Arrived at our accommodation after the train and about an hours taxi ride and its just idyllic - we are properly int he rainforrest in wooden chalet-style huts on stilts in sort of a mini village and its just beautiful. THe bar/restaurant about 2 mins walk from our room is on the river side surrounded by trees and monkeys and limestone cliffs. We all went for a swim in the river - its almost clear, the water's a blue-green colour and just lovely. And used ...

Went up to chaing mai for the night which was really nice as Bangkok is not the place to be - far too busy and smell and grimy. Chaing mai is much nicer, although still not clean and fresh so it was so nice to get out of the city. We left chiang mai and drove to a waterfall about an hour north of the town which was gorgeous - photos to follow next time im online! - and we had lunch and swam in the waterfall. Then the trecking started. On day one we walked...

I met the tour group last night who are really nice - all girls apart from one boy who's here with his girlfriend. Darren and his girlfriend Kelly are really nice and we've got on really well so far. Theyre the only other '2' on the tour, everyone else is on their own which is something I couldnt do - im not brave enough i dont think!! The girls on the trip are really nice - i think theres 7 of us who are english, one american and the rest are australian apart...

Well here I am in Bangkok - it doesnt feel as far away as it actaully is which is nice. I think our hotel is in the main CBD rather than the touristy backpacker area so the culture shock hasnt been to bad, there are huge shopping complex's with all the usual shops - Calvin Kelin, North Face, Ted Baker, McDonalds and Starbucks - so could be anywhere really, espeically as although there are loads of thai and chinese people everywhere, they just look like they do at...