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We set of from Phuket early on the 16th and we had an internal flight, lasting 2 hours to Chiand Mai. This was such a quick process and the airports have a much better system than ours. Very quick and efficient and no faffing around. When we arrived in Chiand Mai our luggage came out straight away and at last we had booked this accomodation in advance!!! Our driver from the hotel collected us from the airport, he was already there and waiting and we headed to B.M.P Guesthouse. Similar to all the other places we had stayed, cheapest we have paid so far, costing around 5 quid per night, very basic but it's all we need.

Sunday 16th: Our first night we headed to the Sunday market, had some really good stalls selling local handmade goods. A traditional item they sell are elephant embroided cushions/wallhangings which are really beautiful. We really enjoyed it here and we all bought something as it's hard not too....Nikki had been unwell since Phuket at this point so she stayed back at the guest house to sleep it off.

Monday 17th: Beth, Jo, Cheryl and me booked an excursion day, stopping off to see the long neck tribe and to visit tiger kingdom. This was about a 45 minute journey from us and our first stop was to see the tribe. As we pulled up it was very quiet and you have to pay an entry fee. At this point we all felt a bit weird as we were paying to go into someones home. The long neck tribe origionated from Burma but the Thai government moved them across the border to Thailand as a money making scheme. They are seen as 'aliens' to the Thai government and if the women are pregnant, they have to pay 8,400 TB each time they have a baby, as they don't hold a Thai passport or Thai citezenship. As we walked through the village there was a different tribe before we got to the long neck tribe. their style of living is very simpilistic, one wooden hut that would sleep the entire family, on average around 6 people. Day in day out the women handcafart goods to sell, such as scarfs, jewellery, wooden keyrings, pencils etc. The complex itself was not very big at all, and before we knew it we approaced the long neck tribe. From young, around 6 years old, only the women have to have copper rings fitted around their neck. As they get older more rings are added and we had te chance to feel one of the copper rings. It was ridiculously heavy. The women sleep, eat and wash in them and only take them off if they need to change it. We only saw photos of them when they had taken it off and the bruises around their lower neck was unreal. They can't keep the copper rings off for too long otherwise their neck will break. They also had these copper rings around the top of their legs. So you're probably thinking how much longer are their necks from normal people, probably a good 3 inches taller, but it's hard to tell when they have the copper rings on. We felt more comfotable as we were walking around, and we bought some things off of their stalls. Some women hand little babies with them, they were really adorable, and the women would work with them on their lap stitching the scarfs that would take 3 days to make. There was even a tiny school in the village that would seat about 6 children, and also a tiny church. The tribe consists fo about 100 people. We would really recommend visiting and they can speak really good English that they have picked up from the tourists.

Next stop was tiger kingdom.......You had a choice of what size cat you would like to see, the smallest aged around 2 months old, medium, aged around 10 months old, and the largest aged around 18 months old. We all selected the smallest and biggest and as part of our package we opted for a professional photographer who would upload the photos onto dics for us to keep. Firstly we went to see the smallest tigers first, you have 15 minutes in the enclosure. As we approached the fencing we each had to wash our hands and leave our shoes and bags outside. I was pooping it by this point as I don't even like normal cats back home. As we went in, there were about 5 bubby tigers. They were amazing!!!! Beth was so brave, she was jumping around with them and cuddling them. The photographer was really good as he alowed us each to have our individual photo woth the tigers, and then group photos also. This was so much fun and they really were harmless. Jo was playing with them as well but me and Cheryl sat back a bit more. They had tiny little faces and really unique coloured eyes. Their fur was so soft amd as you stroked them you could feel their little heart beat.

Next was the big cats!!!! As we walked round the enclosure you could see them before you went in....and all that goes through your mind is 'god in a minute i'm going to be in their with you'. As the keeper lifted the fence for us to go in, he stressed not to touch anywhere near the tigers face....but that they love to have their bellies rubbed.....er I don't think so!!! We would lose our hands to their belly!! Beth went first, she was so calm.....they were really big and their fur coat was such a beautiful colour, the orange and black colours are so bold. There are trainers that stay with you the whole time.......We had our photos taken with 3 different big cats. I take my hat off to Jo and Beth as they done really well....me and Cheryl stuck together. It was definatley more scary as they could literally move at any time, one had a yawn, one rolled around, one had a strench on the fence, when stretched out their bosy is twice the size of ours, probably even more!! The weight of the big cats tail was practically the same as the weight of the bubby tiger!!! They are really big animals!!

