Arrived in Chiang Mai on Wednesday after a horribly bumpy 14 hour train journey! I was quite surprised that we made it there without the train derailing as they were soldering some carriages together as we were getting onto it!
We are staying at 'nice place 2' guesthouse and they told us we would get a cheaper price if we booked a trek, so we agreed to do a 2 day one to Pai where we would be riding elephants and bamboo rafting! Yesterday morning we woke up bright and early and set off with the other 9 people on the 3 hour drive. We stopped and had a rice lunch before embarking on a 2-3 hour walk which was tough - by the end of it most of us were barefoot (I slipped over 3 times as it was so muddy and my shoes had no grip whatsoever) and also wet from the waterfall we visited. We had a traditional thai dinner of green curry and lots of rice before playing games by the fire and going to sleep in a big bamboo shack. I woke up to the sound of an elephant's roar this morning and later on we were able to ride them through the jungle. We named ours harriet and Josh described her ears as being like a cold pancake (haha). After the elephants we trekked again for an hour before driving to a stream where we did some bamboo rafting - fun until my oar got stuck between two trees and I fell backwards into the water! I also got my first mosquito bite today - although i'm proud I managed to go 8 days without getting one. Can't be bothered to write much more as I'm too tired, so I will update again soon! xx