got into fresh clothes.

It was time to figure out just what in the hell I’d be doing here over the next couple of days in Chiang Mai and then where and how I’d go from there.

I sat down on the bench in the peaceful courtyard with my netbook and spent the afternoon figuring it out.

Well, sort of.

I think I have Chiang Mai figured out as I’ve booked an all day cooking class for tomorrow and then I plan to go ziplining all day the following day.

As for where and how I’d be travelling beyond here that just left me pulling my hair out again.

So much so that I finally just got up and headed out to get it all out of my head for awhile.

Another massage!

By the time the massage was done it was past 5pm and the night market had already started and as it so happens the path back to my hostel took me down that street.

Another night market!

And tons more food…

At 8pm I came back to the hostel to find it pretty much deserted as I guess everyone else was also at the night market.

So, I hauled out my netbook again and with only minor hair pulling think I’ve figured out the next leg of my trip to Laos and Cambodia.

Yay!   Let’s get this reset going…