We don't know where to start, have got so much to tell you all!! We have been on out Intrepid trip up to Chiang Mai, stopping at a lot places along the way! So to start, we met our group, there was 12 of us all together good group of people, from all parts of the world, only one other bloke though but Owen didn't seem to mind!! We all seemed to get on really quickly I think it was the 5 hour journey on the train to begin with and none of us stopped talking! Oh and there's our leader called Nutty and yes that's his real name, suited him aswell!! So first stop Sukhothai, when we arrive it is monsoon rain all the way and we are being transported in a songthew (truck with two benches in back) to our accomodation, owen drew the short straw and had to sit at the end and got very wet! We stayed in this amazing little wooden bungalow which we shared with Gecko lizards and frogs that lived under the toilet seat, kinda gross, but the lizards were good coz they ate all the other bugs! We were taken for a bike ride round the ruins of the old city, was really interesting and Nutty was full of information so learnt a lot, bike's were hilarious, very upright and wobbly with the most uncomfortable seat! Bike ride was followed by a swim and then Owen got a thai massage, looked painful but he said it was relaxing! Then we all went out for dinner to round of the evening. The next morning we are up early to go a 5 hour bus journey to Lampang, arrived at lunch, we are staying a 70 year old teak house, unfortunately today owen wasn't feeling well so I went on a horse drawn carriage ride round Lampang with the others, was really fun! We then all went for dinner and there was a band playing in the restaurant, singing was interesting! Today is the elephant conservation centre!!!!! Have been looking forward to this the most! We feed the baby elephants bananas and then watch them go in a big lake for a bath, funniest thing to watch and then as they came out, they all formed a procession trunk holding tail, there were 2 at the front that held a drum and one walked between them with a stick banging the drum as they all walked in a long line, it was like the Jungle Book!! We watched a demonstration of how clever they are, working with logs and playing instruments, they even painted a picture. Then it was our turn to ride them! So fun! really high up and quite smooth! We go to the elephant hospital too. One elephant had a prosthetic leg?!! it had stepped on a landmine, so they had amputated it. We are staying at a local persons home tonight up in a village an hour from Chiang Mai, we are given a musical performance by local children and they then try and teach us how to play their instruments, really funny. We then have a traditional thai meal, which is followed by a display of Thai dancing, while this was going on a man was giving us each shoulder and neck massages, when he got to me it tickled so much I couldn't stop laughing and then he was slapping my shoulders, not gona have that again!! Next morning we got up early to feed the monk?!!! Then we had a suprise we went to the local Thai junior school and then in pairs got put in front of a class of children and had to teach them for half an hour!!! My worst nightmare, Owen loved it! We did the Ochie Cochie with them and head shoulders knees and toes and Owen had them drawing and writing english words. This was followed by a bike ride round the local villages, to one of their temples then to the rice fields where Owen had a go at planting rice, knee deep in muddy water!! Next stop a mushroom growing farm and then to a cottage factory where they made lots of clothes and things ready to be sold at the markets. we left after lunch to got to Chiang Mai. Night Market in Chiang Mai was amazing, very different city to Bangkok, we then all went to O'Malleys an Irish Pub!!! For rest of night. Last day of the tour, we went round all the local handicraft villages seeing how they made their ceramics, wood engravings, silver work and silk, best of all was seeing them making and painting umbrellas and fans, the artists were amazing. We leave at 4.30 to board the night train, it's a peroper sleeping one, but it also has a party carriage, something you'd never see at home, litreally a carriage with disco lights, loud cheesey music, a bar that gives you a bottle of rum when you ask for a rum and coke!! We stayed there until it shut!!!!! Sleeping on the train was quite nice compared to some of the beds we've slept in in the last week! We got back to Bangkok said bye to the group and that night we got a night bus and boat to Koh Tao which is where we are now, sun sand and palm trees!! Will write about Koh Tao next time though! Hope everyone's ok. Sarah and Owen xxx