Ayutthaya was barely worth blogging about so I didn't bother. It's the ancient capital of Thailand that was destroyed by the Burmese a few hundred years ago so it's all about the ruins - which were pretty amazing, but once you've seen two or three, you've seen them all. The town can definitely be covered on a day trip but due to unorganisation we spent two nights there before getting the overnight train to Chiang Mai. Which was absolutely NUTS. As the train pulled in we saw what looked like a club carriage, packed with people dancing and cheering to all these club anthems. So obviously we went down to explore and the cheering got crazier as we made our way through the carriage. Had a few beers in there with loads of Europeans; nothing seems to stop the Russians - when they switched the lights on to clear us out they just unscrewed all the lightbulbs. Everyone we've met who took the train since is gutted they either didn't find the carriage or it was just full of locals eating dinner.

We've done all the standard Chiang Mai experiences but the people we've been doing them with have made them far more brilliant than I expected. There's been about 9 of us knocking around together and I feel like I've known them forever, which I guess is pretty standard in the travelling world. Ages ranging from 19 to 33 in the group but it's as though everybody is ageless; we have not stopped laughing. Emily will be pleased to know that everyone has been embracing Organised Fun with vigor.

On our first full day in Chiang Mai we went to play with the tigers at Tiger Kingdom - the babies were adorable. There was a touch and go moment when one of the huge tigers decided to get up and circle me as I (as directed) attempted to lie down with it for the golden photo opportunity but so far all my limbs are attached. In the afternoon a group of five of us went on a Thai cooking course with a guy who is known as 'funny man'. He took us round the market and described all of the ingredients in a way that would put Jamie Oliver to shame as Mr Oliver lacks the fantastic banter our chef had. He also laughed exactly like Emma Moran with the shaking shoulders so naturally I found everything extra hilarious.

The next two days were dedicated to our trek in the mountains of Chiang Mai which started off with a fantastic elephant ride. Lauren was perhaps not so amused when she got off her elephant after some shouted encouragement from the Thai elephant man, only to find the seat strapped to said elephant had pretty much been positioned at a 45 degree angle for the half an hour she'd been sat on it. In the afternoon the fun really began with our first bit of trekking. The terrain was pretty tough and Lauren fell ill with suspected heatstroke (she's fine now) and had to turn back half an hour after walking. At this point I recalled The Rough Guide recommending that you ensure your trek has at least two or three guides - one to lead, one to bring up the rear to prevent people getting lost and ideally one extra to turn back with anyone who falls ill. Well obviously we had one guide. And thus the next two hours played out like the first twenty minutes of a horror movie. The guide literally draw a map of the route in the dirt and pointed us in the right direction as he took Lauren back to the road. The next 45 minutes can only be described as hellish; everyone who described the trek as 'easy, like a casual walk in the forest' has a cruel sense of humour - it was essentially rock climbing on a seriously steep hill with paths no bigger than a couple of foot wide in places with a sheer drop into shrubbery and fallen bamboo. All without a guide. Amazingly, our guide managed to catch us up after having SPRINTED through the jungle to meet us for the last section. The last section that was described as 'half an hour' and in reality was an hour and fifteen minutes. That's Thai Time for you, and a concept with became very familiar over the next two days.

The evening was seen through with a few Chang beers and an uncomfortable night's sleep in a wooden shack in a hillside village. The second day was less traumatic as we had the fun of a waterfall swim and rafting, though Lauren was ill again and fainted on the trail. But all was good after the fainting, until I nearly went over the edge after having cockily taken a downward slope at a run and reaching for what I thought was a solid tree but was in fact just a curtain of leaves. If Joe, one of the guys we're travelling with, hadn't have caught me it may have been a broken ankle and an early flight home. Hero of the hour for sure.

One of the guys working at the hostel (he's been since Christmas and hasn't yet left - gives you an idea of how great Spicy Thai Backpackers is) is a chef and cooked us up a right feast on our return, before 26 of us piled into the hostel's average sized truck (8 or 9 of whom were on the roof of said truck) and got dropped off at the beginning of a trail that would take us up to a small clearing that looks over the whole of Chiang Mai with a pre-prepared bonfire. More bloody trekking. Working our way up the hill with five torches between us was interesting but easily a highlight of the trip so far. Sucker for a bonfire. Weirdly, getting back down after a couple of hours of boozing was far easier and once again we all piled into the Spicy Thai truck to go onto some bars. Didn't get home until 5.30am this morning - needless to say none of us are feeling that hot right now.

Six of us are moving on to the border tonight and spending the next two days on the slow boat down the Mekong River in Laos - we just can't get enough of each other and must spend every waking minute together. Typically we're all British. Have naturally got a million photos to upload but will attempt the task once we disembark the slow boat in Luang Prabang.

Over and out for now. x