When travelling for long periods of time it is ridicules to think that every will be perfect. Sadly as well as amazing highs there will inevitably be some lows also. Today for me was a mixture of both highs and lows unfortunately ending on a low. To begin i tried my hand at ziplining. The company we went with was the most expensive of all the choices but had a great name for themselves and was voted best attraction in Asia so we thought that if we were going to do it at all we were going to do it correctly!! We (myself ruth snd lisbet) got a bus at 13:00 which took us up to the mountains and into the rain forest where the ziplining was set up. The bus journey was pretty tough with very windy roads. Difficult for some to stomach, impossible for others (cough, couch Ruth!!). Despite delays in our journey due to having to pull over to allow hungover wooses to get sick (cough, cough Ruth) we eventually made it to the base camp where we were harnessed up and sent on our way. The ziplining was really cool. I felt like you were flying through the forests. For the first time ever I was able to look down on the forest instead of up. The longest zipline in the world was there which was over 5 km, and also we got to walk across ladder bridges, slide down ropes and jump off meeting points. Half way through the journey it started to rain, rainforest style. We waited for a while under shelter but when the rain failed to stop we eventually gave in and continued to zipline through the shower. We very quickly became soaked through and through. one good thing that came out of the rain as that we got to zipline through some beautiful rainbows. The ziplining lasted between two to three hours and afterwards we got some tasty dinner and a free t-shirt before heading back to the city. And that my dear was the high of my day.

The low came soon after we got back to Chiang Mai. The reason for this is that after three weeks of travelling together and having the best times as a group, the time had come for the girls to leave me. This evening they got a bus to Bangkok and on Sunday (today is Friday) they are flying home to Ireland. I am staying on and continuing my travels on my own. At the moment I am feeling pretty glum but I know that travelling on my own is something I need to do. It puts me totally out of my comfort zone and is at the moment just terrifying but I think that when you are with your friends you close yourself off to certain experiences. Also I want to prove to myself and others that I can take care of myself and do this.

honestly at the moment I'm not even on my own. I am still with Andy and lisbet but the girls were my security blanket and I felt 100% comfortable with them so it will be a bit adjustment without them.

Lisbet and I decided that we would drink our sorrows but we kind of failed. After just two drinks we threw in the towel and accepted that we just weren't in the mood to drink and be merry. It seems really quiet without the girls so to deal with it I am after buying myself a big bar of chocolate and I'm gonna eat that and watch a movie and sleep.
We are moving on from Chaing Mai tomorrow so hopefully a new town will lift our spirits and help to lift the mood, fingers crossed!