Located on a quiet street a few minutes walk from the Tha Pae Gate and from the bar and restaurant lined Thanon Loi Khro. Friendly and helpful staff. 180 baht per night for a clean and comfortable single room, some with air-con the rest with a fan and with en-suite bathroom. No TV or refrigerator. Windows have mosquito mesh covering which means no mozzies! Free secure storage of luggage and valuables. They can organise treks and onward transport to Laos. Restaurant and internet cafe.

From Burma, I went directly to North Thailand. I have decided to visit first the north of Thailand, then go to Laos, Viet-Nam and Cambodia,  spend the new year's eve in south Thailand, and from there take my plane to Sydney! As I will explain later on it didn't turn out that way!

I must admit I expected a lot from visiting Thailand as everyone put Thailand in their favorite countries. Well, It was big disapointment! I did a 3 days trek in the jungle  : it was so commercial. The landscape wan't nice, you go on elephant ride...the whole thing is just fake and for trourists. They take you to see tribes : well, you see people sitting in their little shops, waiting for you and strating to play music as soon as you arrive. I just thought the whole thing was pathetic!

Hopefully, the rest of Thailand will be nicer especially the South!

    This trec really killed me.  I was pushed to my limits many times and yet I servived.  It was after the completion of this long and vigerous hike that I realized how bad of shape I was in at the time.  Although the physical activity was a lot higher then I thought it would be I was so glad I made to trec.  You wouldn't think 3 days would kill a person but I learned a lot about myself.   Most importantly how to carry a pack correctly but I also learned how much I enjoy the outdoors.  I have wanted to go on hikes around my home town but have never made the effort and now I feel confident that I will definately be able to complete any (ok maybe I won't go that far) treck or hike for that matter.  I do wish I would have been able to see more whild life being how the group and I saw a couple bugs, maybe a bird here and there. 
    I know that I would definately make this kind fo trec again, I would just bring less stuff.  Maybe 1 set of clothes instead of 3, maybe just a tooth brush and bar soap instead of shampoo, mouth wash, bodywash, lufa, face cream and other rediculous stull I'm obviously not going to use but now I know so there is one other thing I learned: PACK LITE!

I woke up with a hangover, picked up my clean clothes from the laundry - CLEAN CLOTHES!!! - had a shower and ate my breakfast at Nice Kitchen: a mug of tea, fresh orange juice, croissant and a fruit salad for 75 baht, which makes it an absolute bargain.

Back at the guesthouse I booked my transport to Laos for the following day. A minibus to Chiang Kang, over-night accommodation and 5-6 hour speedboat ride down the Mekong to Louang Prabang. The 'plan' is to meet up with Hazel and Maria there - who will get into Laos the day before me - and go on another trek.


***


The afternoon was much cooler than the morning so I went for a walk to buy a larger backpack. If trekking has taught me anything, it's that I need more clothes and bigger pack to keep them in. I ended up buying a monster 75 + 15 litre pack complete with two detachable 'day packs'. I think I could fit my entire wardrobe back home into it. Well, maybe not, but it is big!

Next stop was to Fed-Ex home my original pack and messenger bag, along with some photos from the trek and couple of photo-CD's.

After buying an extra pair of shorts I wandered around Chang Mai for hours, browsing bookshops, 'arts and crafts' shops and street stalls. I eventually ended up at Wat Phra Singh, where I sat at the back of the temple watching about one hundred young monks chanting and praying in front of a huge golden Buddha. I'm not at all a religious or spiritual person, but I sat there for about 15 minutes, completely and utterly at peace with myself. It's about as close to religion as I ever want to get.


***


In the evening I went to Da Stefanos Italian restaurant - recommedned in my travel guide - where I had a pizza and fruit shake. The fruit here is so fresh and tasty it would be wrong not to eat mountains of it everyday.

Next stop was the night bazaar where I bought two extra t-shirts (perfectly original(!) DrunknMunky & Billabong t-shirts for 300 baht) and spent a few more hours exploring the various stalls. But if you've been to one night bazaar...

The Three Day Trek

The guides:

Gwok - that's the phonetic-style spelling, and I'm pretty sure it's not the proper spelling of his name - Terry and Chan.

The group:

Me - obviously.
Two Irish lasses, Hazel and Maria. (If you could trip over it or fall down it, Maria did!)
An older retired couple from Devon, John (who's originally from Llanelli) and Debby, who are travelling for 3-4 years, and that's if they ever go back home.


***


Day 1

We left Chang Mai at about 9am in the morning in the back of pick-up and went to a market to buy any supplies - toilet roll! - and then on to the Elephant Park. At the Elephant Park Hazel & Maria had an elephant to themselves, John & Debby got into the seat strapped to the back of the other elephant, and the 'driver'(?) told me that I was to sit on the neck. At first I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. So I spent about thirty minutes clenching my thighs for dear life around the elephants neck as he whacked my knees with his ears and wandered along the path. The driver kept shouting at the elephant, but I had the impression that the elephant knew exactly where he was going, and that he woiuld get there in his own time.

After the Elephant Park, we walked for about thirty minutes to a waterfall where we had a 'swim.' Otherwise known as swimming and going backwards, so I sat on a rock, with the water up to my shoulders and helped the girls stay on their feet.

Refreshed after the waterfall, we walked for about two hours to the Karen village where we stayed for the night. After dinner the rain started and didn't stop until the following morning. So the guides did magic tricks - "David Copperfield!" - with cards and matches.


***


Day 2

Because of the previous nights rain we left the village later than we should have and had a revised route, since the original five hour route would have been too treacherous. The new route lasted about three hours and basically went up the mountain and down the otherside. Halfway up the mountain you could hear a rumble of thunder in the distance and then hear the rain falling through the canopy of the treetops, moving nearer and nearer to us. When it finally reached us, the rain turned the paths into streams in moments.

Lunch at the top of the mountain - if there was no cloud the guides said we would have been able to see Burma - was slightly warm Super Noodles in a banana leaf wrap. I wasn't quite hungry enough to eat it, so I left it for the wildlife to eat.

We arrived at the camp by the waterfall where we were to spend the night much earlier than we should have, so everyone had a shower under the waterfall. It's not quite as glamorous as the adverts would have you believe, but it was extremely refreshing!

After dinner - a curried something and non-curried something with lots of rice - it was pitch black outside but only about 6.30pm in the evening and far to early to go to bed. So for entertainment we all played 'Drinking Games' but without the drinking of alcohol. The guides and John were drinking cans of beer but everone else was drinking water since I don't think anybody fancied trekking along the mountainside with a hangover. Regardless, it ended up being an extremely entertaining night with lots and lots of laughter. With the girls teaching Gwok(?) to 'Irish Dance' and Terry's continuing attempts to woo Maria. He was about as subtle as sledgehammer, but it was good fun!


***


Day 3

After a shower or a wash in the river, everybody got into their damp and muddy clothes and we hiked for about three hours along and down the mountainside to the waiting pick-up truck. We were driven to a shack for our lunch, where we meet up with another group and were told to put on sandals ready for the bamboo rafting.

Bamboo rafting - imagine a really big longboard made out of bamboo that offers absolutely no stability and you're close - has got the most fun you can have with clothes on! We spread out across three rafts; John, Debby and myself on one, Hazel, Maria and Phil (a really nice bloke from Leeds) on another and the four girls from the other group on the third, and set off down the river, nice and sedately.

Of course, as soon as you get near somebody else's raft the fun starts. "No wet, no fun!" Terry kept shouting, and soon everybody was kicking, splashing and falling into the river.

By the end of the trip, Hazel, Maria, Phil and Terry had managed to break their raft and Phil had spent more time in the river than on the raft. A great laugh and I recommend that everybody who goes to Chang Mai should go bamboo rafting.

After the rafting the other group got into some clean, dry clothes whilst our group dripped water and sand onto the road waiting for our photos to arrive. There wasn't a towel or item of clothing between us that wasn't wet and muddy. And we had an hour's drive back to Chang Mai to look forward to!


