After 3 long days slogging through the jungle we've finally made it back to civilisation... It all began on Tuesday when 12 of us were crammed into a pick-up truck for an hour and a half to a village in the middle of nowhere. Our guide Chan had the right idea in hopping up onto the roof for the journey! Crazy, flying along twisty roads at ridiculous speeds-but that's thailand for you, things are done so differently... But that was the easy part, the real work was to start after lunch, when we set off through the jungle to our hilltop village where we were to spend our first evening. We hiked up hills for 3 hours in sweltering heat, but this was no walking along a path, as much (very cool looking) machete swiping was required to clear a route. Eventually we made it to the village, where we settled into our bamboo hut, with chickens and dogs and annoying children running around at our feet. Not the most comfortable of sleeps, but very atmospharic being surrounded by the sounds of the jungle. There was no electricity, and life was risked every time the toilet was needed during the night, due to EXTREMELY slippery mud. Speaking of toilets, these ones don't have nice comfortable seats to rest oneself upon-no, just two footholes over a bowl which requires water to be poured down it in order to 'flush.' But we all made it to the next day, which began very rainy and cloudy atop the mountain, ready for our descent to the next village for our second night. The walk there was spectacular, and even more extreme than the previous day! There were around 20 river crossings to be negotiated-some had bamboo poles to assist, some stepping stones, and some had, well...nothing. The path followed was extremely steep cutting through the most extraordinary scenery, and would have been difficult in the best of times. We were not assisted by the fact that we were joined by the most torrential monsoon rains, which soaked everybody through and made an already difficult route 200 times more difficult, since the path essentially turned into a stream. How there were no fatalities, or at the very least a few broken limbs, is beyond us! We stopped on route for a swim in a waterfall, which was fantastic. No clothes required to be shed, since we couldn't have got any more wet. No leeches luckily, the stockpiles of salt we'd lugged around weren't needed. Again, we made it to camp, after walking through scenery which looked like something out of a fantasy land-so green, with plants and trees we never even knew existed. On the third and final day we ate breakfast whilst a gang of elephants strolled into camp. We climbed aboard, and one took us for a saunter, whilst we fed it bananas which we bought from the elephant's hill side banana stall. After that, it was quickly on to the white water rafting, which we both loved! A few hair raising moments where it seemed we may be thrown into the rapids-but that was all part of the fun! To wind down, we finished off our treck by a nice relaxing meander down the river on a bamboo raft. Then it was back onto the dirt and fumes of the thai road system, and a much needed hot shower. Although it was tough and took a lot of guts (wait until you see the photos!) it was one of the best experiences and best fun we've ever had. Thai cooking course planned for tomorrow after a good nights sleep. After that...not a clue yet! When we know, you will too.