A night train delivered us to Chiang Mai from Ayutthaya. We were looking forward to our time in this northern city of Thailand that Thai people regard as a real Thai city of which they are very proud. Certainly this historic city had a very pleasant feel to it. Only a fraction of the size of Bangkok, a lot less crowded, polluted and very little western influence. Top on our list to do here was to get out into the hills that surround Chiang Mai and do some trekking. We found a guide, Tong, who hailed from a tribe that still live in the hills and joined 8 others for 3 days of trekking in the depths of the Doi Inthanon National Park. The last 4 people of the group turned out to be a group of rich girls fresh out of university travelling on Daddy's money. They clambered onto the pick up dressed in tiny tops, even tinier skirts and flip flops. It came as no surprise that after what they regarded as a 'horrendous' first couple of hours, they sorted out a ride back to town. Time for some serious trekking! The walking was challenging ('just one more mountain' became Tong's most used phrase to keep the girls walking) but great fun, and the scenery incredible. We spent the nights in different remote villages and passed through others. Perhaps best of all, we didnt see another white face until we returned to Chiang Mai. As part of the trek, a section of the journey was to be done on elephants. We didnt think too much about it - it was just another part of the trip - but then on the morning of the second day, still half asleep kicking around this tiny village, out of the jungle came a mahoot (elephant dude) riding on the head of an elephant with another right behind. Pretty incredible sight. The experience was a little different to a plod around Chester zoo. We had to clamber onto the roof of a wooden hut to mount the things and then with just this one mahoot trying to control these enormous beasts, set off into the jungle. I was sat on this animals head with Lisa and another girl on the trek, Sarah, sat on a bench strapped across the elephant's back. I thought my horse riding skills would see us right, I attempted to guide the great lump along this narrow track following the mahoot. No such luck. A bit hairy at times, and its a long way down! Just a good job we didnt see any mice. After a couple of hours, we hopped off, and the elephants were released into the jungle. When they are next required, the mahoot will simply leave the village and go out to look for them. Better than being in a cage I suppose. Whilst there were no mice, there were rats. Didnt see any running around the jungle, we saw them (or at least their heads) in a pot Tong had on the boil for his and his cousin's breakfast one morning. As an accompaniment, he had a dozen or so frogs in a bucket. I was brave enough to sample his worms the previous evening (a bit like spaghetti if you are wondering) but it was way to early for me to even think about rats or frogs. The trek ended at the village where Tong lives. We met his mother, sister and were shown both his current and his childhood home. What could have been a touristy disappointment turned out to be an impressive, relatively low impact and incredibly enjoyable few days. Certainly one to remember. To replace some of the weight lost on the trek, we enrolled for a day in a Thai cooking school. It started with a trip to a local produce market to buy ingredients with the rest of the day in the kitchen. Cooked about 8 dishes, and we managed not to ruin a single one! In fact, the food we cooked was a lot better than that served up during a Thai cultural show we went to one evening. For our final couple of days we went further north to the border Thailand shares with Myanmar (Burma) to a village of refugees that have crossed into Thailand. The reason for the visit was to see members of the long neck tribe. It was interesting to see these women with the gold rings around their neck and to understand their culture and traditions. It did feel like a bit of a freak show though, especially when we were shown to members of the big ears tribe. Back in Chiang Mai and with the hills all around, I spent our final day mountain biking. The terrain was excellent, mostly single track and best of all, about 90% downhill (got a ride to the top of the mountain). Riding through the villages in the hills was interesting, although we did attract some funny looks. The farmers had more fun with us. There were plenty of them in the lychee orchards harvesting the fruit. It was clearly good sport for them to throw the things at us as we rode past. As if I didnt have enough to worry about! Next destination, Luang Prabang in Laos.