We arrived in Chiang Mai at mid day on Friday, were picked up from the train station and driven to SK guest house that Sarah and Alan had kindly booked us into. We had showers etc and had a scout about town, seeing the famous night market and had a beautiful dinner before having an earlish night to prepare and pack for the 3 day trek sarah and Alan also very 'kindly' singed us up to!!!! We'll see about that when we return.

We left here Saturday morning in the pick up truck. There was 8 of us - me, tar the 2 nurses ( sarah and Alan) and then 4 other irish Mary and Brian a couple and their friends Tom and Michael. They are all 24/25 so we all got on really well and had a laugh. We stopped off at a local market after half hour, where i had to buy proper socks ( not the ankle ones which was all i had) as we had heard that the ants like to bite ankles...and loo roll!!!!! It was the locals market so everything was so much cheaper but the sights and smells were revolting to say the least. The meat and fish was just WRONG! Foo, our guide picked up our lunch and then we drove for 2hrs up into the mountains a natural hot spring, the sulphur smelt like rotten eggs, it was soooo gross. We then had to switch into a 4x4 at Baan Mor as we were going off road uphill for 30mins or so, 2 school children jumped in the back of the truck with us to go home to the village we were going to as it was the school holidays and they were returning home to their family. We learnt that these children stay in the town for term time and only return home once term has finished because the trek up and down takes to long and without transport for the families would take days. The trek started, we hiked for a bout 2 hours, then stopped for lunch which was rice that Foo had got earlier. There was a park ranger who was patrolling the forest who we bumped into and Foo was talking to him, I was able to told his gun which was bloody heavy i can tell you. The trekking was hard work and i was so scared of drinking to much water in case i needed to go to the loo in the middle of the forest! I got dizzy really quickly, the gradients we were climbing were unbelievable. It was such hard work, i tell you. I cant believe how unfit i am after just 2 months out the gym. Anyway we took a few breaks for breathing! at beautiful view points which made me compose myself and realise why we were doing what we were doing and it totally put it into perspective. It was sooo worth it. However after the break the forest started getting more dense and wet, which meant the leeches came out to play, and 'play' they did. It was hilarious, every few steps someone ( usually one of us girls) would scream that there was a leech or leeches on our trainers and we would all have a fit and get the boys to burn the god awful things off us! Looking back it was funny but at the time i tell you it wasn't. I decided i wanted to get out of this jungle so took the lead in guiding us out of the place with the two young boys. They didn't speak a word of English and though it would be funny to confus me. It was soon clear to me that these 11 and 8 year old Thai boys obviously know the jungle like 11 and 8 year old west boys know the playstation as they decided to play a little trick and split up both going in oposite directions........ they thought it was funny watching me carefully decide who i was going to follow.....and yes it was the 11 year old who surely wouldnt lead a poor western girl back into the depth of the rainforest with all those narsty leeches who i chose. Anyway i chose wrong! as after a few minutes he disappeared off the path, when i looked up i could see his yellow t-shirt with his younger brother on the upper path giggling at me! After another 2 hours trekking we arrived at Karen - The hill tribe village of only 50 people made up of 9 families. This was our base for the night, we would stay here in one of the familys houses and live like the Karen people do, allbeit only for the night. Once we'd settled and chosen our beds, which was not banana leaves as previous thought but a thin sheet in a giant shed on stilts with a mosqueto net (that had holes in it) we walked down to the river in our flip flops. I soon learnt that this was a bad idea when it started raini9ng and i slipped down the hillside. Sarah and i looked at each other and both know what the other was thinking ' this was a dumb idea, lets leaves these to it and turn back' , we did this for me only to realise at back at the top that i had 2 leechs on my feet sucking away at my blood. One was in between my toes. i freecked out and the second trekking group which had just arrived and were staying in the same village at a different family's house were laughing so hard at me, 2 of the boys came over 'tp help' me but decided it was a better crack to just watch me try and stabmyself with a stick and burn my toes with a lighter they willingly gave me!!!! Oh my god, the blood wouldnt stop, from such a tiny insect the pain was.....actually the pain wasnt that bad but you know me, over exagarate! Anyway the blood would nnot stop and at theat point i was over the whole jungle experience! i mean what harm will the leech really do to me....it will suck my blood until i detatch it from myself, other than that they dont actually do any harm. As i was wet by now, i was obver the rain to so just got drenched, and muddy well....it was that saturday afternoon that i decied i was going to really get into this trekking lark and not shower or moan anymore. I was going to do everything the boys did, if it killed me! Adventure Vikki is evolving!