Again we would really recommend going here and so far it's definatley at the top of our list for Thailand. After we had the opportunity to have photos printed. We got back around 5pm, and we had a really goos day. That night we just chilled and had an early night ready for tomorrow....we booked a two day hill tribe trek.

Tuesday 18th: Headed out about 9am, there was the six of us girls, another English couple funnily anough from Chelmsford and two Deutch boys, they were really nice and our group number semmed just right. Our tour guide was great...his name was Mr Sun by day and Mr Moon by night ahahaha and he had this really funny laugh. First stop was ELEPHANT riding!!! Two on each elephant. The seats were quite uncomfortable....but the elephants looked incredible. They had really thick skin and long thick hairs, but not many of them. We went through the forest which was quite scary going up and down because at some points going downhill you really think you will topple off the top. We felt really sorry for the elephants as they do the same things day in day out, and some were chained up which we really hated seeing. We didn't do this for too long, about 20 minutes. After was lunch...they certainly won't let you starve here!!! We had a really nice rice dish.

Next stop was the trek itself!! Nikki still wasn't feeling very well so she got a ride to the village where we would be ataying overnight, and we would meet her there. So we started the trek and half hour in we all thought out legs were going to drop off!! It was really hot and we were climbing the rainforest at what seemed the seepest angle. It was an uphill climb 90% of the way!!! We stopped off at a waterfall which was lovely....the water was really cold. You had the chance to get in here and you meet more trekkers along the way. We finally arrive at the village, we passsed so many that we were calling out for Nikki as we were worried they had kidnapped her or something!!

The village was tiny and we slept in one big hut, two to each matress on the floor, it was like a slither of bacon with a mosquito net over it, me and Beth had that mosquito net firmly round us the whole night!!!!!!! We then had dinner, they put on a big spread of Thai food, which was lovely. After we sat around the camp fire talking which was great to talk to everyone and Mr Moon was telling us loads of stories.... like the different types of lady bys and that he tried it one time, his motto "never try, never know"

Wed 19th: Next day we were up early and set off for the trk back down. We stopped off at a bigger waterfall this time which was really cool to watch...the water felt even colder this time!!! The walk was much easier this time as it was mainly downhill or flat. We then headed for lunch, a noodle dish this time and then onto bamboo rafting!! This was cool, 3 to each raft and we split up within our group which was good to mingle. Halfway through we crashed into Hayleys raft and I went straight in arse over tit!! I was laughing so much that I didn't have the strength to pull myslef back up again....another girl had to help me. We then headed back to our guesthouse.....very tired so we crashed out early.

Fri 20th: We just had a chilled day around the pool at the neighbouring hotel and that evening we headed to the night market they do everynight. This was really big, very busy and was good fun. We didn't stay too long....and again we bought more stuff!!!! We travel to Bangkok Sat 21st via the overnight train. We leave at 9pm and will arrive in Bangkok on the 22nd at 9am...........we have a 3 night stay here and then fly to OZ on the 25th!!!!

Will update again soon

Things to remember in Chiang Mai:

'You never try, you never know'......well Mr Sun/Mr Moon 'We try, We know, We don't like"

Hope you like Thai food as it's difficult to get anything else here. The food is so Thai that 3/4 of the time you haven't a clue what it is!! They have these 'pork balls' that look like grey playdough!! errrrrr

A hoody....it's freezing at night

The toilets are a hole in the floor.....have good balance

We got lost on thek...so have we recommend good navigational skills, we were looking for footprints in the mud, thank god for the distinctive pattern on the bottom of converses!!!

Have some coloured pens ready for the schools you pass

Do as much as you can!!

Also albums we recommend so far:

TLC greatest hits

Eminem- Recovery (this is brilliant)

Fenech and Soler

Plan B- The deformation of stickland banks

Sending lots of love to family and friends xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx