After seeing the sights of Bangkok we were ready to leave the busy city for some calmer countryside. We took an overnight Train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai which was....an experience. After the embarassment of sitting in the wrong seat for about half an hour we settled down 3 cabins away for the start of our journey. At about 11pm a man in a facemask miraculously changed the two seats into bunk beds....amazing! Suprisingly the ride wasn't too bad and 15 hours later we arrived. We have never seen so much greenery and weren't expecting such beautiful mountains.

After checking into our hotel we decided to go on a walk....without the map because of course it was far too big and heavy to carry....and managed to get lost. Good! In extreme heat we wandered around the streets confusing, and being confused by Thai people while trying to navigate our way back.

That evening we had a meeting about the 3 day trek we had planned to start the next day. We met the people we would be exploring the jungle with and the guide who calls himselg Jackie Chan and is an absolute treat! A few of us decided to go to the nigh bazar which was great and a little less hectiv than that in Bangkok.

Early start with a pick up truck style vehicle up into the mountains. Our adventure began with bamboo rafting which involed standing up and getting very wet as the guides thought it hilarious to pretend they were whacking crocodiles with there sticks. It actually was pretty funny but also slightly more hazardous than it first looked due to a large number of rocks jetting out from the water.

A few bumps and bruises later we began the trek. The views were really gorgeous but the walk itself is possibly one of the most challeging things we have ever done! Up incredibly steep slopes and across narrow paths (if you can call them that) and over strips of water. Although it was hard work it was so much fun and the awesome views and a stop at an amazing waterfall made it all worth it.

That night we stayed in a stilted hut in a tribal village. It wasn't quite the long necked tribe we had been expecting but it was interesting and the guide told us stories and filled us in on cultures of the different tribes. Due to a combination of tiredness and darkness we had an early night.

Even more trekking and fascinating views the next day, this time through rice paddies which were beautiful. We were amazed at the naturally created water system that they use. This time we stayed in the middle of nowhere with one of the guides families. It felt so surreal being there. There was a waterfull just minutes away whih we washed and relxed in....aswell as attempting to be cool with a few jumps and dives. That night wasn't quite as calm as the previous......infact far from it. As a group we managed to clean out all of the beers (at which the guides dad was extremely happy about). We played games, sang songs, drank rice whisky and ended up completley covered in soot thanks to a rule made up by the guide that if you lose he gets to attack you with black from the back of a wok. Lets just say this got a little out of hand and even after scrubbing away we were still ridiculously covered the next day.

An easy (yeah right) trek down the mountain and through more rice paddies took us to the elephany centres where we had a ride on the back of one of them. It wasn't quite wha we expected. Firstly our elephany driver decided to stop of at his house for 15 minutes to look at himself in the mirror and then have a little nap. While he is chillaxing we are on the back of this elephant praying that it is not going to run off with us and thinking 'how very rude'. We were also saddened by the treatment of the elephant who were knocked about, smacked and had things carapulted at them. Word of advice to those thinking of dong an elephant trek...research the place beforehand. We wished we had gone to a sanctuary instead to watch them in a more natural environment.

That night we all hit the town and, inspired by the singing from the previous evening, went in search of a kareoke bar. It was hilarious!! In a place called Pornping (we didn't let the name put us of) down some stairs and into a posh lounge area which we had all to ourself! Great!

Anways....... will have more to update soon. Off to Laos tomorrow on the Slow boat. Unfortunately we can't change our flights so it's back into Thailand after that to do some partying and relaxing on the Islands before heading either to Cambodia or up North again to do some volunterring in an orphange.

Hope you're all well

xxxxx