***


Back at the guesthouse I had two showers, just to be sure that I was clean, and finally got into some clean clothes. Downstairs I met up with Hazel, Maria and Phil and we went for dinner. The girls detox went out of the window and everybody ate and drunk themselves happy. After all we deserved it! On our table there was three whole fish, plus three bowls of soup, and plates of noodles, rice and salad, bottles of water, and glasses of wine, fruit shakes and gin & tonics. I was stuffed when we left to find a bar and have a few more beers and cocktails before bed.

A great three days and more trekking to come when I arrive in Laos!

I left Bangkok a day late aboard a rather squalid bus that squeeked, rattled and hissed (the suspension I think) for the entire journey. Spread out across two fully reclined seats and under a complimentary blanket I watched the passing scenery out of the window whilst waiting to fall asleep. I couldn't read because the reading light didn't work - all praise Apple for the iPod! It was a terrible journey in which I think I slept for about one or two hours in total.

Some 'highlights' of the journey:

• Watching a lightening storm develop, lighting up the night sky above Bangkok.
• The condensation dripping onto me all through the night.
• The toilet! Oh my..., the toilet! *Shudders!*
  

Hey Hey

Lets start with how i ventured from Laos back into Thailand (this time the north of Thailand). We took the slow boat on Monday 3rd March. The pick up was at 8am and with a little of the usual messing around and some engine problems we set off around 9 for a journey which wouldnt see us to the half way point along the river until the evening. The boat itself was ok, we didnt manage to get one of the few comfortable seats on the boat so ended up with a wooden bench. There is always some way or other around the lack of comfort though and i spent a large part of the journey sleeping on the floor which was nice. We also played a bit of cards with some of the more local people and the scenery along the Mekong river is pretty awesome. We got to the half way point at around 7 at a place i believe is called Pak Beng (Sp?!). We got a really cheap guesthouse which was run by the two locals we were playing cards with and then headed out to get some dinner. I think the fact the place is stuck in the middle of nowhere has led to a lot of the younger blokes that live there to enjoy their drugs! The waiters at the restaurant were stoned off their faces but comical all the same. Also the town seems to be pretty much run on generators and so its lights out at 10, we went to sleep!

The following day Rob, Brandon a random Swedish girl and I decided to change our plans a little. We were told that there was no guarentee that the slow boat would get to the Thai border in the evening before it closed at 6pm and so to avoid spending the night in another random town we decided to go for a speedboat. We got it off the people running our guesthouse, they were stoned! We also probably paid a little over the odds but hey that happens. The lonely planet says take speedboats at your own risk this time of year as the river level isnt all that high. We took the risk and it was great fun! the boat itself is rairly long and narrow but moves damn fast. Being a little nervous at first i didnt enjoy it so much but as soon as i started listening to my ipod and realising i could sing at the top of my voice and have no one hear us over the noise of the motor i had a ball. We got to the border in little over 3 hours and were back in Thailand an hour after that. Queueing and stamp wise it was the quickest border crossing i have been through (including the small boat ride between the two checkpoints) and we were straight onto a bus to Chang Rai and then onto Chang Mai arriving there in the early evening. We got a Tuk Tuk to take us to a random guesthouse as the one we wanted to stay at (Julie Guesthouse) was full. The evening was spent playing pool and drinking beer. Some people were walking elephants around the streets as a tourist trap, so tacky and harsh!

The next morning Rob and I managed to get a room at Julie guesthouse so moved over to there and then had a wonder round and bought some food! Then i went off for a search to buy a replacement camera, the prices in Thailand for electrical items arent really any cheaper then at home so eventually after looking around i got an alright camera for 80 GBP. They didnt like to haggle though in the normal shopping malls! The rest of the day was just chilling out and booking out fun for the next four days (Cooking course, Trekking and massage course) again didnt manage to get much discount on that either but got a fair price.

