Hello all......Andy here.....

Well i thought it was about time i contributed to the blog so here goes!

Today is our 5th day in northern Thailand. Chiang mai has been our base of operations for the last 5 days and a great 5 days it has been.

We journeyed from Bangkok via the overnight train, a 10 hour journey which seemed to take double the quoted time! We travelled in the 2nd class sleeper section which was more like a rolling army barracks than a place to sleep!

The train was a bumpy, noisy affair and we struggled to get any rest at all, not only was it cramped and lacking decent wash facilities, we had the misfortune of sleeping(trying to sleep) next to the loudest snoring thai midget possible!!

We eventually arrived in Chiang mai and to our delight found it very pleasant compared to Bangkok, we immediately took a ride to 'Eagle house 2', a recommended guest house in the town centre. Eagle house was basic but well worth the 2.50 a night fee and upon arrival we decided to book a 3 day jungle trek with the guest house.

We spent the 1st night in an irish bar next to the hostel and had a well deserved 'chang' beer!

The following morning we were up early, packed and ready to begin our trek!

3 days all in all, with 2 nights sleeping in hilside tribe villages, we were both excited!

The first few hours were spent on the road with various food stop offs before we reached the national park borders and the waterfalls. We spent an hour swimming in the falls and getting to know the others on the trip. We then had another small drive to the hot springs and the starting point of the hike!

The first hour of the hike was rather difficult, hot temperatures and high humidity ment that we were sweating heavily and trying to keep hydrated.

After various run-ins with creepy crawlies we arrived at the 'Karen' hilltribe village.

We were shown to our room (sorry i ment Barn!) and we then sat round and were served the local dishes, after which we all sank some beers and stayed up late exchanging travel tips and stories.

Day 2 was to prove much more physically demanding than the last! We started a 2 hour hike in the morning with the target being to reach the elephant farm by midday, we somehow completed this with all the group in tact and again were fed a local dinner before starting our elephant ride.

The elephant ride was a great experience and lots of fun, traveling through jungle and across rivers. The trek took us to our final base camp, the 'Lisu' village. Here as the night before we ate and drank, although the sleeping arangements were much better than the previous.

Awoken early by the roosters at 6am we were tired but ready for the next stage of the trek(and my favourite) the river rafting! The rafts were made of bamboo by the villagers and we were set for a 2 hour 3killometre ride, it was great fun and very hands on, with people taking it in turns to be part of the engine ( bamboo sticks for pushing im affraid).

We floated past beautiful areas only visable from the river and finished having a race with the other team(catherines team), and my team were easily beat! possibly due to the fact myself and fellow member tim had drawn the short straw and ended up with a team full or crazy hysterical and wimpy chinese ;-)

the treck ended with a visit to an orchid farm which was famed for its beatiful flowers and all the kind of stuff a lad my age dreads, but to our supprise the typhoon season showed why she can be so brutal, heavry rains and wind halted us as we arrived so we cut short and returned to Chiang Mai.

Overall the experience was a great one and one we will remember forever, a must for any traveller.

Next step Cambodia...........