So, we arrived in Bangkok on the 29th of november and went straight to our hostel. The hostel was very western and there were loads of other backpackers there. We were staying in a dorm of 6, which was cool as we met loads of people. While there we met two Aussie girls, called Michelle and Lee, who we got on really well with. We booked train tickets to Chaing Mai, and in all our wisdom decided we would save money by not booking sleeper compartments instead opting for 3rd class. As you can imagine it was basic! However, it did give us the opportunity of meeting some of the locals, one of which proceeded to inform us that I (Thea) looked firstly like Sharon Stone and then David Beckham! Lee apparently looked like my cousin, and Michelle was very beautiful. We were later informed that Lizzie was "too much beautiful" and after finding out everything about us ranging from our age to our weight, the kind gentleman introduced us to the rest of the carridge, without forgeting to introduce me as the "one who looks like a man'! It was embarrassing but good fun. We arrived in Chaing Mai with a bit of a bump. The place was far from what we had expected, with numerous people wearing England football shirts and burberry caps, sitting in Irish Pubs! To be honest it was like being in Mallorca. But we booked ourselves in to a trek with Michelle and Lee, which was to last 4 days. There were three other Aussie on the trek and we had a really cool guide called Chai. The trek included a bit if walking, some elephant riding and some bamboo rafting. The elephant riding was amazing. They were a little scary at first but we soon came to realise that they were incredible gentle creatures. It was amazing seeing the interaction between the elephants and their Mahoots (i don't know how to spell it, but their trainer people) If our elephant couldn't see his Mahoot he would stop and wait for him to catch up. The bamboo rafting was another cause of much laughter. The rafts are about 20 foot long and are steered by one man at the front, you can therefore imagine what its like sitting at the back! I happened to be that person and spent the majority of my time trying to avoid being decapitated by low lying branches! Another hazard to avoid were the numerous leeches, I was unfortunate enough to be 'leeched', as we took to calling it, and didn't stop bleeding for most of the day. Each night we stayed in a village with the local people which was really interesting. Our guide Chai, invited us in to have drinks with the locals and we participated in their 'tradition' of drinking Moonshine, or rice whiskey, in copeous amounts! Chai was generally abit of a joker, he told us that cheers in Karen, which is the language that they speak in the villages, was Chingdingalingding. We then proceeded to toast with the locals shouting Chingdingalingding at the top of our voices. This caused endless amusement for the locals and we soon realised that we had been taken for a ride! In between making up songs and trying to embarrass us as much as possible it was actually facinating to hear about Chai's childhood, growing up on the Thai-Burma border, he had loads of stories to tell which struck us with awe. We had a great time on the trek and were sad to part with Michelle and Lee who we were leaving in Chaing Mai. We were so upset to be leaving them we almost missed our train as our farewell dinner went on slightly longer than expected! However, thankfully the train was late and we made it on. The train on the way back was just as eventful as it had been on the way there! Lizzie was repeatedly woken up by a drunk man shaking her legs vigorously, speaking to her in Thai which she couldn't understand! I, however, was completetly oblivious to the matter and spent the whole journey asleep!! After 16 hours on the train we found ourselves back in Bangkok and were ready to begin our venture south...