6th March - I got picked up (again with northern Rob, think i will be travelling with him and Nat until the end of the trip now) at 9am and first we were driven to one of the best food markets in Chang Mai (best because its clean and yet we still got told off by the owner of the cooking farm for buying an iced drink there!). We got shown all the different types of ingredients they used there and had a quick look around whilst our instructor bought the food we all needed to make our choices (you get to make 6 dishes, with a choice from 3 for each section). Basically i chose to make Thai yellow curry and so had to start off by making the curry paste ourself by crushing all the stuff in a pestle and mortar (you dont get to make the paste yourself in most of the other cooking courses on offer) and then made other dishes such as chicken and cashew nuts, pad thai (noodles) and mango & sticky rice (desert). It was an awesome day and there were some cool enough people there also. I would just like to point out that i wont be cooking Thai food for everyone when i get home, travelling has not stopped me still being pretty selfish! We got back at dinner time and ate some of the left over food we had cooked throughout the day! Got a fairly early night as we had the Trek booked for the following day.

We got picked up the next morning for the 2 day 1 night trek we had booked. It was around 1 hr 30 min drive to get out to the elephant treking beginning of the little adventure. The whole group got to ride around on the elephants for an hour. They had bunches of bananas for us to buy to feed our elephant and sure enough as soon as Rob and I jumped on the big bloater bent his trunk back and demanded some food. Our elephant was continually stopping to eat, he managed to get 4 bunches of bananas out of us and still ate half the jungle on the way too! Eventually though dumbo got us to where we needed to be and we walked a little to have lunch before we started a 3 hour walks up hill. Our group was pretty cool, there were 4 Germans, 2 Kiwis (one looked a bit like Cat Deeley) and 3 English gap year people (Joe, Georgia and Sam) as well as Rob and I. Our guide was a crazy Thai man called Jonny Walker, he liked to scream and make weir dnoises but was a good bloke. The walk was knackering and also a little dissapointing as we just walked up a dirt road for 3 whole steep hours. Eventually we got to the village (the village is a minority group originally from Tibet, most of them dont have passports etc) and again we were a little dissapointed as we were told not to walk around and to stay in our hut area especially after dark as the village people arent always so friendly! We had some more food cooked for us and then spent most of the evening having a few beers and playing some cards. Me and Rob decided to sneak off to one of the other groups and see what was going on but got told off by Jonny Walker and had to return fairly quickly. Eventually everyone went off to bed after the family who owned the hut we were staying in taught us some string tricks (stuff like cats craddle apparently?)

The following day we had breakfast (8 pieces of toast, yes im getting fatter) and then headed off for the 2 hour downhill trek to a waterfall then onto do some rafting. This walk was much better and was walking down through the jungle and not just along a road! The waterfall was fairly cool but as its dry season there is very little water and so there wasnt much chance for swimming! We then walked along to the rafting which i had been told about by someone who had done it already. As i just mentioned the water is very low and so once i got into the raft with Joe, Sam and Georgia we continually got stuck on rock after rock and at first it pissed us off a little because it was becomming a farcical amount of waiting and getting stuck! Eventually though when there were less rocky sections our guide let us out to swim so we jumped around and pulled people out of other boats etc also in places the rafting itself got a tiny bit better and we became good at getting ourselves unstuck! After a fair while on the raft and joking about we got off and got onto a long narrow bamboo raft that you have to punt down the river, all but i managed to fall off that one haha! We then got some more food given to us and headed back into Chang Mai. When we got back Rob and I decided to cancel our massage course as we simple couldnt be bothered to do it and instead booked a bus to Pai (northwest Thailand) for the next day. All the native English people out of my group decided we should celebrate our amazing trekking achievements with a load of beer that night. As it was Thai elections the following day no bar would serve any alcohol so our guesthouse told us to go and buy some before 6pm and drink up on the roof terrace. Thats what we did and played drinking games whilst thing random hippie american guy played guitar for us until around 3am! Georgia is not very good at playing 21 and we all got pretty drunk. I fell asleep on one of the sofa things and woke up to Joe pooring loads of water in my ear and one of the guesthouse workers shouting at us all for making too much noise. I was pretty dazed and confused by that because being asleep it wasnt really that possible for me to be noisy! We headed off to bed.

