on the first day of the trek we got in like a safari truck and headed out of chiang mai.. we stopped at a market to stock up on snacks where our leader, Dodi, gave us crickets to try and they were rank! they tasted ok, like soy sauce and chicken but they were really horribly gooey when you expected them to be dry! then we got back in the car and stopped at the national park where we swam in an amazing waterfall. it looked like paradise, stunning place. it was freezing and really high and we swam behind it and got on the rocks behind it. we took a load of photos then got in the car for like 2 hours into the jungle!

in was full on in the middle of thick jungle.. looked like the jungle book. we started treking through the jungle, not on paths, just litterally walking up and down through the really steep jungle. it was surprisingly hard but the guides were really fit and were running up the hills! Dodi got us to try jungle grapes and we chewed bark which was suposed to give you energy but it just gave you the dryest mouth! and we swung on this jungle vine which went really high across a little stream. our bags were really heavy because we were carrying all our stuff for like 3days. but then gem's knee popped and she had trouble walking.. but she did really well and we had a right laugh walking down this massive orange, dusty track to the first village with some aussie girls that are on the tour! we all fell over like twice and our bums were orange. we got into the hill tribe and met the local people and it was full on back to basics. and there were shacks everywhere and we washed in the stream which was SO cold! we shared a love shack which was very romantic and they lit a candle for us when we went to bed! we had an awesome dinner as well of spring rolls and rice and vegetables and currys and chicken. was really good. but then Dodi also gave us some squirrel to try which tasted like tough bbq meat but looked like a fire roasted rat. then we sat round the camp fire and dodi did us black magic and sang us songs! we brushed our teeth in the jungle and went ot bed!

next day we started treking at about 9 in the morning but the rooster had been going off since like 4! again we treked through really thick jungle for like 4 hours in the heat, but dodi made a hat out of a giant leaf and boom, one of the guides, made gem a rafiki stick to help her walk! and we walked into the elephant camp which was pretty incredible. they were just roaming about around a river in the camp which we washed our faces in and they were just stood right in front of us. and we went right up to them and touched them and fed them pinapple. and they were wondering about as we were eating lunch which was noddles but then Dodi also got us to try corriander and squirrel soup.. which was super spicy! then we got on their backs on this little seat and there was this little thai man who just casually sat on his head! the elephant walked through the rivers and it was really high up on their back. then we got off them and had another 20min trek into the second village.

in this on we all stayed in one big hut.. the camp was way more developed. it had a school and a park as well as the farm bits and it was generally much bigger. our little hut looked over the river and we went for a swim in it which again was very cold! but refreshing. and we had another good dinner there and a cold beer which was good when we watched some people play the village games. then sat round the camp fire and had a really good evening. we were all singing and we had jungle moonshine which was really strong! we think it was like rice whisky. we had a really good laugh with the tour guides, who were doing magic tricks and singing, and with other people in our group.

the next day we did bamboo rafting down the river towards Chiang Mai and gem got moved off our boat to distribute the weight! and we floated down the river which really relaxing but some parts were quite fast down the rapids which was fun and we got quite wet.. the tour guides pushed us in and so we did some swimming. and we had a good pad thai lunch and then it was back in the car for a 2 hour drive back to the city. by this time we were all grubby but charly was in a class of her own! evolution was occuring in charlys hair! (it wasnt THAT bad). but you dont want to see what came out of it in the shower!

then last night we had a group meal at a outdoor restaurant in Chiang Mai and went to another night market and had fun with the group.