So I've finally arrived in the Nong Khai, I haven't yet checked out the local area yet as someone (whoops) took a few too many valium to try and get some sleep on the rickety victorian style train up here. And sleep I did, I slept the whole of yesterday away.

My coordinator Rick, a chirpy happy Austrian guy picked me up from the station and informed me that all the teacher dorms were full due to change overs etc, so he kindly put me up in a new by guest house with hot running water and a room to myself, luxury.

Plans have changed slightly as school holidays are coming up and are different from town to town so instead of two months here in Nong Khai and then a month in Namsom, I'll be doing a sandwich stay of a month here, a month in Namsom and then a month back here, which kind of makes sense as the friendship bridge over to Laos is here in Nong Khai.

First port of call out of my valium haze was to get some food as I was badly misinformed that Thailand is a vegetarian country (I blame you for this Howlett!) and at every stop on the way up here the train was filled with little Thai people trying to sell meat of some description on a stick. I thought I'd pass on the familiar looking Rover kebab and instead opt for fags, water and more valium.

The further north we got the cooler it became from a sweltering fourty degrees to a chilly twelve, to top this off none of the windows would shut and the fans wouldn't turn off.

Hine sight is a beautiful thing and luckily I packed my sleeping bag and travel pillow, as I lay there all smug in my reclining chair I noticed some shivering monks only two seats down, I tried to offer them a corner of my sleeping bag but they declined in option of their thing orange smocks, more fool them.

So I move into the 'green' teachers dorm tomorrow and recieve my obligatory push bike to cycle to and fro to school, I desperately wanted a scooter but at 200baht a day rent compared to 100baht a week rent for the push bike I think I'll have to save the scooter experience for laos or cambodia.

Apparently Nong Khai is full of all the mod-cons, a seven11 and even a tesco's and I've already found a bar opposite my guest house called 'the warm-up', which I think sounds quite appropriate.

The food I have found is fantastic though, and fantastically cheap. A vegetable pad-thai costs 50baht (a quid) and som yun kung (a kind of murky prawn and mushroom spicey soup) costs 40baht.

So I'm now back on skype here (just search Renee Holste or holsren) and I have a thai mobile now too, the number is;

0066860456526

Hope to hear from you soon.

Love and miss you all lots. xxx