So I appear to have fallen behind on the blog again in all the excitement so I may have skim over some details but I will start from where I left off: in an old budhist settlement called Sukothai...

Sukothai is a town made up almost entirely of Budhist temples, the three of us hired bicycles and rode around the moat and across the many dodgy looking bridges admiring stone elephants and huge golden statues, gazing in awe at the beauty of cross legged budhas sprinkled in fallen blossom and trying to trace patterns on the crumbling ruins, the drizzle which accompanied us was a pleasant change but even so by 2 o'clock the heat was too much to ride much more and all of us felt that we had quite definantly had our daily intake of budhas - beautiful as they were! so we headed back to Phitsanulok and that night boarded an overnight train to Chiang Mai.

This train was a little more western than the last one and i was a little disappointed about the lack of sleeper carriages on it but then beggars can't be choosers and i could have slept anywhere that night so within moments of the swaying motion commencing I was fast asleep - only waking on our arrival in the northern city.

Chiang Mai was definently a city but it had nothing of the chaos that Bangkok had. Hundreds of motorbikes and tuk tuks weaved in and out of each other narrowly missing collisions and a few tall buildings scattered the skyline but it had a much more relaxed vibe about the place. That day I wandered the streets exploring the market and a couple of temples although after the previous days excursions not in too much detail. That evening we booked a trek for the following day into the mountains.

Rising with just enough time to pack a day sack and shove some breakfast down my throat ( i was stalled a little by the explosion of by backpack and was once again saved by the trusty duck tape - serves 1000 purposes (ok one purpose but a very useful one)) i joined the guys in jumping in the back of the truck to head for the hills.

Our first stop was a butterfly and orchid farm. Then onto the Karen Long Neck hill tribe. It was interesting to the the women and hear about their customs and that at the age of 5 the girls must make a decision on whether they want to have the rings placed around their necks or not. If they do then an additional ring is added each year if they don't they are sent to school in the city, it seems very young to make such a decision. Once the rings are around their neck they cannot live without them - the muscles can no longer support their heads. There are several stories as to the origin of the rings: some say they are scared of the beasts in the forests attacking them and so they protect their necks from their bite. A karen man from these tribes apparently does to find a woman beautiful without them. Interesting as the insight into the culture was I'm not entirely sure how I felt about visiting them like that. It was almost like being in a zoo: "Here sit next to the girl and she will have a photo with you", "Look how this woman has 15 rings","watch how they weave their outfits". Fair enough tourism provides an income they would not otherwise have had but I can't say I felt comfortable, I felt I was intruding almost and only learnt what I could have from a book not what they had to say about it.

The hike started after lunch and in the scorching heat we tramped up and down hills through stunning scenery, over tiny bamboo bridges and under waterfalls before reaching the elephant camp where we would spent the night. It had been a tiring walk but it was definantly worth it for that night in the tiny village in the hills in the middle of nowhere! Our guides where: Kay - an awesome guy who had learnt english and sociology at university and taught himself guitar who started to teach me thai. My first words being "chan chop chang leh ling" "I like elephants and monkeys" obviously a vitally useful sentence when communicating with the locals! and Chad - Chad you could not help but smile when you were around him, he was a short man in his 40s with a permanent beam, limited english and a contageous laugh! His english did extend to altering a Bob Marley song and every now and again he would burst out with "No woman no child, no whisky Chad sad!" The group was made up alost entirely of Frencjh people! 2 french couples, one american/french couple, Julio and David, 2 english guys, a japanese girl and me! The french prooved that they could definantly drink! That night we stayed up late with the guitar and Chad made multiple trips to the nearby village for more crates of Chang beer!

I think the next morning is the highlight of my trip so far! I knew that we where going on an elephant ride but nothing could have prepared me for how incredible an experience it would be! Sitting on the chair on its back plodding down steep muddy banks along the river whilst the guide sang to himself in thai was amazing enough but when he asked if I wanted to swap places with him...wow! sitting on the ginourmous animals head with his ears flapping around my legs I felt as though I was going to fall head first down his trunk...the guides just make it look so easy!!! but that fear just added to the adrenaline rush. If I could have had one moment that would last forever it would have been that! The white water rafting and bamboo rafting that followed were also an unforgettable experience but nothing compared to that!

The bus swayed a little as it mastered the twists and turns around the steep mountain range in a fashion that made the valle de terres look like a roman road. It was at this point I realised the definition of a "Chang-over" (Chang being the thai beer) The previous evening had been spent with the rest of the Having returned to Chiang Mai that afternoon the group met up in a rooftop bar that overlooked the moat of the old city, before resuming our trek, only this time the trek involved bars rather than mountains! Ending in a reggae bar which seems to be becoming a trend in this continent, I bid my farewells and the following morning left for a hippy town called Pai. Little did I know what awaited me...

Still I am weeks behind here but i have to go again!