I woke up the next day feeling pretty rough and had breakfast with the gap year kids and Robin before heading off for the winding 3 hour bus journey through the mountains up to Pai. To be continued............

So after a few more days in Bangkok were I got to meet some of Benny's friends we were off to the rail station.  I love rail travel and try to do some in every country I visit.  Some countries like Japan it is very easy others like my own country is very hard.  Thailand is somewhere in the middle.   There are a fair amount of routes but they tend to be slow and trying to understand the scheule at the station is a bit confusing.  Once you enter the station though there are many people willing to help of.  Of course they all work for a travel agent and are hoping to sell you a trip or book a hotel but the help was nice.

The train trip we took is one that is typical for many westerners heading to Chang Mai.  We reserved a two bunk sleeping car on the overnight train.  The room was simple but had a nice window and was clean.  About 30 minutes into the trip someone took our dinner order and brought some simple but decent Thai food.  About 3 hours into the trip a large Thai man knocked on the door and told us to leave the room so he could make the bunks.  We had no choice he was doing it. 

The bunks were reasonably comfortable but they should have left several more blankets.  Once the sun went down they turned up the air con to slightly warmer then North Pole.  It was freezing in there all night.  I mean really really cold.  I am from Canada and have felt cold that is dangerous to your skin but I was cold this night.  I put on extra clothes and found some warmer ones for Benny to wear.  I was shocked! 

In the morning the same large man shows up at our door and tells we are about 1 hour from the station and he is here to change the bunk back.  The sun came back up and the car quickly warmed back up.  Good news is once we got used to the cold we slept well and were ready to see Chang Mai it is glory.

Another thing I like is old castles.  In Osaka I spent a lot of time at the castle they have in the middle of the city.  Chang Mai does not have much of it's old castle left but there are a few things left.  The moat that used to protect the old city is still in place and as you travel around the city you see the moat quite often.  Were major road cross the most there are even sections of the old wall still standing. 

I found the only real easy way to get around Chang Mai was by tuk tuk.  More then any other place I visited in Thailand tuk tuks were every were.  I do not remember seeing any of those pick up trucks and almost no buses.  Also I found Chang Mai was the easiest city I went to to walk.  the sidewalks were in good condition and crossing the road never seem to be a death defying feat.  I really enjoy walking a city so this was a pleasant change.

If you have read anything about Chang Mai you will know it has hundreds of Wats of every size.  As that really is not my thing we spent much of the time just wandering around and enjoying the change just to relax and get some excercise.  It was warm this far north but much closer to summer Vancouver tempetures so I was also enjoying the weather.  Benny was a bit cold but I had brought a warm jacket from Canada so she survived. 

Our hotel set up a nice tour with their won driver.  He took us up a large hill to Wat Phratthat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara (man Thailand has some long names for things) as well as a nice garden farther up the hill.  The driver was nice but I think her thought he was rally car driver as her took the corners as fast as he could and passed other cars is so less then safe places. 

The Wat was incredible.  It sits up on this large hill or small mountian and likely has an outstanding view but today we had very low clouds so we could not tell.  In fact it was a bit cool and the coulds held a fair amount of moisture and we were getting wet just walking around.  However for once Benny was not noticing the cold as she was excited about this Wat. 

As I learned on this trip she is a fairly devout Buddhist and she was more then ready to go into the temple and pray.  Often during the trip we would have small delays as she asked to go pray and I would give a few baht so she could by flowers or some candles.  Normally she was only gone a few minutes but this Wat obviously was special for her as she was gone for over 30 minutes.  I walked around as waited and saw some of the best architecture I saw in Thailand.

Later in the day we had another crash.  Our driver decided we must visit a craft market on the other side of Chang Mai to do some shopping.  This little scam is common in Thailand and I normally say no but this driver had been very good and I really did need to buy some things for friends and family back home.  On the way I got the feeling he did not really have an idea where he was going.

