(Daniel) The next few days in Chiang Mai were wonderful, we had decided to stay in the Amora Hotel, the deal was too good to pass up.  And I wanted Mum to return to England revistalised instead of worn out by Expedition living.

Our first trip out was to the Famous mountaintop temple of Doi Suthep.  The winding hill roads which lead to the temple steps gave me more reason to fear for the clutch on the Wolf, parked at the bottom of the huge flight of steps leading to the temple.  Mum Nii and I climbed up to enjoy the amazing views of the Chiang Mai and the Basin surrounding the area.  The temple itself was profoundly impressive.  I snapped away at one gold monument after another.  Mum managed to be blessed by a senior Nun present for a festival taking place to create blessed medallions.

We left the Temple, returning to Town for another wonderful dinner.  At the Zoo the next day, I found myself having to persuade the gate attendant to allow us entry in the Wolf.  I thought that they had a rule against the trailer, until he explained that the problem was their disbelief that the Wolf could climb the hills of the car route that circuits the park.  I scoffed at the idea, explaining that I had driven to Thailand from England, and if the Wolf could do that, it can certainly get around a track designed for standard cars!  The zoo was interesting, with a pair of Giant Pandas, one of which was pregnant, meaning that all sorts of measures had to be followed around it, including complete silence and no flash photography or sudden movements. 

Finally the day came around when Mum had to leave.  We drove together to the airport and said our goodbyes.  I felt satisfied that Mum had got what she really wanted, to experience a part of the Expedition that has taken over my life for the last three years and is finally coming to a successful fruition.

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