Lamphun is another charming town, not so far from Chiang Mai; around 45 minutes easy motorcy ride; and built in the same style, with moat and City walls.
Wat Phra That Haripunchai sits just inside the city walls and is a very historic Royal Lanna Temple.
Legend has it that in The Buddhas lifetime, The Buddha actually came to the Lamphun area to gather alms and was given samor fruit by some Lua tribesmen.
The Lord Buddha predicted that there would be a city erected on this site and that it would be named Hariphunchai Nakhon.
In the Buddha year 1204(661AD), two hermits, named Wasuthep and Sukkatanta, did indeed build a city at the spot and named it Hariphunchai Nakhon, meaning a City where the Lord Buddha used to eat
Samor fruit.
Hari means Samor Fruit, punchai means to consume and Nakhon means City.
There are two Chedi’s on the site, one of which was constructed by a Lanna King, King Athitayaraja, over 1000 years ago.
The more modern round Chedi is presently under refurbishment.
There is also an impressive Buddhist manuscripts hall and several other buildings surrounding the main Temple.
One of my personal favourites was the red stone bell tower.
The artwork and craftsmanship decorating the various constructions are of the highest quality.
Also worth a note is the very grand Gateway that certainly gives that air of Royalty.
For many more photos of this Temple please visit our photobucket album here.
Khruu Khemtong Punyoyai,from Huay Sai school has been running an annual English Camp for several years now.
San Kampaeng Hotsprings is such a good choice of venue; with camping at very economical prices; the ambience of the gardens and of course, the luxury of the Hot Springs.
The ethos of the weekend was that above all it should be fun. All students were told not to worry about making mistakes with the language and not to take it to seriously, but to enjoy the experience of the weekend and the opportunity to practise their English with English speakers.
Each trainer had 10 or 11 students and we had a very good workbook to follow, carefully compiled by Khruu Khemtong.The day was split into short work sessions; both sitting with the book and strolling around the grounds for survey and map drawing;and freetime for both children and trainers to relax.
The children had plenty of time inbetween the ‘work’ to enjoy the facilities at the Hot Springs, paddling in the manmade Hot Spring ‘stream’, wandering around the site when the work day finished at 4pm, swimming in the big pool.
There was more singing and after dinner it was Party Time. Whilst the 2 Dutch trainers went home to sleep, Sue and myself stayed and Sue really got into the spirit of the Party with an impromptu dance that got all the kids on their dancing toes to.
Just before the party started, a large fire was lit and as the evening went on the children cooked kaow lam and toasted crackers on the fire.
Although I was surprised to see the best singer hiding under a table whilst performing, clearly shy to perform infront of his friends.
It was lovely waking up to the peaceful surroundings and relaxing atmosphere of the Hot Springs gardens.
Although all the kids were there it was mostly the boys that got into the pool, the girls possibly too shy.
At around 11.30 the school Director, Mr Hirun Chainu,came to officially close the camp and to issue certificates to all children and trainers. 
And I would like my group for being such fun.
As art and craft is already a popular activity at Stratton House we decided to give the kids a chance to produce some homemade Christmas cards.
These products will soon be available in our, soon to open, online shop, under the heading ‘Because You Care’. All profits will go in to 
We were on the back mountain roads going from Doi Saket over to Chae Son National park when we first came across many trays of coffee beans drying in the sun at the roadsides in many of the small villages we passed through.
One guy was doing it by hand whilst his neighbours opposite had mechanical help.
At the house that was using the machine there was also a lovely little coffee shop where we were able to purchase a cup of their fresh coffee, which was just perfect.
I found it delightful that rather than one mass producer it seems that there are many small scale coffee farming operations going on throughout these hills.
Moving ever closer to opening the facility to children in need, here in Chiang Mai, we are proud to say that we are now getting more and more help from the local community who are showing a wish to support our project. For the past three days we have been visited by an electrical work crew from a nearby village who have given their services free, fitting wall fans, a heated shower and generally checking the safety of our electrics.
