We arrived at our hotel 'hotel serenity', it was lovely, much nicer than we were expecting but I think we are getting used to having a private room so will get a shock when we have to share a dorm with 8 others in Aussie! After checking in the group of us who are now very good friends, wandered round Chang Mai which is far nicer than Bangkok and much cleaner and greener but not as big or busy. We found a restaurant that claimed it was the second best in Chang Mai so we had a nice lunch there, gem and I shared tofu and veg noodles and a pizza it was delicious! After looking round the shops the others headed back for a nap (I am still not tired- must be the vitamin B I'm taking!), gem and I decided to walk and find the school of Thai massage where students pay for a course and learn how to be a masseur. I didn't want to go to a dodgy one where they ask men if they want a 'happy ending' after their massage- I'll let you make up your own mind on that!!! We got a little lost but ended up in a pet shop where they had pedigree dogs in cages for sale and little turtles they were adorable but rather cruel, check the photos! We booked a massage for later in the week as we wanted a woman to do it not a man. In the afternoon we met back up with our group for an ice lolly and took a truck taxi which is open air to keep cool so basically you're just sat in an old truck but its fun, cheap and good banter! The Thai's stare when they see a big truck of English people, I always make sure I smile and wave! Sunny took us to watch the sun set up in the mountains it was gorgeous and very romantic but unfortunately Andrew wasn't thereL. Look at the photos it was such a nice view and we could see a breathtaking view of the city down below whilst the sun went down. Afterwards we continued our very steep and bumpy ride in the truck to a temple up in the hills, the views were spectacular, and we looked round the temple in the moonlight and watched the monks in their robes praying and the children meditating at some sort of Buddhist Sunday school. It was very magical with the tiny bells clinking in the breeze. Next we drove all the way back down back to the city where we went to an open air restaurant in front of a Thai dance show so we could eat and watch the Thai dancers at the same time. Gem and I shared spring rolls, veg noodle soup and red curry and sampled a Mai tai cocktail. The night market for which Chang Mai is famous was great, hundreds of stalls selling everything you could think of all decorated in the dark with fairy lights and was fun bartering with the owners for t-shirts and jewelry. Everything is cheap as chips i'm not going to be able to adjust to the next countries or England come to think of it- even Primark will seem expensive ha-ha. Along side the stalls were rows of massage beds where tired shoppers could get a foot, head or back massage to relax. The following day (26th) we set off up into the jungle forest for our hill tribe trek. On the way we stopped at a little town to buy presents for children in the villages we planned to visit. The heat was searing (i'm wearing factor 50 so hadn't really tanned yet!) so we stopped at a beautiful waterfall on the way up to cool off. We all went swimming and played around in the water, it was like something from a nature documentary I never thought id see anything like that in real life! We got back in the back of the truck and dried off in no time in the heat and got all our rucksacks and hydration fluids ready for our trek. The first day of trekking was so much hard work; i'm not fit at all! I was sweating and panting but to be fair it was mainly up hill and on very narrow ridges so a lot of my concentration was going on not slipping down the hillside! The surroundings were lush even though it was not rainy season, we saw a monkey and a snake and some colorful insects, sunny and sol our guides who are now friends and I will miss them very much, they showed us which plants were poisonous and they made us hats and arrows using bamboo and banana leaves. They also made me a walking stick from bamboo which helped a little! After about 3 hours of trekking in the searing sun we arrived at the tribal village where we were to stay in bamboo huts on stilts amongst the locals, it was very quirky. It was a once in a lifetime experience as we got to interact with the tribe and their children and we bought things they had made like bracelets and wood carvings. The children were beautiful but quite shy and wary of us strange foreigners in their village. I gave one little girl a pink notebook and pack of crayons as they don't have luxuries like that, the boys bought a football for the little boys of the village and they were all having a kick about in the forest! We had a lovely home cooked meal of spring rolls, rice, green curry; we even tried deer that had been caught in the forest that day! After relaxing in the hammock (another dream of mine-simple pleasures!) we gathered round the camp fire and watched the stars with a few beers the guides had brought for us. Sol and sunny sang English songs and played the guitar so we could join in- it was a lovely evening but I was a little home sick at this point. There are 2 couples in our group so I guess I was missing Andrew. Such a lovely bunch of people though, i've never laughed so much! There were dogs running about everywhere and a little of gorgeous puppies but I was sensible and resisted cuddling them in case they were diseased! I wanted to hold a baby but I didn't for the same reason!The toilet and washing facilities were a little unsanitary to say the least at the village, we had a cold shower and a squat toilet, toilet paper has to be burned in the forest and a bucket of water flushed down the hole in the ground to dispose! We slept in mosquito nets in the huts, I haven't been bitten yet but Scott one of the boys did save us from a huuuuuge tropical spider in our room! Tiger balm is great for everything, cuts bruises, bites and stings- the Thais believe it can mend anything even a broken heart if you rub it on your chest- maybe ill try that! It was surprisingly cold at night and in the early hours of the morning, not hot like in the city but we were very high up from all the walking.The next day we had breakfast together (random hard boiled eggs, cucumber, Thai jam and ginger tea- I miss Yorkshire tea!!!!) The villagers grow ginger, tea leaves and bananas on trees and harvest their own rice in the paddy fields nearby. Our second day of trekking was even harder; it was hotter weather and much more uphill so I was stopping every 5 mins for my rehydration tablets! Before we left we looked round the village one more time and saw a monkey they keep as a pet which I thought was cruel but apparently its mother died so they adopted it (yeah right they will probably be having it for tea!) it seemed happy though and was playing with the locals, it was sweet. There were lots of other animals too like piggies and huuuuge chickens that looked genetically modified they were so tall!! We watched the women of the village prepared rice in their traditional dress. We had all hired a Thai style wrap dress from the trek shop so we had those on for one of the days just to fit in!We covered about 5 miles today before reaching the long awaited elephant camp- I was walking down the path and looked up to see 2 elephants wandering past me near the stream! It was surreal seeing them in natural surroundings and not in a zoo- I was gob smacked and there was some squealing on my part!! We had lunch of noodle chili soup at the camp watching the elephants close by bathing in the stream, then we paddled in the stream to cool off whilst the elephants were prepared for our ride. We had to climb on their heads to get on them after climbing up a wooden ladder thing, I was worried I would hurt him but they reassured me he was tougher than that! We had a boy elephant, he was the biggest and about 30 years old, he was the leader so as we trekked through the jungle on him he knew where he was going so we didn't need a guide with us. At one point he wandered off into the trees off the path thought for some leaves and we had to duck the branches it was so funny but a little scary, the guides shouted at him to get back on the path- they listen to their owners there are only 10 people in Thailand who can train an elephant, they believe they have spirits inside of them. When I fir5st got on the elephant I was overwhelmed as it is sort of my childhood dream so I had a tear in my eye hut that came also from how scared I was as we were going really steep and felt like we would fall off into the valley! Once we got used to it though it was quite relaxing and we could sit back and soak up the scenery of the lush forest/jungle around us. I named my elephant Andrew cos he was stubborn but handsome with a hairy bum ha-ha! After an hour and a half of elephant trekking we said goodbye to the elephant and walked to the next village where we would stay the night. We all went straight in the river for a swim, some people jumped off the bridge but I didn't so I wasn't my clothes in the river with the locals and shampooed my hair- it was like the herbal essences advert hehe.Later we visited the school within the village and saw all the children, we gave them presents and sweets and had photos taken with the, For tea we had the nicest meal yet, yellow curry with chiken and potato and a side dish of spicy pum,pkin which we ate as a group in the covered hut. We also tried two unusual things- dried squid which tasted like pork scratching and wait for it… RAT!!! They caught it in the jungle and we had it with spices- it was quite nice actually- a bit bitter quite like lamb but lots of tiny bones so I only had a mouthful as scare of choking. We had bananas and pineapples form the trees for pud which are amazingly juicy. All the fruit and beg here is so brightly coloured and fresh and the orange juice is nice as they make it with tangerines so it has a different taste to ours. After tea we lit a campfire and told jokes and talked till late with beer before going to sleep in one big room all together. There was a monsoon rainstorm in the night which woke me up and I was scared a snake would come in cos I thought I heard hissing but it was just one of the lads breathing! There was a lot of snoring in the room that night too! The next day was a brilliant day as we went bamboo rafting- it was fab! We traveled down the river for 4 hours on a raft made of bamboo held together with reeds. We had to stand up and use bamboo poles to keep the boat moving, the water wasn't very deep and a couple of people fell in when the river got a bit rough- I was the only one who opted for a life jacket! We sang Thai songs and taught the Thai boys the 'smelly cat' song. The scenery was immense and elephants roamed the paths at the side of the river, we saw a baby one today- I was reaching out to try touch its truck but they are in a dazed world of their own and he wasn't interested! I don't think the photos do it justice it's so hard to explain just how beautiful it was. It was such a fun day it was probably my favorite activity yet. Afterwards we got a truck back to the hotel we were all very tired form all our walking and dirty from our cold showers and same old clothes! We had a fun journey back and all the girls were laughing all the way back I think we had lack of sleep so were hyperactive! That night we went out for drinks and a meal in Chang Mai as a group and with sunny and sol and their cousins. It was so goof, we had to pick our own ingredients and cook them ourselves in any combination. Children were selling flower garlands to the tables it was hard seeing them in their rags and sad faces so I bought one but I think it's probably a ploy, later on I was picking them up and swinging them round and catching them which made them smile and laugh quite a lot and me actually! We watched a live Thai band who were singing English songs- they love their cheesy love songs over here and oasis too! We drank a few cocktails, not many as didn't want to drink much- there was a group of us though so we were safe and with our guides. We all got bought a rose by an American We went to a Thai club called 'spicy' and then got a tuk tuk back to the hotel and jumped on our guide who had gone home a little earlier to bed- he saw the funny side of 4 girls piling on him at 4am! Then we chatted for a while on the balcony of Chris and nicks room (2 Irish boys in our group). We got up early the next day and met another group to attend a cookery course in Thai food. We met some nice people from Sweden, Germany, Canada and a girl called hazel from England. We had our own basket and had a tour round the market to get ingredients that we would later cook, we learned all about the Thai vegetables etc. Afterwards we went to the cookery school where we had our own apron, chefs had and knife wok and we learned how to cook Thai food- we did four courses and ate each one as a group afterwards. They were delicious we made pad Thai (noodles, egg, chicken, shrimps and peanuts), hot and sour king prawn soup (my fave!), red Thai curry and jasmine rice and for pudding we made sticky coconut rice with mango- so nice! I will cook it when we get back so you can all try some as they gave me a recipe book full of Thai recipes to take home with me. That night we got the over night train back to Bangkok where we will stay and meet our new group ready to head to south Thailand