As we passed back through the main part of the city we stopped and picked up a Thai lady in some sort of uniform.  Never really learned who she was but she was giving him directions.  After a while we got on a highway and all of a sudden she says something to him quickly and he huts the brakes hard and swerves left to turn.  The trouble was he was two lanes away from the side of the road and their was a motorbike passing us.

The poor driver of the bike hit our car and went flying over the hood.  He and his bike slid quite far down the road as he must have been doing close to 80kmph.  The good news was the guy was mostly okay with just some bad bruises and a few nasty scratches.  His bike though had brought into two pieces.  Very quickly a police officer was there as were many security guards from all the local businesses.  Once they saw a farang (me) was part of the crash they quickly got me into a shop so I could shop and kept telling me not to worry they take care of everything.

I did actually enjoy the shop and bought some silk items and a few small wooden sculptures.  After 1 hours in the store I was ready to leave and head back into the city.  However the police were not done and the paramedics had just finally showed up for the poor bike rider.  I could tell the police officer wanted to ask me questions as he kept pointing at me but for what ever reason he never even tried.  Eventually a senior police officer showed up and after a few quick words with the junior cop we were told to leave with our driver.  Our driver was annoyed because he a got a few hundred baht fine and was blamed for the crash.  I should think so but I still like the guy.

Later that day I was given a great happy surprise.  I was starting to get a bit road weary and was starting to think of home when Benny told me we had to stay two more days for Loy Krathong.  I had no idea what it was but she told me it was a great Thai festival.  I got the feeling that for once I had no choice and we were staying in Chang Mai.

I will not go into detail about the festival, mostly because I do not really understand, but we had a blast.  We light some candles in small paper lanterns and watched them fly into the air with thousands of others.  We fired small firecrackers into the night sky.  There was a large parade going through town ands even saw an American style high school marching band from a local school.  It was one of the highlights of a great trip. 

the festival was mostly after dark so during one of the days we went to a Thai shopping center and I found a great deal.  In a clothing shop I found a nice winter jacket that many people wear here in Vancouver.  The jacket sells for several hundred dollars at most stores here but was only $20 here.  I asked if it was real and the clerk kept telling me of course.  I still have serious doubts but I checked the jacket very carefully and found nothing wrong that would show it was a copy so I bought it.  The only odd thing of the jacket was it said it was made in Burma and that border has been closed for many months due to the troubles they are having.  I have worn the jacket many times and if it is a copy it is a good one as it is warm, water proof and nothing is not falling apart.

I loved it up here but I was starting to run out of time and wanted a few more days of beach so it was time to leave.  We tried to get on to the night train again but it was sold out.  I guess everyone was heading back home after a few days in Chang Mai for Loy Krathong.  So we got to ride a non express train 2 class no air con back to Bangkok.  More on that next post.

Power sockets Chang Mai and all of Thailand and south East Asia use 2 round pin or 2 flat pin adapters. They are the same as the 2 round pin European adapters and the sockets all cater for both. One thing I did notice was that there aren't that many adapter sockets in general in guest houses, and I have stayed in 1 that didn't have any sockets in the rooms Cultural Sensitivities in Chang Mai From my experience there aren't really any sensitivities that you have to be aware of. The languages do change a bit when you get out into the hills among the different hill tribes but if you do a guided trek, the guides will always tell you the basic hello, goodbye and thank you words so you can get by on that! If anybody needs any more specific advice please send me a message

After a relatively quit night on the beer, today was our last day of the trek. The nights sleep before wasn't great as the dogs in the village seemed to fight well into the early hours of the morning and then about 6am the roosters started to call out like an alarm clock that didn't have a snooze button! It wasn't too bad as we had to be up early to leave the camp that day.

After our scrambled egg, toast and coffee breakfast we left the village for the last stage of trekking. At that point we had trekked 30km the previous 2 days and we had about 8km left to trek that day. The trekking was a little gentler with more road sections and less steep inclines and declines that the previous day. We passed the neighboring village where the school was based and Mr Sam got to visit his 2 kids in the school before continuing on the trek. The very last part of the trek was all the way downhill getting closer and closer to the village civilisation. The truck was a welcome sign at the bottom of the hill as the downhill section at the end again had taken its toll on the muscles on the front of the legs.

