Well so far I am loving Thailand. its called the land of smiles and you find out why when you arrive. The weather is boiling. Its been up to about 40 and considering that we have just been trekking in the hills you can imagine how hot we were getting! Did an elephant trek through the jungle and rafted down the river on bamboo, when I wasn't being drowned by the guides! It was all sooooo much fun. This trip is much more adventure orientated- we're doing lots of fun stuff and very little sight seeing, which is nice. Back in Chaing Mai now after three wonderful days with the different hill tribes of the North. the kind of experience you see in all the adverts but better and less touristy. Dancing round a camp fire and sleeping on the floor etc. Few big spiders but we got used to them. Our group is very nice. Big though. There\'s 18 of us, which has good and bad points. The food here is great with a capital G. I could eat loads if it wasn\'t so darn hot! We\'ve managed to hit upon Thailands biggest festival. Its there New Year and the celebrations are mad. It goes on for about a week and idea is to completely soak ach other. Seriously! we have been dripping wet for a few days now and we\'re really lucky to be in Chiang Mai as its the biggest party. The water is very refreshing.