28th October 2009 - 30th October 2009:

We finally arrived after what had to be our worst bus journey to date. You will notice that we didn't use the word "sleeper" as this would infer that we actually slept for some part of the trip which certainly wasn't the case. This was mainly due to the fact that for some reason the air conditioning was cranked up to the "freeze your gonads" setting for the entire night and meant we were forced to basically sleep side by side to try and use our body heat to keep us warm!!!

It got so bad that towards the end Liza got up from her seat to have a go at the bus driver but to no avail as he had no idea what she was saying - surprisingly this was the first time in two months that she was close to erupting - whilst some of the passengers even resorted to jamming pieces of toilet paper into the vents to try and stop the cold air from blowing out!!!

We did however eventually arrive safely at our destination and got straight into bed to recharge and calm down. When we woke up we checked out trip advisor (this has now become our favourite website) for recommendations on good food in Chiang Mai and a Mexican restaurant was top of the list - good news, nice spicy food to cheer Liza up!

That evening we headed out, map in hand, but still managed to get lost and it took us over 30 minutes and three journeys up and down the same street before we realised just how the street numbers worked and eventually found the place. Sean ordered the burger but was having wisdom tooth issues at the time so spent the whole time moaning from the pain when trying to open his mouth and then smiling with happiness after every bite - a truly bitter sweet moment. On the other hand Liza had much less trouble with her meal and wolfed down the best nachos & salsa combo only rivalled by Chili's - yes it was that good!!

The next day was the beginning of our mountain trek and on our way out to our first stop - The Elephant Ranch - we met David, Sally, Manlo and Irene who were on the trek with us. When we got to the elephants, Sean was very excited and quickly bought a big bag of banana's to feed the mother and baby elephant thinking it would last our entire journey. However as we quickly realised, elephants are greedy b*****s and they got through the whole bag in less than a minute. We purchased another bag and this time tried to give a few more to the baby elephant, as the mother had ate most of the first bag, but meant Sean had to fight with the mother to push her trunk out of the way so he could get to the baby elephant.

We were then ready for our tour and were told to step onto the elephants head in order to get into the seat located onto their back. Off we went into the jungle for an hours trek stopping a couple of times to buy even more bananas. After the initial few minutes, where we kept on thinking the elephant was going to fall over, we started to enjoy ourselves and at one point we even went down a 10 foot verge into the river so the elephant could cool off.

Following the elephants we then embarked on the first half of our trek - a one and a half hour climb through the jungle and into the mountains. It was at this point that we realise just how incredibly unfit we both were and that trekking would never become a hobbie of ours. However the first part of the trek did finish up at this magnificent waterfall that was simply amazing, the sound and rush of the water was so intense that Liza was physically shaking. Nevertheless we jumped at the offer of going in for a little swim and cooling off - anything to prolong the start of more trekking!!

After drying ourselves down we set off again for another hour of trekking which was all uphill and our tour guide Juy constantly encouraging us (not!!) saying 'its easy…… for me, not for you!'. We did however eventually get to our village and after looking out over the mountains and seeing the amazing view we agreed it was worth it….. just!!!! We were then shown to our plush 5* accommodation, an 8ft x 8ft bamboo hut with his and her matching bambi duvet covers and also the luxury communal bathroom facilities, which consisted of a toilet with no running water - just a big water tank and pan in order to transfer water to the toilet - that was beautifully illuminated by candle light. We were therefore grateful for the wind up torch that Colin had given us before we left which we can report came into very good use throughout the evening.

Juy and his father then prepared our evening meal of chicken curry and vegetables and, given how hard we had worked during the trekking, washed it all down with some well deserved ice cold beers. Juy was hilarious and kept us entertained throughout the night with his stories and various sayings including "Oh la la my buddah", "I don't like beer, beer likes me" and "I don't drink every day, just every night". He even went off to the nearby village and brought us back some whiskey which he called "happy water". This was some very lethal stuff but not to be rude we all helped finish the bottle and have certainly all seemed to be very happy by the end!!!

After drinking numerous beers and shots of "happy water" by candlelight we could all barely stand so decided to call it a night and stumbled (quite literally as there were absolutely no lights around) into bed, although not before we checked out the starry sky which was by far the most beautiful sight we have seen.

The following morning we tentatively got up for breakfast which consisted of the standard far east dish of fried eggs and bread. Liza politely declined and opted instead for a can of coke - she was that bad and we were now faced with the unenviable task of trying to climb down off this god forsaken mountain. After our request for a helicopter to come and pick us up was declined we begrudgingly set off on the return journey and all was going well until about an hour in when Liza started to struggle big time and meant Sean (who wasn't feeling to bright himself) was forced to carry both bags until we stopped for the half way point.

Thankfully this was not too long in coming and was again another waterfall meaning we were able to cool off and go for a swim.

However this time the current was a lot stronger and as Liza waded into the river for a gentle paddle she was quickly dragged across to the opposite bank much to the amazement of Sean & the others. Most of the other groups were swimming in that section so Sean and David decided to swim across and join her. Once there we all noticed another part of the river which had a very strong rapid over some rocks that everyone was treating like a mini water slide. It seemed to be quite safe and fun as everyone was jumping into the rapid, sliding down to the lower level and then walking back along the shore to have another turn.

Sean and David therefore decided to give it ago and whilst everyone else seemed to be able to grab a strategically placed overhanging branch to pull themselves out of the river, Sean completely overshot and started sliding down the river. Despite failing to grab a few rocks he did eventually manage to get his feet under him but as the current was so strong he wasn't able to swim or walk across the river bed back to shore. However after a few attempts he eventually found that the best way was to slide along on his bum (admittedly not the most elegant but nevertheless very effective) and slowly but surely dragged himself almost to shore when he heard a loud "arghhhh" and turned around to see a screaming Liza sliding down the rocks!!!

Basically Liza, without the knowledge of what just happened to Sean, had spent the last 10 minutes contemplating whether or not to have a little go herself and with the voice of Dee Love echoing in her head - 'just do everything' - she threw caution to the wind and went for it. However she also managed to miss the branch (what are the chances!!) and not being as strong as Sean was unable to steady herself and so was quickly being dragged down the river shouting rather loudly 'Sean, Sean, Sean, help me!'.

Thankfully Liza did eventually manage to grab hold of a rock but the current was too strong for her to get out of the river on her own so Sean - still knackered from getting himself out just a few minutes ago - did his best David Hasslehoff impression, wadding back into the river and wrapping his legs around Liza before carefully dragging her out via the "sliding along the river floor on your arse" technique, not quite how they did it on Baywatch!!! Somehow - although not unsurprisingly - we were the only two eejits that this happened to but we did manage to see the funny side when we eventually got out of the water and onto dry land.

After the waterfall we completed our final bit of trekking and made our way to do some bamboo rafting, which is basically big bamboo sticks tied together which you sit on whilst floating down a river. However they aren't exactly water tight vessels so the water comes right up onto the raft and means you are absolutely drenched and furthermore you don't exactly float, more like you are dragged down the river. Still it was good craic and we did have a good laugh except for the few times were we almost capsized.

After all that excitement we headed back to the city and for a much needed and deserved, you guessed it, Mexican meal - bring on the burn! Overall this is definitely up there so far with one of our best experiences. Now for our bus journey to Laos - our fourth country in ten days.