Saturday 8th November 03 On arrival in Chiang Mai (CM) after a 10 hour bus journey, we booked a three day trek in the CM jungle for £25 each. Having settled into our new hostel, we went out to dinner with a group of people from the hostel. Later in the evening we took a trip to the local river where the CM festival (LOY KRATHONG) was in full swing. This is a religious festival which is reflected in the Thai people setting off lanterns into the sky (YI PENG) to say thank you for the weather, and river boats into the local river made of flowers and banana leaves, to say thank you for the water. Having set off a river boat to add to the "Colours of the river" and made a wish, we returned back to the streets. Here thousands of people had gathered and were letting off fireworks and firecrackers. Having weaved in and out of the path of the fireworks we returned to our hostel to drink the famous Thai beer, named Chang, which has an alcohol content of anything from 6-12% proof due to the lack of quality control testing in Thailand. After too many of these we switched our drinks to Sang Som, an 80% proof rum. During this drinking session with others from the hostel we began talking to the duty manager named Chang (like the beer) who Dan managed to convince he was a top London chef, so Chang opened the hostel kitchen to us to cook a traditional Thai dish for all of those who were awake. It was a disaster! On this note we retired to bed at approximately 4.00 am. Sunday 9th November 03 Today was a lazy day after last nights antics! We watched England v Wales in the Rugby World Cup and went out for dinner with an English couple we had met from our hostel. In preparation for our trekking after a spot of shopping in a Night Bazaar, which hosts thousands of market stalls, we took the opportunity to have an early night. Monday 10th November 03 We set off on the first day of our trek with 14 people crammed into a Songthaew (a yoot with a roof and two rows of seats that Thai's use as local transport). The trek group comprised of English, Dutch, Canadians, Hungarian, and two girls from Belgium. On the way to the jungle we stopped at a local market to pick up our food for the trip. After a 2 hour journey we finally arrived in the heart of the CM jungle where we had a lunch of egg fried rice at the elephant ranch. After lunch we took a one hour elephant ride to the point where we began our 3 hour walk. This was both demanding and tiring as we climbed up practically vertical hills and crossed rivers. We reached the Lahu hill-tribe in the late afternoon, who provided accommodation for the night in a bamboo hut - 14 blankets on the bamboo floor to act as mattresses. After a huge dinner, the local children gathered to provide the nights entertainment which comprised of the singing of Thai songs and traditional Thai dancing. Next on the agenda was a Thai massage (not like the one we had in Bangkok thanks goodness!) which did much to relieve our aching bodies! The remainder of the evening was spent drinking Chang and chatting until 4am, when our plans to stay up to see the sunrise were finally defeated!! Tuesday 11th November 03 We awoke slightly worse for wear on the 2nd day of our trek after the boozy and late night! We set off again, this time walking down hill, which provided a bit of respite for our legs. After an hour and a half's walk, we arrived at our midday destination - a 50 foot waterfall, which was spectacular! The whole group scrambled over the rocks to reach the waterfall where we bathed and tried to run through the powerful blasts of water. After a lunch of noodles and cabbage at the waterfall camp, we set off on foot again along the river bank, jumping over rocks and crouching under fallen trees (we only had sandals on our feet!). After 2 hours, we reached our accommodation for the night which was a huge bamboo hut on stilts at the elephant camp. A river flowed next to our accommodation which we could swim and wash in (but Nat opted to have a shower after hearing there were crocodiles in the river!!). Kai (our tour guide) cooked us a meal of curry soup and sweet and sour chicken (yum!). The remainder of the evening was spent playing games which required more alcohol!!! and receiving a lesson in Thai culture from Kai. Wednesday 12th November 03 Today, we woke at 9am to watch the elephants take a bath in the river. After breakfast we went white water rafting for approximately 15-20 minutes downstream. We then went bamboo rafting for 1 hour to our next local village where we were prepared lunch. Despite our efforts no-one fell off the raft into the cold water! After lunch we took the jeep back to CM. Later that evening we went out for dinner with a Canadian couple whom we met on our trip. We have already managed to pick up an invitation to Portland (USA) to visit them. Today the trekking had begun to take its toll on our legs so we got to bed early (again! - we must be getting old!!) Thursday 13th November 03 We booked our bus tickets back to Bangkok today, as we begin our travels to the South of Thailand in pursuit of the sunny beaches. We have spent the day relaxing and working out the route we want to take and what we wish to visit on the way. Friday 14th November 03 We arrived at approx 9.00am in Bangkok from Chiang Mai. This was quite a relief given we had to change coaches after one hour because the air brakes on the bus had broken! After a quick sleep we headed back to Khao San Rd to book our bus and boat trip to one of Thailand's southern islands - Ko Pha Ngan. Later that evening we headed to the area of Pat Pong, with Ryan and Wendy, the Canadian couple who we met on our trekking trip. Pat Pong is one of those places you need to go to for yourself, as we had heard many stories about it some good and others bad!! So we decided to give it a go! The only way it can be described is an equivalent to Amsterdam but less discreet!!! (P.S. Not the drugs equivalent!). So after a few drinks and an evenings entertainment (which we have decided best not to add to the website) we headed back to the hostel, with Ryan stopping to sample the Thai delicacy of fried grasshoppers and scorpion to finish off what was certainly a memorable night! Saturday 15th November 03 We spent today recovering from last nights antics. We sat in an air conditioned bar and watched Australia v New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup Semi-Final, in preparation for our 17 hour bus and boat trip to Ko Pha Ngan (island off the East coast of Thailand).