2 Day Jungle Trek... Well One and a Little Bit...

We started with a elephant ride unfortunately this time we were on the chair and had a guide driving our elephant, but I didn't like the way he treated the elephant... He nearly got kicked off of it, he put me in a right mood!!

We then walked ten minutes to a waterfall that had a natural slide, very fun but very dangerous, especially when your pushed down by a local.

Then we walked three hours up hill in the high jungle on a path made by a rat I think.... It was so over grown with nettles and plants then it absolutely bucketed it down all the way, the path became so muddy it had its own waterfall. It was so slippery and hard work, but a great achievement when we got to the top.

We stayed in a bamboo hut in a tiny village, but it didn't stop raining so we never left our hut. It was really nice though, sat around a candle in the dark whilst our guide told us stories of the local tribes in Chiang Mai. He explained the Long Neck Tribe are from Burma and they start putting the rings on the girls only from the age of seven years.

He also explained that the great secret is whether rebirth occurs or not, and explained a few stories in Buddhism that showed that rebirth is possible. Dads and husbands were coming back as dogs. A very rich man that wasn't very nice and never gave food to the monks was brought back as a snake. He explained that if you have lots of white actions you are good and can be re-birthed, if you do lots of bad actions you cannot rebirth, of you come back as a Ladyboy... At which point we all looked up and said, 'What??!!' Apparently they believe that they did something bad in a previous life that's why they are not happy ppl now and become Ladyboys, and that's why it's so accepted and so common, it has a religious link.

Unfortunately through the night I became poorly... Again and by morning couldn't make it to the toilet in time let alone a two hour hike down a mountain followed by white water rafting and bamboo rafting... I was gutted!! But I knew I had to get back to the city as soon as possible.

Back at the city my hostel, Chiang Mai Backpacker Hostel, was fantastic. They really looked after me, the owner giving me his own medication then driving me to the pharmacy to get more, masking me rice soup and making me have salt with lemonade, worked a treat. They even sent someone up to check on me after I'd been napping for a few hours to make sure I hadn't passed out!!

I felt stronger the next day and getting better each day, am doing well again so no panic :)