The heavens opened for a few hours and the rain flowed through the village. There was one light which was above the dining table which was under the house on stilts along with the 3 dogs 4 cats 20 odd chickens, firewood and there precious motorbike! So we all crowded round and started drinking Chang. I figured that i would have to stop drinking anything around 7pm in order for me not to get up in the night to use the toilet ( which was a hole in the ground in a shack) that was around the corner from the house on stilts!!! THE family cooked dinner for us which was traditional Thai food, soup, green curry with rice followed by pineapple. It was delicious and there was so much of it, however the family would not feast until we had finished all courses of our meal. I thought this was very sad and tried to get Foo to make them eat, he didn't have any joy. The 3 generation of family who live in this house were more interested in sitting around the fire ( once the rain stopped) and smoke the weed in a ' bong!' It is totally normal that the hole family,grandparents, parents and children do this day and night. I guess that when you live in a tiny village like this when you are days away from electricity and technology there isn't much else for people to do. Anyway i decided to stop drinking early as i said and the yellow t-shirted cheeky monkey from earlier and his grandfather were intrigued by us and were edging closer to us to see what we were up to ( we were playing cards) I decided to try and teach them how to play snap. This took some time but in the end they both understood and we had a great time. When the grandfather won a round i felt so proud and happy. Something so simple that we take for granted everyday. This feeling was so rewarding, with the language barrier especially, i must say i had a tear in my eye. I asked if i could take a photo of them as a family and they went crazy over this, they loved looking at themselves in the camera, so we took lots of snaps. Then it was bedtime for myself, tara and Sarah, we prepared the room in darkness, trying to check for spiders and crawlies and settled down for the night. The rest of the guys joined us a while later and a kitten kept trying to sleep with Tom. It was so funny, he kept getting up and putting the kitten outside the door, only fot it to open the shutters and climb back in, it was trying to get under his mosquito net. At one point we were all awake with our flash lights as Tom was stuck behind Alans net against the wall trying to stagger to the door in total darkness. This was when Tara found the hariest spider i have seen ( i really wanted to say it was the biggest there, but it wasnt!) 1 meter from our heads!!!!! Sarah freeked out, Tara covered herself from head to toe and i was in the middle, kind of over it! I shocked myself by how calm i was.

The next morning (sun) we awoke to Foo pinching our toes telling us breakfast was ready, hard boiled eggs,toast and more pineapple. We Trekked through the jungle for 4 hours before arriving at the second hill tribe village Palong. This village had a separate area with huts for people like us on treks. Here there were all sorts of western luxuries like Lay crisps, coke a cola and chocolate, the eight of us were like vulchers and ate so much before lunch was even served. After the noodle soup was consumed by us all we spent the afternoon trekking to the waterfall in the pouring rain! Sarah and i turned back to get our rain coats so were lagging behind the rest of the group. Again here i had a moment! If this happened at home, i would be so annoyed and angry that i got soaking wet, but here.....at first we were carful where we stepped, making sure we didn't step in puddles but before to long it was impossible not to so we though, sod it! and were jumping in all of them spraying each other with the muddy water and was soaked from head to toe. It was so much fun, we caught up with the rest of the group to find Tara as drenched as we were without the raincoat bless her ( if only my camera was water proof i would have some great shots). Anyway Foo decided it was to dangerous to cross the river at the bottom of the waterfall as the water was rushing past as such speed, but the other trekking group decided to cross anyway - it was so dangerous the water was up to there waists almost and the current was so strong, but Rambo ( a polish guy Jakob who looks like a monster 6.5 tall coached them all over). We had as much fun going back as we did on the way there. Sarah and I hung back again, getting to know one and made a pact that we would not shower or wash until we arrived back at SK guest house in Chiang Mai Mon eve. Also walking back to camp i decided that i would get the [pictures of the Karen village family developed and make sure they got copies along with a packet of playing cards ( if i could find on my return to chaing Mai) via Foo on his next trek there is a week or so. Nice aren't i!!!! xx Anyway dinner was red curry and you guessed it pineapple for dessert under candle light as there was no electric here either. We all had our torches out, it was yummy. We then watched Alan and Michael get so drunk they thought they could light the fire that hasd also been out in the rain all day! It took them a good few hours chopping branchs down and using all the paraphin that was keeping our candles alight. The sleeping hun here was so nich nicer than Karen. There were no bugs ( well not many) and the mosquito nets didnt have holes!!!! the blankets were cosy to.

