Lastly, we visited the palace of the King's late mother at Doi Tung. She spent much of her life in this palace, where she was instrumental in getting the local farmers to stop growing opium and planting fruits, vegetables and coffee instead. Her palace gardens are open to the public, and are a very popular place for picnicing and paying respects to the very popular former resident.

Well, that's all from Northern Thailand, I'll start up with new posts after the big New Year's Eve celebration here in Sydney. Happy new year everyone!