Hello everyone!

We havent updated for a while as we were waiting until we had done a few different things so that we could write about them! We are now in Chiang Mai which is the capital of the North of Thailand and we arrived here after an 14 hour night train from Bangkok! We were pleasantly surprised with the train as it was fairly clean and we decided to go to sleep straightaway, alex was on the bed above me! he slept really well and i slept in bits if that makes sense! i woke up at about six and was just looking out the window at all the little villages which was really nice! Alex woke up later than me and we saw some bush fires that came right up to the window of the train we could feel the heat! Chinag Mai is supposed to be cooler than Bangkok but it doesnt feel that way! When we arrived at the station there was a lady with a sign saying Mr. Alexander and they took us to the guesthouse, 'People Place' which is the biggest room so far and fairly clean! We get to use a swimmingpool but we've been doing so many activities we've only used it once for about an hour! On the first night we went out for a lovely meal at a really authentic Thai restaurant where yet again we ate rice! Then we found a little market called Ansuran Market which was really cheap and i got some earrings for like 20p and some trousers to do the trek in! We decided to hae an early night as we were getting picked up at 8am for trekking!

We woke up at 7:55 after not hearing Alex's alarm and rushed to get ready but they were late anyway! Or tour group inlcuded a swiss couple, a German/Canadian couple, an american couple, and an American/Thain couple. For most of the trek the Americans got te bus, and the three of them lived inIraq but one was married to a very pretty Thai lady! Our tour guide was called Art and the bus driver Jew. Our first activity was elephant riding which was amazing! Our elephant was definitely the best and we named him Chomper as he te three bunches of bananas and sugarcanes that we bought for him! If we didnt feed him he would fling his trunk up at us and wait for more food! Then he bombarded an unoccupied ruck hat had bananas and water melons i the back and demolidhed those! We went through a river also on the elephant! Then we saw a baby elephant which we named Bebe because thats how the Thai's pronounce 'baby'. After the elephants we did a three mile trek to a hill tribe called the Mhong tribe, all the children were very cute, they were originally from South China i think and some could not speak Thai! Then we trekked to a beautiful waterfall where everybody went swimming and we were glad to cool down in the water! W went trkking throufg soya fields and saw more bush fires that the Thai's were not too worried about! We went to see another tribe called 'Karen' where the children were trying to sell us beads, they were very cute and the women were making cloth! Then later a little village made us lunch which was very nice before we went rafting on bamboo branches down a stream! the rafting was the funniest thing we have done so far as we eah had a Thai boy steer at the front of the raft and as soon as we pulled away they started shouting 'Crocodile' and everybody was screaming and we discovered they were professional waterfighters! Everybody got soaked and they kept tryig to tip the rafts over! Alex was steering at the back of our raft so he had a big stick that he could soak the Thai's with! the whole river was filled with booby traps with people waiting downstream to soak you! it was really funny and so much fun! However the Canadian guy seemed to get really stressed and was taking the waterfight very seriously! Also th American who married to the Thai lady was a very big guy and sunk his raft a few times!

On the night we went out for food and drinks, we stubled upon a square of very colourful bars, where some contained some strange looking ladyboys! The next day we decided to visit all the famous Wats in Chiang Mai. We went to Wat Phra Sing, Wat Chedi Luang, and Wat Chang Man. They were very beautiful but many con artists sit outside trying to sell you things, especially suits, and many say the Wats are closed and that they can take you somewhere else for cheap, dont ever believe them! On the night we went to oe of the best restaurants here at the river called the Grand View and it was lovely inside however they didnt bring our meals out together, but they never do here they just bring stuff when its ready! Even though it was the most popular restaurant here, our meals were still only about 3 pounds each! Later we did more shopping at the night bizarre where i bought more clothes and bits and bobs for very cheap!

The next morning we decide jus to relax and Alex had a Thai massage and i had a manicure and pedicure! i know we should be roughing it as travellers but it is soooo cheap! Then we relaxed in the city park where we hired some mats! It was a very peaceful area where locals were selling fruits and everyon was playing badminton! That night we went for a meal on a boat that went down the Ping river, there was sooo much to eat! However there was a very rude Texas couple on our boat who kept slagging off english food once they knew we were english and then kept saying we stunk of mosquito repellent loud enough so we could hear, and she was making rude rmearks about me after i couldnt pull down a seat in the minibus to let the rest of them out! Then they were complaining about the wine and stuff and they were just generally annoying! grrrr! Afterwards we did more shoppung and more drinking hehe and then went home! Today we went on another tour to the Wat Doi Suthep whch is the most famous in the north of Thailand! It was beautiful and there were monks meditating, you have to walk 300 steps up to the Wat and it ws a very peaceful place! Tomorrow we are leaving Chiang Mai for Koh Samui on an overnight train to Bangkok, where we the get a flight to Surat Thani, then a ferry to the island of Koh Samui, very tiring i think!

I know this is a very long entry hope i havent bored you, speak soon miss everybody!!! but we are having an amazing time!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxx