I had the best day yet yesterday. We booked a 1 day safari for Chiang Mai when in Bangkok. The day started rather early as 8am when we were picked up in a little minibus (this went to about 3 other hotels picking up other people). We were in a nice group of with 3 American girl travellers, a couple of Thai tourists and a Japanese male tourist.

We travelled for about 90 mins out of Chiang Mai to the mountain region. The day started by trekking up the side of a mountain which took about an hour and it was all uphill and steep. I was thinking at that point how unfit I was and it was a real struggle, and was gasping for breath and sweating like mad. Then I looked around and everyone else was the same (it was 32 degrees, sunny and quite hight up). The physical exertion aside, it was lovely; clean air, greenery, wildlife and most importantly out of a city. The views were magnificent and it was rolling hills as far as the eye could see.

We reached a village inhabited by an Hmong tribe. These people live in the mountains and used to grow Opium for a living but due to the Thai restrictions on drugs they now grow other things. It was fascinating to see how even in this day and age, some people live in little huts with no luxuries as we know it and have such a basic existence. They make a living on the land only - no electricity, no running water - just each other and their animals. There is typically about 9 per family and men can have up to 4 wives. We spent around 30 minutes, mingling, looking at their little museum before heading back down the mountain.

The next stop for the day was an elephant reserve where we would actually ride elephants. I just couldn't wait to get there as I've always wanted to ride on an elephant although I was still a little bit apprehensive. We arrived and after crossing a river on a rather ramshackle bamboo bridge, we saw the elephants waiting for us. All elephants were female except 1 lucky male who was expected to service all the females each year. I was in awe of the elephants when getting close to them and seeing how big and powerful they really are.

We were led up to the elephant mounting steps to a platform and then needed to step on the elephants backs to get on the seats. The seats on top of the elephant accommodated 2 people so Harnaik and I rode the elephant together. It took a bit of manoeuvring to get on the seat but I managed without much problem. Harnaik was next and climbed aboard after a while. A guy was sitting on the top of the elephants head to navigate and control. The elephant adventure was about to begin......

We set off on the trek and headed for some woodland. The elephant that we were on was pregnant and apparently, the full term for an elephant pregnancy is about 20 months. We went through rivers, bogs, climbed up steep hills and then went down again. It was amazing and lasted for about an hour. The elephant we were riding was a bit naughty and often deviated from the track followed by the others, but it made it all the more exciting. We then arrived back at the start point and dismounted which was a bit easier than getting on. I bought some bananas and fed them to the elephant (they were 20 baht for massive bunches and as the sign says "bananas make elephant happy" - wish I had known that before I started as I would have given it a few before we set off just to be sure.

We then headed for lunch at this mountainside cafe and had some fried bamboo, rice, and some other dishes but I don't have a clue what they were.

We then visited a great waterfall called the Mae Sa Pok Waterfall. Some of the group (with swimwear) went under the waterfall, but Harnaik and I just paddled (except Harnaik slipped over and ended up in muddy water anyway). As it was quite hot and humid, it was just great to stand near to the waterfall and feel the spray, it really refreshed me and it was great to just sit, chill and think for a while.

We spent about 45 mins at the waterfall, and then headed off to the last activity of the day which was bamboo rafting down the Wang River. We arrived and we got into group of 4. We hooked up with the Thai tourist couple who we spoke to quite a lot and were really nice. The bamboo rafts had just been made up for our arrival and they were just putting them on the river. They didn't look very safe but it looked like it might be fun. We climbed onto the rafts and then set off down river. It started quite slow and then picked up pace, with mini waterfalls and strong currents. We started to get very wet and had to cling on for dear life at some points. It was amazing fun and we had a real laugh. The guy steering our raft managed to capsize the raft of the other group and they all ended up in the water. After that, the guy steering the other raft was constantly trying to capsize us. It was great and I wanted it to go on and on. At one point we came across this quite large waterfall and had to disembark so the raft could go over so we could get back on. There were elephants roaming freely around which was nice to see. We then got back onto the raft and the adventure lasted about another 30 mins. The totally rafting experience was about an hour.

The minibus then met us further down the river and then took us back to our hotels. We we were all soaking wet which made the journey a bit uncomfortable. We got back to the hotel and swapped e-mail addresses with the Thai couple and then changed and went out for dinner.

We went to a riverside restaurant for dinner and had a table just by the river which was lovely. We had a meal, a couple of drinks and went back to the hotel absolutely knackered.

Harnaik and I are just spending today, chilling out and looking round Chiang Mai separately and will meet back at the hotel this evening. This is our last full day here before we fly to Phucket tomorrow lunchtime. Apparently, it is 40 degrees there so I'm just preparing myself for the heat again.