It's day 4 in Chiang Mai and i'm just back off a 2 day trek in the Jungle, i'm not sure if it's luck or judgement but again there was a great crowd on tour.

The night before the trek i took a walk to the night market, i was feeling pretty weary, the overnight journey was taking it's toll. The market was busy but there was no pressure from the market stall holders, they seem pretty 'tame' compared to other areas in Asia. To me the stalls are pretty much the same as everywhere else, there's about 10 different stalls - t-shirts, shoes, bags, gifts etc and then they are repeated many many times, it's mostly fakes, very cheap and the slogan 'same same but different (sometimes they say cheap)' really sums up what it's all about. Anyway i have bought various stuff in Asia, it varies in quality but has all withstood the pounding of the wash and cost a fraction of European prices. There's some great street food at the market, i gave the Pad Thai a bash and as ever the food was just fantastic, Thia is without doubt my favourite cuisine to date. In the food square they even had a massive screen showing the football, next to a stage with Thai dancing, a bit of a bizarre mix and these strange mixtures are repeated over the next few days as you will find out later in the blog. Just off the square there was an Irish bar (there's an Irish bar in every street in the world i beleive!), i ordered a beer and got talking to a really interesting guy. Andy has a great attitude to life 'one life - live it', he's bought a boat and is off on one mighty adventure state side. He has a great blog which i have read, (www.grandjourney.squarespace.com) , he's a keen photographer as you will see in the blog - the pictures alone will give you a taster of his unique experiences.

Onto the trek, there was 11 of us on tour, 3 London lads on route to work in Australia, 2 Aussie girls (Zoe & Mel), 2 Dutch girls (Jacque & Carolien), Ali and a Danish couple. The lads and Ali had been on the sauce all night, only had 3 hours kip and were a bit of a mess, especially Ali who would spend all day nursing a hangover and never get over it (we had to stop twice for her to be sick). Anyway we squeezed into the back of a truck and went to the local market where the guides (Jungle Joe & Robert - everyone here seems to have a British name, even the hostel owners called Mike!?) bought the food for the next few days. We shopped for essentials - tissues (there's no toilet paper in the jungle). My backpack was already pretty heavy with essential trekking gear, 1 litre of water, 1 litre of Vodka (the two most important fluids - day & night).

After the trek in Northern Vietnam, which really blew my mind, i had an open mind to this one so as not to dissapoint. It didn't, the terrain is completly different, it was hot & humid too, we snaked up and down hills and eventually came to what was the first of many spectacular waterfalls. The water was crisp and so refreshing, the lads had to do boys things. We all jumped in and climbed a rockface, one by one we dive bombed into the river, it was about 8 metres high and when your up the top it's a bl--dy long way down. I hate heights but once your up there's only one way down and you can't 'chicken' out. I hate that feeling in your stomach, a bit like when i go on a rollercoaster as it cranks to the top i think 'why do i put myself through this', but when you've done it you feel just great. We had lunch here, fried rice, it was yummy, i think it's more about the people and location sometimes that makes simple food taste amazing. We trekked the rest of the day, it was more challenging than i imagined, not hard but a good distance and very hilly. We passed local tribesmen, loads of small villages, just incredible scenery littered wth buffalo, people working the land and wth a clear blue sky it was simple heavenly.

The system keeps going down ...... arh ...... i have lost about 2 hours doing this, p-ssed off so will try and finish this later..

Back again, refreshed after spending the morning visiting some hill tribes with the Dutch girls. The most interesting were the Karen tribe (where they put rings around thier necks like girafes). Anyway back to the trek, the guides were excellent, good fun and showed us puzzles, unusual fauna, jungle food etc, great personalities that made the trip. We stopped a fair few times, took some snaps and walked around various steep ravines and waterfalls. We made it to camp late afternoon, it was actually Roberts house, he's part of the Karen tribe. First off was a shower, in fact it was a large pipe which supplied water from the river, it was refreshing to say the least. We lit a fire and cracked open the beers, Joe cooked a meal, it tasted just great after a long trek, hot and spicy and cooked in a wok over an open fire. We twisted open the vodka and a bottle of whisky and it wasn't long before the guitar came out followed by a round of songs and drunken games such as fuzzy duck - typical boozy/campfire antics. We all slept in the loft, under sleeping bags, it was freezing but the ale numbed the cold. The special part of the night for me was the ceremony in honour of my traveling shirt (5 quid, kays catalougue, 1988). To be fair i don't know why i've had it so long, it's pretty rank and has every colour in the rainbow, nobody likes it. In fact all of my girlfriends have tried to bin it (maybe that's why i rebelled and kept it?). Emma even said that it was older than any of her team of reps (how embarrassing!). Anyway to me it holds so many memories, fab times with great people in amazing places, i even had it 20 years ago last time i backpacked. Well i gave it a good send off, an honourable speech and then set it alight - RIP.

Bl--dy cockrel starts singing at 05.00 and my heads pounding, my feet are froze and i'm busting for the toilet, i manage to put my fingers in my eyes, cross my legs and get another 3 hours sleep. The second day was all about activities, not before a short trek, the highlight was going through a school where we gave the kids some pens, thier faces were a picture and they were so excited. It gets you thinking, these people have nothing and are so content whereas in the Western world we are constantly being greedy and materialistic, needed the latest electrical gadget, bigger house/car, always needing so much. Who is happier, who is most content and at peace?. It makes you think so much and evaluate your life when you take in some of this stuff.

The great thing about travelling and these types of activities is that after a boozy night out and some time together you bond realy well, with like minded people. Every traveller has thier own itinerary and goals and some interesting stories to tell. Onto the first activity, an elephant ride, they are real beasts, an experience but not one i would repeat. We all had the same thoughts, the animals were not treated as well as we would have liked. To polish off the day we went rafting on a river, the boats were simply bamboo trees wrapped together and were steered with a punt. I was one of the 'drivers' and spent a lot of time at the bottom of the river?. We said farewell to the guides with a moonshine toast, in fact i had 3 and felt a bit giddy?

A fantastic few days with great people, another bank full of memories and some marvellous photos.

We were still buzzing by the time we got back so decided to have a quick bite to eat and head off for the Thai boxing. It was beter than we expected, quite surprised, some really good competitive bouts and some bizarre moments thrown in for good measure. For example, after the boxing, the lights went down and out popped, to cut a long story short 'ladyboys', crap, couldn't dance, mimed songs and pig ugly. Why does everyone want a photo, help me out here, WHY. Then straight after an elephant walked into the venue, not a baby but a fairly hefty beast, how does that fit into the boxing card. It seems in Asia that anything goes, it doesn't mater whether it fits or not and that's the magic - you never know what's around the corner and that makes life exciting here.

I will end with Andy's great moto - one life, live it - i'm certainly living a great one at the minute

Bye for now