Hello, We survived the deepest depths of the thailand jungle! Totally shattered and glad to be alive but had the most amazing 3 days yet! We had an elephant ride which was... an experience! not the comfiest of animals and they are so incredibly big when you are sitting on top of them. Quite scary tho! you can't really tell an elephant what to do, if they want to go for a wander, they just do! One of our companions had a bit of a wild one that we did think was going to take him down a rather steep cliff just to get the really tasty leaves down there! thankfully we survived that!

That was the easy bit! the next day and a half saw us trecking up and down the mountainous terrain of the edge of Chiang Mai with our backpacks and no turning back if you changed your mind! The 3hr treck turned out to be about 4 1/2 hrs but we arrived at camp before dark, was a little doubtfull we would but Lek, our guide, got us all there in one piece. we stayed with a Karen Tribe in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Wooden shacks with chickens running aroud underneath, a wooden mat to sleep on, a bucket to wash in and beer! Yes, they had cans of beer waiting for us when we arrived! Very much appreciated! they even had their own little night market. the two lovely ladies we stayed with make scarfs and bags and necklases for the passing toourist trade (us) It got very cold at night but we were given many many banekts to lye on and in!

The 2nd day was a long treck through rice paddys, accross rivers, up and down some very steep forrest hills (felt like mountains to me!) Aine took a bit of a tumble and hurt her shoulder but she is al fixed now. I had a bit of a panic to be honest, i heard a screem and looked up just in time to seeAine dissappear down a muddy path and land rather awkwardly on her shoulder. But all is ok now. I took a few tumbles myself, more than most to be honest, i have never quite mastered the whole ballance thing and with a big rucksack i was a bit useless at staying on my feet! became a running joke with Lek, he thought it was hilarious as i was coverred in mud for 3 days pretty much! Along the way we were attacked by Leeches, Yes LEECHES! they are nasty little b*****s! mum if you think slugs are bad these things are just evil! got bitten a few times and got a great little bite on my ankle to prove it. Can see the little teeth marks and everything. Lek decided he had had enough of the leeches so took us a slightly different route to the next camp which was possibly the steepest forrest i have ever seen, let alone walked through! we went up, then down, then up again, then down some more. All in the mud and slipping all over the place! We eventually made it to the camp and the lovely old man there gave us more beer and some amazing food. He lives there all the time, on his own mostly, in the forrest right on the edge of the vilage by the river, He is 80yrs old and speeks Karen tribe language and very little thai.

Day 3 was alot easier in comparison. we got very wet on bamboo rafts and floated down the river for about an hour, did a bit more trecking for an hour, got covered in mud again, then found the truck, Hallelulia! no more carrying the bags! we went about an hour before the truck got stuck in the very nasty clay mud! after a few attempts with and without us all in, we had to push the stupid heavy truck up the hill! took a few of us and we got totally covered in mud but we finally managed it! hard work but then we had been having an easy day so far! we had some lunch and then after a slightly bumpy and rather scary truck journey we were off to see a rather impressive waterfall! the driver likes to go fast and we did a fair bit of tyre screeching round the corners!

WE eventually got home to the hostel at dinner time and all rushed for the showers! Everything smelt so bad and was caked in mud! WE ache, feel totally shattered but glad we did it. It was one of the best things we have done so far. we celebrated by an intense shopping trip at the maarket and a beer with the other guys from the hike. a great 3 days all round!

xxx