After about 20 mins driving we ended up back in the village that we started in and back into the same restaurant for lunch as the first day of the trekking. It didn't take long to have all the hammocks occupied around the restaurant as the group relaxed before heading to the bamboo rafting!

A 2 minute walk around the corner took us to the bamboo rafting site. The rafts were about 25 foot long and consisted of 10 bamboo sticks of about 2 inches in diameter. The bamboo sticks were tied to 3 cross members with what looked to be lengths of old bicycle tires ..... A very reliable structure altogether!! The groups were split up into three 3's and one 4. I was on the 2nd last raft with Tom and Jamie and our aim at the start was to try and capsize the raft in front that had Jessica, Anika, Maria and Daniel on it!

We did manage to catch up with them but managed to capsize ourselves first before capsizing them. At this point I had lost my flip flops and was floating down the river in my bare feet on an 'iffy' bamboo raft soaking wet. After catching up with the raft in front again and attempting another capsizing maneuver, everything was going well until 2 of the guides jumped on to our raft ... A raft designed for 3. After about 30 seconds our raft found its naturally buoyant point about 18 inches under the water, leaving us  knee deep in the river, scraping the odd rock on the bottom and trying to steer an overweight raft through some of the fast flowing sections of the river. We did manage to come off the raft twice after that and ended up losing all the other groups and just coasting down the river on our own.

On arriving at the end, soaked and flip flop-less we got dried off, some of them changed clothes and we grabbed some nibbles at the shop before taking a group picture!

Tired and mostly still wet we spent an hour heading back into Chang Mai and back to our accommodation where we all got a highly sought after hot shower and change of clothes.

We had arranged to assemble the group 1 last time that night for a few beers in one of the hotels. Myself and Caroline grabbed something to eat ... A highly sought after burger and chips for me (and god was it nice) and a sweet and sour dish for Caroline.

At 9 we all met up in the lobby of Hotel Serenity and had a few cocktails there before heading to a roof top bar in the middle of Chang Mai. Here the big bottles of beer chang and singha flowed freely as well as the buckets of Sang Son, redbull and coke. We stayed here for about an hour before Mr Tom told us of a good live Thai band that were playing in a disco bar in town, and with the offer of cheap whiskey for the group we all headed down the street.

The bar was nice but quite quiet with only about 20 Thai people in the place other than staff. When we arrived though we did spice up the place with a bit of dancing, singing and quite a lot of drinking! The lived band were very good, the lead guitarist was amazing though. He managed to play the guitar behind his head, on the table and with his chin!

At about 2 am all had stopped and we all left, said our goodbyes and bundled into taxi's to get back to the hotels and guesthouses after a very memorable night!

Today was the second day of our 3 day trek! After the party and drinks last night today was going be tough. Thankfully we were still beside the river and the freshness of a really cold swim in the morning helped, along with the hot coffee, boiled eggs and toast that we had ... and we were all set for off!

Sam had prepared our lunch for us as well and wrapped it up in a banana leaf tied with bamboo string so we were all prepared for the trekking.

Well we thought we were prepared for the trekking until we reached the first hill about 5 minutes into the trek, then the beer started to show, about 20 minutes later it was definitely telling as all of us were soaked with sweat by the time we reached the first water stop at the top of the FIRST hill!

Lunch at the top of the second hill was really welcome as we had been climbing for more or less the 2 1/2 hours of trekking that morning. We stopped at a purpose built hut at almost the top of the highest peak that we were to reach, 1650 meters above sea level. After lunch we just chilled out and enjoyed the scenery before setting off again ... uphill ... I knew there was a reason for this long break, thankfully though this was the last hill for the day because afterwards it went downhill. Downhill is supposed to be easier but all that does is use and tire out a different set of leg muscles!

