Ahh.....back in the Land of Smiles. The Thai people really do smile more than anyone, anywhere. I'm in the north to see and do whatever it is that people come here to see and do....which I have recently learned is alot! When I arrived, I checked into what turned out to be a weird guest house run by a Thai "woman" named "Julie". She appears to have all the womanly curves in all the right places but it is very obvious that Miss Julie was once Mr. Jules ...or something. Her voice is as deep as mine and I had to endure it while she gave me her sales pitch for signing up for a three day trekking tour. I eventually gave in as she promised me that four beautiful girls have already signed up to go. I couldn't say no after that.

But the first order of business was to say goodbye to my good friends Danny and Melissa from Montreal. We've been traveling together for over a month now since we met in Laos so it was only appropriate to celebrate at a local bar...of which there are many in Chang Mai. We made friends with the owners and had a great last night.

Now on to the three-day trek. I had pretty low expectations for this trip, but as it turned out, it was pretty good for the ridiculously low cost. Our first day of trekking took us through the jungle to a small village where a few families of "Longneck" tribes people live. They're a bit shy which is understandable since they realize they are sort of a freak show, even to the other tribes. The women wear huge bronze necklaces that weigh up to 35 pounds (16 kg) and they only take them off a few times in their life. Our second day took us to an elephant camp where we got to go for a ride. It is amazing just how big an elephant really is when you're sitting on top of it! Most of our group only signed up for a 2 day adventure so after saying goodbye, it was just me and a Polish girl heading to the next village to spend the night. This next village was the Mong Tribe and they are known for chewing something that turns their teeth black. It's a little gross actually but they were surprisingly outgoing and friendly, unlike the Longnecks. Day 3 was more trekking through the jungle to visit the Lisu Tribe and then go white water rafting.

It was a fun three days and like I said, for the money, I was not disappointed. But I'm sure there are less touristy options for things like this farther north. I'll probably head up that way next to see what's going on.....