hi guys! mands again.

We are in chiang mai at the moment, since ellie wrote we travelled from kanchanaburi back to bangkok, which we were a bit worried about as we didn't really know how it would work.... but it was a piece of cake relly, they picked us up at our guesthouse and dropped us at khao san road, then we got a taxi to the station and got straight on a train to ayuthaya, it was a cool journey went right through all the dodgier bits of bangkok and we saw quite a lot of stuff you wouldn't see from the streets. we got to ayuthaya and were picked up at the station by our guest house. it was a nice room, the first we have had with air con, and the lady who took us up was really funny, she had practically no teeth and when we asked if it was good to eat in the hostel she told us to go to the night market instead, and then said 'then you come back here and drink beer!' and gave us both a hi five. haha. we met an old english guy who lives there and used to own a put in.... gomshall i think which was quite random. we have found quite a lot of expats which i didn't really expect. got a good meal at the night market (reeeeally cheap) and then had a couple of drinks at the guest house. the next day we went for a wander but it was so bloody hot that we ended up sniffing out the nearest backpacker bar and playing pool in the shade. so much for ancient temples. that evening we were getting the night train, our hostel dropped us off far to early which was a bummer and i got eaten alive by mossies on the platform. got on the night train and it was fab! we shared some dinner sitting at tables and chairs and then they come and switch it round into beds! ellie got the bottom bunk which turned out to be the best, i got practically no sleep because of a light right in my face and for some reason i got ultra paranoid that someone had moved my bag and had to sleep with my money belt on. hmm.

arrived in chiang mai early morning and got picked up by our guest house. it was the nicest we have stayed in so far, complete with hot water and pool. we had a kip and then went for a wander. it is noticeably cooler here than further south which was nice, and yet again we found a backpacker bar and met some people and had a drink. we always seem to find the places we wish we were staying which is frustrating. at 6pm we had a meeting with everyone going on our trek. there was peter the policeman from amsterdam, a portugese couple, and a swedish couple as well as a few more, but these were the people we bonded with most. we went to the ngiht market and for a meal with them that evening, and then got an early night.

the first stop on the trek was the elephants. we were worried that they would be cruelly treated, as the tigers we saw weren't exactly free to roam round, but this seemed better. we were on the biggest elephant with peter the policeman, who just cracked us both up all the time, what a legend. he was sitting on the elephants neck and we were both behind him. basically you bought bananas on the way round and the elephant sticks his trunk up to you to give them to him. ours got through three bags in about 15 minutes. we had a really good laugh. then we had some lunch and began walking. we had a lush swim in a waterfall and at about 4 we got to the camp, it was really quiet with a lovely view. everyone was pretty sleepy so this was a fairly tame night, we sat round the camp fire and made a pathetic attempt at a sing song. me and ellie and a couple of the others got rippe off by a fake monk selling good luck bracelets. what suckers.

after a brill nights sleep (not even joking) but very cold! we had breakfast and trekked to a village for lunch, we had basically supernoodles and the highlight was an actual chicken jumping into a french man's soup. classic. caused a right kafuffle. we went to another waterfall as well, and did lots more walking. the walking wasn't too hard, but hard enough if you know what i mean. the second night we were camping at a waterfall, so we had a night shower and wash when we got there! people were much more lively this evening so we played drinking games and all ended up with 'black magic' on our face (basically coal). our guide, nop, spent the entire trek singing bob marley and the red hot chili peppers, and it seems he took a liking to ellie..... so egged on by portugese martin (ellie 'martin, i am going to KILL you') we went to sleep to the sound of a very drunken thai man singing 'ellie i want to love you' to the tune of is this love by mr marley. fun times. i couldn't sleep for pissing myself. peter the policeman had to tell him that he was being disrespectful!

next morning we did a bit more trekking and them bamboo rafting which was pretty funny, you are supposed to stand up but thanks to my unbelievale lack of balance i just got very wet. we saw an actual snake as well. then back to the hotel very exhausted. in th evening we all met up for drinks and went to the night bazaar, and then on to a bar where there was a thai band playing covers of radiohead, kings of leon and red hot chili peppers, it was fab! we had a good sing song and then peter the policeman had to carry nop (our guide) homo because he had yet again had a few too many. we also discovered banana pancakes in the market, incredible! banana pancakes and frog soup.... yum.

so that is what we have done in the meantime, sorry if i have gone on a bit i got a bit carried away. waiting for photos to upload.... taking forever. one more night in chiang mai for us and then tomorrow we are off on the slow boat to laos, really looking forward to it because we will be free to do our own thing. will let you know how that works out!!! much love xxxxxxx