After a gruelling 11 hour bus journey, a sleepless first night in a hostel and a visit to hospital after picking up a viral fever, we were finally ready to explore and enjoy Chaing Mai.
Heading to the night markets, every street for miles was closed off to road traffic. Hundreds of stalls stretched all over town selling everything from soap carvings to fried quail eggs. We were completely surrounded by everything weird and wonderful.
After chatting to some fellow northern travellers in our hostel it was time to head to bed ready for our early start.
The following day was trek day. At 9am we hopped into a truck ready to head to the jungle. Stopping off at a butterfly farm and some local markets for food supplies on the way to break up the journey.
After local village people cooked our surprisingly tasty lunch, we headed up the mountain. It was steep but the views were incredible. Keeping my eyes fixed in front of me, I tried not to look down as we climbed alongside 100ft drops.
Three hours of climbing later, we finally arrived at the mountain village. The huts were made from wood and bamboo and there was no electricity or plumbing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We headed through the village to the hut where we would be spending the night; a room with 16 thin mattresses and mosquito nets.
After an evening of more locally cooked Thai food, drinks, camp fire songs and no sleep, thanks to the rowdy French group in our hut, it was day two of the trek.
It turns out walking down a steep mountain is more difficult than walking up one. We stopped for a dip in the waterfalls and then it was time for my favourite part of the day; the elephants!
I don't know what I expected but it was definitely scarier than I imagined. As 'Bunter' our elephant took us around the park and through the river I was mesmerised. Feeding him bananas after, he was so well behaved and gentle. It was a surreal experience being so close to such amazing animals.
White water rafting and bamboo rafting were the final activities of the day, a much more fun method of travelling back down the mountain.
Heading back to the hostel it was time to plan the next chapter of our adventure and, of corse, enjoy a few drinks on our last night in Chaing Mai.