Sign me up for the promotional team, cos i love Chiang Mai! After a disgustingly long (13 hours) overnight bus trip from Bangkok, i arrived in Chiang Mai feeling both mentally and pysically ruined. The fact that the bus got in at 6am and check in time for sll the hostels wasnt till 10.30 am really didint help spirits either. Luckily i was allowed to crash and sleep like a zombie for a few hours in the chill out area of my guethouse.

Chiang Mai has a population of 90,000 teeny compared to the mega city of BKK. The 'old city' is surrounded by a moat, with the remaining parts scattered outside the city gates. Strolling around the night bazaar and partaking in rooftop drinking was all very well, but i came to CM to trek, and trekking is what i wanted to do. I'd heard alot of people say that most treks were easy, two hour walks through flat fields with a bit of elephant riding to keep the tourist quiet. So stupidly, i told the travel agency in my guesthouse to book me the most strenuous, hardcore trip they cold. Still though it'd be a walk in the park though. ooohhh how wrong i was.

The three day trek into the mountains of Cm was te best thing ive ever done, but also the most incredibly hard, and testing. Each day we walked from morning till night, up thin little paths that were basically vertical. The trails were covered in dust, and at one stage we were crawling up the hill, hlding onto each others packs to stop from slipping. But at the end of each day, when we reached our hill tribe to stay with for the night, it was all worth it. We stayed in little thatched huts overlooking huge valleys, with views you couldnt get staying at the best hotel in the world. Our guides were crazy - carving bamboo figures, drinking bottles, anything with their machetes. They sang western songs non stop (the beatles and the rolling stones were favourites) with a thickThai accent and bounded up huge hills in flip flops, shouting behind them for us to hurry up and not be so weak.

I rode an elephant, nearly wet myself doing white water rafting, bathed in waterfalls hidden deep in the jungle, rafted down the river on a bamboo raft, and generally just left my mouth open in awe the whole time. I loved every second of it, and am so glad i went. There were times i physically felt i could not walk or climb any more, but i feel proud of myself that i manged to make it each day with spraining something or falling down dead!

I got back yesterday, went out to celebrate with the people i met on the trek, and then fell into bed, grateful for a soft surface to sleep on. Tomorrow, me and two English girls (Lucy and Laura) i met on the trek are doing a thai cooking course, and then Tuesday its on to Pai, a place we've all been raved to about. Lets hope it lives up to expectations.

Im off to hire a pushy and explore some temples, so until next time....