Monday morning we awoke to Foo banging some sort of makeshift instrument which signalled breakfast was ready. We then left the village and set off on our final trek which was 1 1/2 hours to Praow. Here we meet up with our truck driver we left on Saturday morning and drove 2 hours to Mae Taeng for the elephant ride. This drive was very dangerous. there were unmade roads, roads that were barely wide enough for the truck, water logged roads! it was hilarious. But we were used to this kind of thing now so wasn't taking much notice so joined Foo and the driver in singing 'Hotel california'. The volume for cranked and we sang Eagle song after Eagle song! We arrived and got fed again! Phad Thai this time and then spent 40mins on the elephants. Some of the gradients those beasts were climbing with us sat on the back was very disturbing! After that we got instructions and a demo of paddling and river safely before engaging in the 'best rafting trip of the Mae Taeng River'. Iv never undertaken any such activity before and was a little apprehensive but i was all for it. Tara and i were paired up with Tom and Michael and if I'm honest they just sat at the front of the dingy looking pretty. tara and i did all the hard work, paddling down the river. It was a laugh and now i am prepared for all that New Zealand's rivers have to offer.....bring it on. After this we were ringing wet and smelt gross, but a pact is a pact so i didn't shower! but did change into drier clothes. We were shattered after this and pretty much took it in turns to fall asleep in the truck until a pot hole was driven over. We arrived back at SK at 5.30pm - Its been a long 3 days, 3 days that i would never have dreamt of experiencing but now i have I'm so please i did. I'm pleased that i didn't wimp out like i did about India, no regrets here! It was the best, we met great people and had a blast, seeing how the village people live and seeing the world through their eyes. Makes you totally realise what we westerners take for granted everyday like hot water, drinking water and proper toilets!

Then back at SK i had the best shower of my live! I have never gone 3 days with out one in my live before. Then meet 10 fellow trekkers and Foio and his girlfriend in the Irish bar down the road for dinner and drinks! It was a great end to a hard but rewarding 3 days! We tucked up in bed around 3am.

So today ( Tues) we are sightseeing in Chiang Mai, seeing temples and the night market. Tomorrow we leave here the 2 day slow boat journey along the Mekong River for Laos. We were told last night that Laso is exactly like Thailand was 30 years ago! so that will be intresting. Only thing im not looking forward to is that the boats do not have toilets on them, if you need to go you. you do so over the side of the boat!!!!!! we will see......... Chiang Mai is lovely, a quiet town that is far less poluted and populated than Bangkok. The people are friendly and will do anything you ask of them also, very hospitible. I like it here and would return

Anyway as of tomorrow my phone will not work while we are in Laos as there is no network coverage there ( remember i said they are 30 years behind Thailand)We plan to be there for 4 or 5 days before heading into Vietnam, although as you have seen so far our plans may change at a moments notice! I'm unsure if i will be able to have internet access either but if i can i'll make sure i'm in touch with those i know will want to hear from me, mum, dad,anns xxx

Love you all, this journey iv started has already taught me a lot

I'm off now to get those pictures developed and find a pack of playing cards for the Karen family .

Please make sure you leave me blog messages and keep emailing, FB'ing and txt, calling me because your messages and stories of home keep me in touch with you all, i love hearing them replying xxx