well, i don't really know where to start! we have had a busy week! we are back in bangkok for tonight but we have done our jungle trek in chiang mai.

we met our group, who were totally ace. couldn't have got a better bumch of ppl. there was adam and carly (england), nick and lee ann (england), amber (oz) and beth (canada). on friday night we borded the overnight train. it was weird, the seats kinda folded down and it magically turned into a set of bunk beds! although we were instructed to go to bed early! not that we got much sleep. such a weird feelin tryin to sleep on a train.

so when we got to the hotel we had a little sleep and then in the afternon we headed to a massive temple of the side of a hill. it really was stunnin! the views were amazin. there were a lot of steps though. the story is that there was a special white elephant that carried the big gold spine on its back. and they basically set him off walkin wherever he wanted to go. when he fell over and died they decided to build the temple there. then we went to another really old temple that was more traditional. in the evening we went out for dinner and wandred round the night bazaar and got a 6 ppl in 1 tuk tuk for the journey back to the hotel!

the next day we started out trek. but before that we got to go to a beautiful waterfall! we had to cover up and wear shorts and t shirt though as we were being respectful to the thai culture. so we all had a splash around! after that we went for lunch which was yummy then prepared for a our trek. we climbed into the songthaew (an truck with benched in the back) and started goin uphill! then we had to get up and walk! oh my god...i have never walked/climber up hills like it! it was really hard work, especially in th heat. we had samsen 'crazy' who was killin leeches left, right and centre with his massive knife thing! we took it steady and drank loads of water and kept havin breaks. it was soooo hard work for aout 4 hours! i have never been so relieved to see the village!

when we arrived we had a beer and sat down. had our dinner then sat around the camp fire and learnt bout village life. in the karen village the women asked the man to marry her! then we heard from samsen who told us the story about 'somebody' stabbin 'nobody' and 'crazy' goin to the police to tell them but they just said 'r u crazy?' and he said 'YES!'. from then on he earnt the nickname 'crazy'!! and his manic laugh also helped. we slept in local huts on the floor.

next day we were still tired but set off on on our walk up 'big mamma mountain'...i'm not kiddin it was huge. 30mins of pure uphill steep walkin! although did feel extremely proud when we got to the top. this was also when we saw our first snake! a green things that slithered across our path. then we got to the elephant. they were gorgeous. we had lunch then hopped on. colette was mega scared and just clung on. partly becasue she was on the side with a massive drop! then just as we got goin, the heavens opened and we got soaked. we dosmounted and i put on grandads emergency poncho (left over from leeds fest!) and we very quickly got to the village. although we were aboslutely soaked. the rain came quick and heavy so we were drenched in minutes! again....when we arrived we just sat and had a beer. we also tried to learn the 'chang chang chang' song. chang means elephant and apparently loads of thais know it because they sing it in primary school! that night colette, amber and adam went to the local pub and drank beer nd ate bugs (yes, bugs!) with the locals. they had a bit of a hangover he next mornin!

the next mornin was the bamboo raftin....we opted for this rather than another 3 big momma mountains!!! it was literally bamboo hel together that floated down the river. didn't take any pics for fear of droppin my camera but gonna post a pic back home. we went through rapids and the raft nearly tipped over. some quick thinkin by beth, me, amber, colette and adam to lean did the trick! then it was all over. after lunch we got back in the songthaew and headed back to the hotel. the hardest couple of days so far but the most adventerous!

then came the celebratin! we wer so proud of ourselves we decided to go out for dinner and a couple of drinks! dong took us this place where we could have steak and chips (we had enough of rice!!!!) and there was a band playin and plenty on cocktails. we ended up dancin on the chairs to oasis and radiohead covers! and then came the 'chang chang chang' song to which we conga'd round the bar. possibly the highlight of the trip even though we only knew that line!! dong was wasted by this point and i was alittle unsure how he'd managed to get us through the jungle for 3 whole days!!! we also met crazy's cousin! then we went on to 'spicy' bar that actually smelt of sick and made the raz look good! it was good fun though and mainly travellers.

we had a mssive lay in the next day...fully appreciatin the comfy beds (not hard wood floors) and flushin toilets (not traditional squat toilets) and the air conditionin and not bein woken up by cockerals at 5.30am. ahhhh, it was bliss! then we went for a foot massage. i usually hate my feet bein touched but thought i'd give it a go. i managed to not kick the guy in the head and was actually really good! then it was time to get the train back to bangkok....jungle adventure over!

the train journey was amusin as we lost adam as he'd carried on drinkin from the night before! when he appeared we managed to keep him quiet and he went to sleeep pretty quickly. how carly has manahed to get him this far i'll never know!

tomorrow we head south to a national park....another overnight train!!!!

peace out