Well, the train ride from Bangkok up to Chiang Mai was an experience! I managed to get some sleep in my second class bunk by listening to my iPod to drown out the noise of the one crying child in my carriage. It took 13 hours in total and we arrived in Chiang Mai at 6:50am on the Monday morning. My hotel - The Winner Inn - were waiting with a big MCGEE sign to collect me. After a short drive back to the hotel, I dumped my rucksack and grabbed what I needed to freshen up in the toilet. I must have looked a real mess! As I was heading off on my 2day/1night trek at 9am I didn't yet have a room, so it was quite difficult to get organised. After sorting out what I would need and putting it in my daypack, I had some breakfast and then waited in the lobby for the rest of the group to assemble and our guide to arrive. At 9am, we were led outside and all our packs were thrown onto the roof of a van. We then all clambered in. We drove via a small market to pick up some last minute provisions. I bought a hat, water, water holder you wear over your shoulder, crisps and some loo roll. Then we got back into the van and drove for about an hour up-country while we all got acquainted with one another. Most of the group were fellow brits which was good! Soon, we arrived at a small dwelling and we got out the van. We were told to leave anything valuable or not waterproof in the van and we headed down the bank to the river. Here, 3 bamboo rafts and their drivers were waiting for us. We all hopped on, 3/4 to a raft. The driver stood at the front of the raft with a long pole and we took it in turns to stand at the back with another long pole. These were used to manouvre the raft down the river. We floated gently down stream for about an hour. 2 of the drivers had definitely been smoking something as they were acting crazy! They kept whacking their poles off the water and soaking us! There were a few capsizing incidents and a couple of pairs of ray-bans and a shoe went missing, but eventually we made it to a deep pool. We all jumped off into the water (fully clothed I might add!) and the thai boys started climbing up a rockface at the side of the river to a ledge above. Then they leapt off down into the water below. Our boys quickly followed suit and not wanting to look like a spoil-sport, I also headed up to the ledge. From the water it didn't look that high, but once I got up there it was sooo scary! I almost chickened out but everyone was egging me on and after a united countdown ...1....2....3.... I jumped! Screaming all the way down, I landed in the water. It was so much fun! After some more hilarity in the water we climbed the bank and dried off. Then we had some nice lunch before boarding the van again and driving for a further 45 minutes up into the mountains. When we arrived at our final destination, we got out and began to prepare for our trek up to the hill tribe village where we would be spending the night. We were told we would be walking for 3 hours. The reality of it however, was far different. Now, if somebody had told me what was to follow beforehand, there is every likelihood I would have refused to do it! We trekked uphill for not 3 hours but 6. And these weren't nice gentle slopes either. We're talking steep rock faces of treacherous terrain! It was the middle of the day and the sun was at its hottest. You might think, that trekking through the jungle would provide us with some shade. You'd be wrong. It's autumn here, so all the leaves are off the trees and have dried up on the path making it very slippy in places! Myself, Ellen and Steven found the walk uphill in the baking heat particularly hard. Ellen even passed out at one point. So we took it at our own pace and had regular breaks. Our guide - Ruang - was great and stayed back with us. After an hour, we arrived at a shaded mountain pool with a waterfall. We all stripped off and jumped in. It was such a welcome relief! After 45 minutes of jumping off the waterfall and trying to spot tadpoles, we set off uphill again. For the next 5 hours we soldiered on. By 6:30pm we were beginning to lose the light and most of us had run out of water! Eventually, after what seemed like days we finally reached the village of the Karan Tribe. Exhausted, but triumphant we were led to a makeshift hut where we dumped our packs. This was to be our sleeping quarters for the night. Back outside we were able to buy water, coke and beer. We sat about and rested while a village woman lit the campfire. Literally 20 minutes after we arrived it was already pitch black! For the rest of the evening after a nice hearty dinner, we sat around the campfire talking, laughing and getting rather merry on the beers and some whisky Michelle had brought. The village children performed some songs for us and we sang for them in return (although they didn't seem overly impressed at our efforts!) After sitting under the stars and enjoying a great evening we all started to get very sleepy and headed off to the hut around 11pm. First, I had to use the toilet which was NOT a good experience. It was a squat toilet in a semi-open shed with no flushing facility! Anyway, enough about that. None of us slept well that night. The hut was hard and lumpy and we could hear dogs mating and pigs shuffling about outside. Around 4am, the 50 million village cockerels began cock-a-doodle-dooing. One after the other, they went on and on and on. It was