On passing through the thai border we headed to a cafe for breakfast! It actually felt quite nice to be back in Thailand as we were familiar with the country so knew what we were doing/expecting for a change! The plan was to head to Chiang Mai ready to undertake another 3 day tribal trek, rafting, elephant rides etc.... From boat to bus that was the idea and after a wonderful Spanish omelette (plus visiting the most bizarre cafe toilet - western toilet in the middle of a backyard for everyone to watch!) we were on our way to the bus station via tuktuk. As our driver helped us with our bags his vehicle started rolling down the street. It was good to be back in Thailand....
The first bus was to Chiang Rai, a local bus with not many on it, the countryside was realy dry and flat which seemed such a stark constrast to Laos . After a bakery stop at Chiang Rai, it was all change to Chiang Mai - a long old day, we ended up arriving at around 7pm neither of us particularly happy after the leisurely travelling of Laos the chaos and "in your faceness" of Thailand was quite a shock.
 
Finding accommodation that late at night is never easy and we roamed the streets for a while until finding a simple room, it wasn't the best but it was very cheap. Digging into steak and chips was wonderful and we were in a happy place. All that changed in the early hours though as nik started feeling particularly unwell with fever, aches and the shakes not long after finishing her meal. Nik's condition didn't improve over the next day and a half and this cheap room did nothing to help her.. In the early hours of the morning 2 days later as she was shaking, dehydrated and passing out, I took her to hospital in the back of a tuktuk. Once the driver saw the state of her he almost drove in through the emergency doors at the hospital. From then on it was all a blur having answered the question "Have you insurance?" with a resounding yes . It was 5 star treatment all the way with Nik being given injections and put on a drip within 5 minutes of arriving. On the downside nik was diagnosed with a blood and bowel infection with severe dehydration but on the upside it was the best room we had stayed in on the trip. From the 10th floor our private room overlooked the whole of Chiang Mai, balcony, own kitchen with microwave, and satellite TV with English football. Nik was attached to a drip for the next 3 days and blood tests were taken regularly with injections. Despite the lack of English with some of the nursing staff and some of the insurance people I dealt nik improved and was eventually well enough to be discharged. For nik it was an unpleasant experience and having a bowel infection whilst attached to a drip on a stand whose wheels are from a shopping trolley is a recipe for disaster when they all go in the wrong direction! Nik was discharged with strict orders on what she could do, what she could eat etc (ie no veg, dairy or fruit, basically not alot then!), the main advice being take it easy for the next few days, the probable cause they thought was our Laos village experiences....
 
So from then on recuperation was the order of the day and all the original plans went out the window. We had just under a week before we were to fly to Nepal for the next leg of our trip. So we concentrated on getting nik right, I had changed hotels during niks sojourn in hospital and it made for a better place to recharge baterries. Over the next few days all we did was sleep, walk now and then, move to a nicer hotel and eat if Nik felt like it. We managed to make it to one temple and see abit of the infamous markets and city walls, but without doubt definately need another trip back, Nik felt so dissapointed. By the time we flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok nik was on the mend..ish.