Chiang, Cha Chiang Chiang Maiiii (as James sings) Well what a long journey to get here, it took a 2 hour boat trip, 3 hour bus trip, an overnight bus and a 13 hour train through the day. Saying that it really wasnt that bad, suprisingly we both slept really well on the overnight bus. We arrived in Bangkok at 6.30am and then got the 8.30am train to Chiang Mai rather than the overnight train as we would of been sitting about in Bangkok all day. The train ride was actually not that bad, we got meals, snacks and drinks all day in between sleeping and staring out the window at the views. Of course we are as unorganised as ever had hadnt booked anywhere to stay so the first person we saw from a hotel we went with them. We got lucky, we stayed at Inter In Hotel for 200 bht a night, we had such a cosy bed hot shower and aircon so we were both happy with our choice. With it being my Birthday the following day I felt really depressed as I had invisaged it on a beach and was so tired I felt like sleeping through my Birthday but im so glad I didnt. Happy Birthday to Me!! After such a good nights sleep I woke up all excited and I think James was too, we got out my birthday cards and had a little Borthday celebration in our room, it was so random but will deffinatly remeber it. James got me some little gifts, including a pink little speaker for my ipod its so good. Mum and Grandma had put badges in my cards so I pu them all on and we headed for my Bday breakfast MacDonalds and it was amazing just what we both needed. James then informed me that my mai present was a trip to do Thai Cooking!! We had both wanted to do it but I didnt think we would of had time so this was the best suprise. We did a half day evening course with 2 other girls. We went to the market and got shown around smelling the herbs etc it was actually really interesting. From there we went back to cook our food. We got to choose 4 dishes each so we both picked different ones so we could try them all. James did Thai noodles, green curry and chicken and cashew nuts (his absolute favorite) and I did fried rice, Panang curry and sweet and sour chicken. For desert we both did fried banana and ice cream. It was so much fun and deffinatly the best birthday present and such an unexpected suprise. When we had made all the food we all sat and ate it togther which was really good. Trek time. 9.00 we met in reception for day one of our trek. Unfortunatly we dont have enough time to do the 2 night trek so had to settle for the 1 night. We were slightly worried about this trek as with the name Mr Whiskey Treks, he had been drinking alot of whiskey when we booked it with him so werent too sure someone would be there to collect us, but all was fine. We collected 2 other couples from Holland and a crazy girl from Sout Korea and headed off to the first stop whihc was the market about an hour away. This was just a stop off to collect any food drink and essentials we might of needed for the trek. From here we went for lunch and SUPRISE it was rice (that stuff is really making us feel sick at the thought of eating it now, 3 meals a day of rice does get just a tad boring) here we met the others in our group, a couple on there honey moon from Glasgow and 4 girls from manchester/scotland. Next it was elephant time. We got the elephant with a baby and it was so cheeky, it kept running off into the bushes and our elephant being the mother kept ging after it, it was so funny. We also bought some sugar cane and bananas to feed them which had us in histerics and everyone else at James screeming as he gets attacked by the elephants trunk for the bananas (he really does keep everyone entertained with his outburst and running around at anything moving, and to say he thought I would be bad I think we have switched roles). The trek was about 30 minutes and it finished by us walking on the elephants though the river. The baby one dived straight in and started rolling around it was so cute. Finally it was trek time and of course its our luck to start raining. The bags the had given us were not waterproof so had to wear our raincoats over the top of them so after ten minutes we were all soaked. Nevermind the fact that we all decied to wear flip flops, we trekked about half hour with no shoes on, it was impossible to walk. Eventually the rain stopped and we sat in a hut for a while to dry off before continuing on the main part of the trek. James thought I would be at the back pratically dying so i think he was quite suprised that we were both upfront. Also I spent 10bht on a stupid fan that everyone laughed at, i was the one laughing, it was like walking with an aircon machine in front of me whilst everyone sweated away so I was extremely happy. I have to say the first part was quite hard as it was really steep but really slippy because of the rain but eventually our bodies adjusted and it was really easy. We walked for 3 hours which was 5 kilometeres so not really too far before reaching our home for the night. We walked past a few huts where the locals lived in before we reached our hut. It was literally a platform on stilts with a bamboo roof full of matresses in mosquito nets and long table to seat us all. The toilet was a hole in the floor in a little corregated iron hut with a tap for a shower. I was so hot i was the first one in the shower and even though it was completely gross it was so refreshing to be clean. We walked around the little village that consisted of about 8 huts and stopped to chat to the locals before heading back for tea. The food was literally the tastiest food we have eaten yet, a chicken and pumpkim curry, stirfried vegetables and then another similar thing with chicken and some crispy taco like things with a sweet chilli sauce. We were all so hungry it wasnt long before we had ploughed our way through the lot. For the rest of the night then we all just sat chatting with a few huge beers and being entertained by our hilarious guide and host, he came out with his hair in funny pigtails and had obviously had a few 2 many of their special brewed looking whiskey. He made a joke about being french and spent the rest of the night saying 'mercey boo boo" to everything (this may not seem funy to read but at the time it was absolutely hilarious) Even funnier was the crazy girl from south korea, the guys were making her drink shots of their whiskey and she was just screaming laughing and dancing on the tables. She was deffinatly the entertainment of the night. When everyone finally got into bed it was so funny, all we heard was here screaming, we turned on the torch to see a dog running and bouncing off her mosquito net, she was pushing back at the other side so the dog obiously thought it was a game, it was hilarious.

So a night in the jungle and it was literally the best nights sleep we all had had. Eye mask on ear plugs in we didnt wake up till 8.30a, just in time for breakfast of toast, jam, fresh fruit and coffee! perfect way to wake up with the perfect view.

After breakfast we were ready to set off on the downward trek. This was not as nice as the first day. We felt at one with nature, we felt every rock, stone, tree root, insect and drop of rain......through our 5 pound pumps!! dont think either of our feet had ever hurted so much. This seemed so much worse going down, it felt so much steeper and so much longer. About an hour into the trek we stopped to swim in the waterfall which was so refreshing before heading down for our last few hours. By the time we got near the bottom we were pretty much sprinting down at the thought of all been able to take our shoes off

From here it was time for the bamboo rafting and this was soooo much fun! it all started off nice and relaxed, floating down the river but it soon turned into bamboo raft wars, everyone splashing each other, pushing the drivers off, jumping from on raft to another and everntually we all eneded up off our rafts in the water! The trek overall really has been one of our favorite trips so far.

That night we had a shower and went out for pizza, and finally WINE! 2 humoungous glasses of red, the first in 6 weeks heavenly.

Final day in chaing mai was sunday so we went to see the markets which unnfortuantly were only just getting ready as the didnt start till 5 but still a few places were set up. Ja,es hi light was sitting feeding the fish, he bought fish food for 10bht and sat laughing as literlly hundreds of fish threw themselfs out of the water for the food.

Now its time for our 17 hour journey on a mini bus to Vang Vieng!