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hey all, well merry xmas how was your days? mine was different to say the least and i cant even begin to imagine spending another xmas like that. so i got the sleeper train from bangkok to chiang mai on xmas eve, the trains were not what i was expecting apparently they are very different to the sleeper trains in europe though - not that iv seen them, but the others on my tour have done europe before and they mentioned it. a few of us went to the 'party' carriage which was basically a dining carriage and there was another tour group in there so we had a good laugh. it was meant to close at 10pm but they kept it open until 11pm as a kindof xmas token but they wouldnt keep it open until midnight which was a shame as we were all in the party spirit, then we went to 'bed' which was a fairly interesting experience to say the least i pretty much froze all night long even though i had a jumper on and a blanket around me - it certainly wasnt the best nights sleep iv ever had and with the delays we didnt get to chiang mai until 11am christmas day, once in chiang mai a couple of us thought it might be nice to go to the womens prison and take a few bits for any 'farang' (what thais call non-thai people) that was staying there, the first thing we noticed in chiang mai was that it is not as touristy and few ppl speak english- we really struggled to get to the prison in the end getting in a songtheaw (kindof a pick-up truck) to a road nearby and walking the rest of the way, then we had to find someone who spoke english to let us in - it didnt work, basically with a big language barrier on all sides we deduced that there was only one 'farang' and she had already had a visitor for the day so we set off for the main temple in chiang mai to see that and get blessed by monks, do you believe women cant touch monks even by accident otherwise the monk has to repent for 3 whole days (because apparently women are dirty creatures) honestly some beliefs are so old fashioned, it is so tempting to brush against one but id feel too guilty i think. that night i managed to ring mum for 5mins max, sorry mum - like i said chiang mai isnt as touristy and i just couldnt find anywhere to phone from so ended up using our tour leaders mobile phone, then we went to the night markets which was so crowded and crammed, i managed to get a nice 'fake' billabong sweater for 3pound ready for the next train ride so i was pretty inpressed and for xmas dinner i had the classic pad thai which was very good, then we all headed to a thai boxing match - oh my goodness you have never seen anything like it, it is very different to boxing and they have kids doin it as well, so violent but fascinating, i left before the last match but apparently one of them got several broken ribs and the noise was horrible. the next morning we were up early and heading out to the middle of nowhere, we firstly went to an elephant training camp where we watched the elephants pull logs and paint pictures - not sure what i thought of it as it seemed a bit touristy and youv gotta wonder how they were trained then we went on to a village in the hilltribes, treking for 2hrs to get there and we stayed with the palong tribe for the night in their village and it was the most basic place i have ever stayed with no electricity or hot water and some very interesting squat toilets (im an expert now, lol) there was lots of pigs and chickens and other animals roaming around and we basically had a hut to ourselves to sleep in and some sleeping bags and that was it, it was the highlight of my whole time travelling so far, the people didnt speak english but they were so nice and after a lovely dinner that night the children put on a show for us which was fantastic and after the show they all played and we kindof joined in and everyone was singing and laughing around the campfire, it is so good to see children so happy even though the poverty there is so great and i was amazed to see them playing 'hand' games, like we all did in school - it is just amazing that everyone around the world plays these games even though there are many variations and different songs with them, it was an experience that made my trip to the hilltribes such a highlight. then in the morning (after freezing all through the night - what am i going to be like at home?) we all got up early again and the villagers brought their elephants to us (thats right, every village has elephants) and we rode then for an hour and a half to the next village, that was an experience i was so scared at first getting up there that high but then once we were on it was amazing, another memorable experience! in the next village we had a look around at the differences between the tribes, to be honest there isnt that many but this tribe was a bit richer then we went over to the river where some of the group got on a bamboo raft for a leisurely ride down the canals, then after lunch we headed to the train station for the overnight train back to bangkok, we got in at 6am this morn and im pretty exhausted, its a free day today but we are all meeting up later to go to a 'ladyboy' show and then on to pattpong markets. tommorow we visit the bridge over the river kwai then get the overnight train to krabi where i am for 4days until the tour ends. not sure when il manage to get online but il update when i can and i dont know what im up to between the tour ending and meeting mum on 9th but theres apparently a full moon party at koh phan yahn on the 3rd that a few of us were thinking of going to and maybe doing koh samui as well. have a great new year everyone!!! and happy birthday to gran on the 3rd if i dont get online before that! xxxx
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