Well we are now back in Bangkok after a 3 day Hill trek in Northern Thailand. We are all very tired and smelly now and need a day or two for resting and washing!
We left Bangkok on Sunday evening (i think! I lose track of the days!) and got on our 13 hour sleeper train to Chiang Mai. This turned out to be a bit of a party in the bar carraige. Bit embarrassing for me and my friend Kate as we were already in our PJs at this point! Had to dance and sing on the train in our pyjamas which was quite amusing. I have just tried to upload photos again but the computer is trying to tell me that my camera is broken, which it isnt! Never mind i will try again another day.
We got to Chiang Mai early Monday morning and went to a Temple in the mountains. The view was amazing and we got given some white wrist bands from a monk which apparently is good luck-we all still have them on but they are slightly grey now! After lunch we then went to Tiger Kingdom for a buffet lunch (not actually that nice!) and paid to go in and tpuch the tigers. Some people went to play with baby tigers but i decided to go in for the big'uns!! At one point i was having my pic taken with a big tiger and it turned around to itch itself-i thought it was trying to bite my arm off! When we were waiting for the others to finish we noticed a little Thai boy walking round with a snake round his neck-he had no fear of it! He was literally throwing it at us! Quite a few Thai children are sent out to sell stuff to tourists-a few times we have been in bars at about mifdnight during the week and there are little Thai kids still in the bars selling things. One little boy hits people in the crotch or on the bum if you dont buy anything!! They are usually quite sweet though, they will come and dance with you and stuff. The Thai men are quite cheesy and chearming though-because they dont know much English thwy can usually only say 'You are beautiful' and things equally as cheesy! They buy you flowers and stuff as well. These are people that our tour guide knows though-they arent just random men! He is very particular about our safety actually-all the Thai people i have met so far have been lovely but a little bit crazy.
In the hills we were trekking on the first day. We were driven up into the jungle (i sat on the roof of the truck!) and started out walk up the mountain to our first overnight stay. By the time we got there we were so tired and dirty so we jumped in the river for a shower. It was freezing but so refreshing! That night we sat round singing with the guitar and eating rice, noodles and chicken (for a change!). We were also introduced to Moonshine and Whiskey-one of the guides, Nicky got a bit drunk on it and its been an ongoing joke ever since-he even has his own song....You are my moonshine, my only moonshine....' That night we were in a big group share hut which was freezing and we had those patio chair cushions to lay on and a mosquito net over us.
The next morning we trekked again in the morning and went through the villages to meet the real Thai people in the mountains and start walking to our lunch stop. This walk was equally as tiring but not so steep. people were having asthma attacks on the way up and sweating loads, but the guides were practically running up there in flip flops! We eventually arrived at our lunch stop and were met by about 7 elephants roaming about! They joined us rouns the tables while we were eating lunch and we fed them fruit. After lunch we rode the elephants foe about 30mins until we got to our overnight stop. At one point our elephant had no driver and we didnt have a rope over the front of our chairs so we were worried the elephant would go off road and we would fall out!
At the overnight stop we had a campfire and played games and sang random Thai songs about Elephants (they had hand movements and everything!). So im sure i will teach you when i get back. Again we had a shower in the river, including shower gel and shampoo which was a luxury! The huts were right next to the river which was nice-we saw them building rafts down there as well which we were to use the next day. That night the accomodation was similar, except slightly colder! Its weird because its pitch black out there as well, no lights coming from anywhere as there are no towns-so if you need the loo in the night its difficult! Speaking of the toilets....they are disgusting! Its literally a hole in the ground and you cant put tissue down there so you have to put it in a bin next to the hole. Then you have to flush it manually with a bucket...its interesting!
Anyway, the next morning we woke up, had breakfast and made our way down to the river. We saw the rafts there and realised that that was our mode of transport to get back home! We spent 4 hours standing on these little bamboo rafts (actually quite unstable and small!) but it was probably the most fun ive had in Thailabd so far. Byt he end of the 4 hours we had all fallen in, all had a go at pushing the boat, all tried to catch a fish, our raft was pretty much sinking by the time we got back. Everyone elses raft was bone dry and they were back about half an hour before us. We turned up late, soaked and tired but it was a lot of fun!
After lunch we got back in the rtruck to get us back to the hotel. Needless to say we all headed straight for the laundry and showers then we all went out for a meal and drinks. The bar we went to was called heaven Beach, and the tour leaders friend had a band playing there. At one point our tour leader was singing on stage with the band and a member of our group was playing the drums. I played pool with one of the Thai leaders (he didnt speak much English so pool seemed like a good option!) and he bought me a flower for winning. We will miss the other 2 leaders we had in the jungle-they would do anything for us and they were fun.
Yesterday Kate and I did a Thai cookery course-i now know how to make about 10 Thai dishes and i have the certificate and reciope book to prove it! The teacher guy was hilarious (and he knew it which made it even funnier!) and he had us making big flames and making us try all this weird fruit and spices. He took us to the market as well ad taught us how to buy good eggs, pineapples and vegetables...not sure how handy that will be in the future but its worth knowing! I had a doggy bag of my curry to take away as there was so much to eat-it was good though if i do say so myself!!
Today we have just got off the sleeper train back to Bangkok, so i think today we are just going to sit by the pool. Today we lose a few group members as they arent coming down to the South with us-however we have a few new people to meet tonight so that should be good.
Tomorrow i think we will take a ferry and the skyrail round Bangkok before getting on yet another sleeper train down South!
Ive probably missed loads of stuff out, but the North of Thailand has been amazing-hot, lots of Elephants, clear warm waters to wash in, amazing scenery and really nice people.