Well finished my 3 days trekking in through the jungle yesterday which didn't quite go according to plan! Don't think this is the place to tell of my shocking story but i'm sure most of youwill have heard it thru the grapevine!

My first day started off great. Left Chiang Mia at 9am to head off into the valleys. Stopped at Mok Fa Waterfall which was great. What an unbelievable sight. Might sound a bit cheesy but standing under a waterfall is such a rush! Was a pretty warm day so was fab just jumping in to cool off. But ended up getting caught in my first monsoon of the jungle...thought this was bad...little did i know what was to come!

From here, headed to the hot springs but can't bathe in these ones due to the temperature being over 170 degrees... can boil an egg tho in two minutes! After a few pics started my first trek of the next 3 days. Wasn't half as bad as i expected and those horrendous looking walking shoes (you know the ones i'm talking about) really where a blessing. After a 3 hour trek stopped for the night in the first of the 3 Hilltribes i would be visiting over the next few days. This was the Karen tribe which was the smallest of the 3 with only 7 huts (houses) and 40 villagers. In these hilltribes, living is very simple and basic. No hot water, no material possesions, no shoes etc.... There was 1 toilet and 2 showers for the whole village. And when i say toilet i mean squat toilet...with no toilet paper. And shower is basically a big bucket of cold water with a small plastic bowl inside which you simply use to scoop the water out and pour over yourselve...not the most pleasurable. All this standing in the mud too but hey.. they've been doing it for hundreds of years and have better skin and hair than most of us! Cold tell the tribe wasn't far when the i spotted chickens crossing the path i was walking and hear the roosters flapping & clucking, dogs barking & elephants trumpeting. My first sight on entering the village was 6 buffalo lying in the mud after their hard day ploughing the fields. Dogs & chickens chased each other under the huts of stilts. The overpowering smell of spices & wood burning was so welcoming.

Cuisine for the evening consided of chicken wrapped in cucumber soup follwed by a chilli & spices chicken with noodles....delicious! After a few Singhas (local beer) it was time to hit the hay after the tiring day in the heat. Rooms are very simple with a thin mattresses on the floor covered by a mozzy net. No light, no electricity. Candles were the source of this.

Its amazing how much cooler it is in the jungle. The humidity is almost none existent and the temperature reduces from 100 degrees at night in the cities to about 65 degrees in the dense jungle.

Was awakened on day 2 by the roosters at 5am! left at 7 for my long 7 hour trek. Today was the day everything went horribly and tragically wrong. Started well, again trek not as bad as initially freaked myself out about. Some amazing views from the tops of the mountains. So many shades of green with the dense forest and a multitude of sounds from different species of birds, insects, frogs & and other small animals. Truly some of the most amazing sights i've ever seen.

Passed through a Shan village and stopped off for lunch. This tribe was larger thanthe first but still with the very same simple lifestyles. There were approx 100 huts and 350 people. Again the food was fab...made as simple as the night before between a few bowls, burning logs & water. Really does make you think why we complain & demand so much from miocrowaves, cookers & ovens. My next stop would be the elephant camp which was definately one of the things i was most looking forward to in these 3 days...

Monsoon was approaching fast and had absolutely no choice but to get absolutely drenched. Only shelter was the trees but even at that it didn't help that much. Was expecting to fall a few times as it was pretty steep going down through the jungle and now mud was starting to slide but managed to arrive at the camp in one piece. It was amazing to hear the elephants in the distance without seeing them. Really does make you realise you are so far from what you know as home. Just as i arrived at the camp all of a sudden the trees started swaying heavy from side to side...another monsoon was approaching and fast! Rain started thrashing from the skys as quickly as the wind started...This 10times worse. Thunder right overhead and definately didn't look like it was going to let up. Te sky was as dark as the night and even under shelter i was still soaked to the bone. The rain thrashes off the gound and river, each drop looked like the size of a golf ball and actually hurt it was coming down so fast. The noise was unbelievable...never heard or seen rain like this. Totally loving my first PROPER monsoon.

Rain stopped and skies cleared and now it was time for my elephant trek to finsh in a Lahu village for the night. Should have trusted my gut and instinct cause it actually turned out to be right! Unfortunatley some terrble events happened over the next few hours that are pretty much unthinkable but thank god I'm actually here to tell the tale. The Lahu villagers were amazing and helped amazingly with the situation. The men & woman of the tribes are truly unbelievable and without so much care and support from them things could have been so much worse. I have so much admiration for these people who have, as i've said, such basic lifestyles, but such strong beliefs that get them through life. They are so poor and basically live off there farmlands. The men may sometimes head into the nearest town to get certain supplies but this is very few and far between. And to have made everything so comfortable and easy for us after our little mishap was over and beyond the call of duty.

Anyway, Up until the afternoon of day i had a grat time in the jungle and would honestly recommend it. If anything, just for a wake up call! After spending the night in te Lahu village, left early next morning by bamboo raft to get to the nearest town (4 hours away). Some of the men of the village were up at 5 making the raft....bless...due to the circumstances. Weren't supposed to leave til 1pm that day.

Definately want to Bambo raft again, couldn't really enjoy the hour and a half i was on it this time. Eventually got back to Chiang by Sangtheuw at about 2pm. First stop hospital...second dtop police station. Then it was time for a pizza, beer, couple of pain killers and off to bed. Ordering a pizza from a Thai pizza delivery service was funny...but thats another story!

So today it's time to head back to Bangkok by overnight train again. Prob arrive about 7am tomorrow morning. So another joyful night of the bone shaker...can't wait!!

Cxxx

Ps...eventually uploaded some pics...