25th Dec AKA Christmas Day! Slightly different Christmas to what I've been used to! Got up early and got picked up in a truck ready for my trek. It picked up 6 others on the way - a couple from Alaska, 2 Aussie lads, a Japanese fella and a chap from Norway. After topping up on food supplies about an hour outside Chiang Mai, we arrived at the setting-off point and they fed us rice to give us energy, We then set off on the hike, which was all uphill and was gr...

23rd Dec: I arrived in Chiang Mai after my night bus and walked around town for a while before finding myself a room, but pretty nice with a private bathroom. Had a power nap then headed off for breakfast, where I met a couple of American girls who've been in town for a while and found out a bit more. I went off and hired a bike for the day and cycled off!! I really I like the feel of the place - all set around a moat, which makes it easy to find places (I di...