Hi, am so so tired. Really tired, not a bit tired but really tired. Am still alive after the trek! Started Thursday morning at 9am, knew I would be in a group of upto 12 people but had no idea whom. I was the last person to be picked up and we greeted by 3 Canadians, 2 French, 1 Thai and 2 other Brits. I was the youngest, all well-old (40's) except the two in their early 30's. First we headed to an elephant farm / santury and rode in pairs for an hour. My second time and just as good, all the elephants were female (no tusks) and I feed them sugar cane and bananas (extra cost - have worked out this foreigner lark). Next we headed for the hills. Had my small backpack and hiked for an hour to a waterfall. Some of the guys went for a swim but I just dangled my feet, as you would expect. We continued for 90 minutes, up some really steep hills (is a bit like the New Forest when under the trees and the scenes are more spectacular in the openings). 2 and a half hours doesn't seem long but it is, especially in the heat and up/ down hills. We arrived at a small villiage of 60 people and had dinner, they have rice with everything, lucky i've recently started to like the stuff. The camp fire was already lit and the guide whipped out a guitar and started singing. People drifted to the wooden house we were staying in as the night progressed. Surprising it was absolutely freezing, they gave us the thinnest sleeping bags ever, and most people only got a few hours sleep (inc me). Second day, we trekked for 3 hours, mostly downhill. In the afternoon, we went bamboo rafting, tried to not let on that I was a tad scared. Think I just managed it! Got back to hotel about 6pm. All that which included two lunches and dinner for 15 quid! Gonna take it easy tomorrow (Saturday), having a look around town, taking the correct road this time. Sunday am flying to Loas. It's 9pm local time am gonna head to the night market to look for Stewart's real (of course) Rolex, have been told where to look by others on the trek group. Can't say enough to keep the messages coming, will upload photos when I reach New Zealand. Bye D