relentless and VERY loud. I swear, one of them was right underneath our hut (which was built on stilts) and was purposefully trying to get us all up! If I ever hear another rooster in my life again, it will be too soon! At 9am, 4 of us including myself, had to get up and have breakfast. We were setting off back down the mountain that day as we were only doing a 2day/1night trek, whereas the others were doing 3days/2 nights. I had thought about doing the extra day as we were all getting on so well, but in hindsight I'm glad I didn't. I was so tired and my feet were mutilated after the walk back that day! Anyway, breakfast consisted of cold toast, which didn't even taste like toast. Margarine which was about a year old and strawberry jelly melted down and passed off as jam! I fed mine to the skinny dogs, who didn't seem to mind the taste and instead had some coffee, watermelon and pineapple. Then we said our goodbyes and set off. We joined up with another group who were heading back that day. The return journey was all downhill this time (although in many respects that was worse for my feet and sore on the calves). It only took us 3 hours this time and we stopped at the waterfall again for another welcome swim. Upon reaching the bottom, we arrived at the 7-11 Jungle shop and all dived into a coolbox for an ice cold can of Sprite - nothing has ever tasted so good!! Then it was back in the van again and off to have lunch which unlike breakfast, was very good). Then we drove off to the elephants. For about an hour, we trekked through the jungle on the elephants. I never realised what weird skin they have, with huge bristly hairs sticking out! Afterwards, we watched them have their passenger seats removed and go down to the river where they lay down and put their whole bodies completely under the water. It was ace! We were all pretty tired by this point and the open wounds on my feet were beginning to cause me concern. They had been subjected to everything from dirt and mountain water to elephant snot! Fearing that they would probably become infected and drop off, I was ready to return to civilisation! After the drive back to Chiang Mai, I arrived at the Winner Inn and went up to my room. I ran a bath and I have never seen water so black when I got out! Took my filthy filthy clothes down to the laundry and treated my wounds with savlon and plasters. Then I went to bed. It was 7pm and I slept right through until 9am the next morning. The following day, feeling a lot better and a lot sorer! I took a short walk down the street and found an internet cafe to email home. Then I limped back to the hotel where the lovely little lady at the desk suggested I go for a traditional thai massage. I thought this was a fantastic idea, so she booked me into a health spa nearby. They came to collect me and took me their, where for the next hour and a half I lay completely relaxed while undergoing a full-body aromatherapy massage. It was amazing! Just what my seized up muscles needed! At 600 baht (9 pounds) it was quite expensive as far as thai massages go. But this was a top notch place and trust me, it was worth every single penny! Back at the hotel, I lay down in my room and watched Miss Congeniality which was on (in english!) Just as I was drifting off to sleep, my room phone rang. It was Elissa. The others had made it back safely and were going out for some dinner. They wondered if I wanted to join them. I grabbed my stuff and headed downstairs. We walked to the Same Same Hostel where the others were staying and then to a cafe for some WESTERN FOOD!! It tasted so good!! We also had a few glasses of wine and some cocktails. Then we decided it would be a good idea to see a Thai Boxing Match whilst in Thailand. There was one on just down the road and the flyer said an englishman would be fighting a thai. So we paid our 400 baht to get in and got a table near the bar. As it turned out, the englishman would not be appearing, but we had a good time regardless. We drank the bar dry, spending a small fortune in thai terms (although in our terms, it was dirt cheap). Spent the rest of the evening getting pretty drunk, playing pool and thai boxing amongst ourselves in the ring (much to the amusement of the staff!) Although I knew I had to get up at 6am the following morning to catch my flight back to Bangkok, I was having too much fun to leave and so we stayed until 2am when it became apparent that they wanted to shut up shop (music off, cover on the pool table). Reluctantly we began to make a move, although the staff - obviously loving our custom - begged us to come back the next night, even offering to let us in for free! I don't know if the others went back the next night, but after only 3 hours sleep I was up and on my way to the airport. Felt awful! Turns out my 8:20am flight was delayed by over 2 hours, which meant by the time I arrived in Bangkok, I'd missed my connecting flight to Phuket. It was ok though, as they just put me on a later flight. Much later - at 3pm - and this too was delayed. (Note to self: Don't fly with Air Asia again unless absolutely necessary). So as a result, I spent most of the 9th March in thai airports! Didn't mind though, as this gave me ample time to ponder over the incredible time I'd just had over the last few days! Chiang Mai was brilliant and I'm so glad I met the group I did! Now it is time to head down to the islands. BEACHES, YES!!!!! x