On the way down I had some very interesting conversation with Mr Sam about the government and the upcoming elections as well as the advantages and disadvantages of trekking and eco-tourism on all the local hill tribes especially Mr Sam’s tribe the Karen Tribe. Unfortunately not all the money paid for the trek goes to the trekkers and the host families but what does, can make a huge contribution to the villages and people!

After another almost 3 hours of trekking we start to come back into more rice fields which surrounded the hill tribe village that we were staying in and we stopped at a river running next to the. This was to be our shower/bath stop. Everyone looked a bit puzzled by it but after getting into our swim wear and into the river the soap and shower gels came out and it became normal enough, well as normal bathing/showering in a river can be I suppose!

After getting dressed we made it onto the nearby road/dirt track and made our way into the village. The village was a well organised place with the centre along the river, rice fields surrounding it and loads of animal pens beside and underneath the houses also!

On the way into the village Mr Sam offered us the option of dinner or barbecuing a pig ... Which we all went for ... What we didn't realise as that we were going to eat one of the pigs that we saw on the way into the village, and the reason we were asked so early was so that the villagers had time to kill and skin the pig before night fall!

Well we had a small dinner first, with the choice of rice with Thai Green Curry or roast pumpkin which both were very nice, then we sat and waited for the pig to cook over the just built barbecue!

We also played a few games of cards when waiting for the barbecued pig, Uno, Asshole and Ten! We also played a drinking game called 0-0-7-Bang which was great fun. You did have a choice of 3 penalties ... sing a song or dance, take a 3 second drink, or get a black face. The black face consisted of taking a blackened pan or pot used on the open fire, wetting the black grease/dirt on the bottom and drawing lines or patterns on the players face. By the end of the game, when the pig was ready, most of us were drunk and blackened completely.

The pig itself turned out to be lovely, the local villagers had done all the cooking and carving and kept carrying it to us. We made a small dent in the entire pig, before we were all stuffed, but thankfully the locals took the rest of it because no one fancied carrying the rest of it for the 3rd day!

After a few more beers and some more pig we all headed off to bed, in our little 'airy' shack ... full of beer and some lovely barbecued pig!

We woke up this morning bright and early for the trekking. We got all our stuff packed, grabbed breakfast, put our big backpacks away in the locker room and waited patiently for the arrival of Mr Sam. He pulled up on a taxi pickup and had 7 other people there. Jamie, Daniel and Tom were from the UK, Pierre and Helen who were French and Phil and Caroline (yeah another Caroline) from New Zealand. So we all pile into the pickup and headed for the tourist police. Seemingly this is just to tell them who is going trekking and where in case anything happens to anyone.

Our first real stop on the trek was at the elephant camp to go elephant riding. The elephant riding was class. There were 2 of us per elephant and some elephants had a 'driver' the others were tied to the elephant in front who always had a 'driver'. The elephants knew the path very well anyway themselves so they didn't really need 'drivers'. The elephant trekking lasted about an hour and was a cool experience. As we got into the camp, we could buy bananas for the elephants for 20 baht per bag so we got a bag each! They didn't last for 20 minutes though ... I think our elephant was really hungry. On the way back we stopped at a tap to get them water ... they are actually very smart animals as whatever elephant was at the tap, they managed to fit their trunk over the pipe so no other elephant could steal their water!

After we said thanks to our elephant we got back on the truck/taxi and off we headed to the start of the trekking path. The journey here was interesting as there wasn't really enough space for everyone in the back of the pickup, we had 4 people on the roof and 3 standing on the back of it ... something you definitely wouldn't see in a developed world country but in Thailand it was pretty normal!

The pickup pulled up at the side of the road ... we thought to check something but it turned out to be the start of our trekking path ... so we all put on our packs and off we headed. Mr Sam in front, Mr Tom Tom in the middle and Eddie at the back. We were well marshaled lol!!

The walking wasn't too tough really ... the inclines were reasonably gradual and the pathway was quite wide. We spotted loads of spider webs and termite mounds but the strangest thing I thought was the absence of any animal sounds, no birds or lizards or any animals ... strange for a jungle!

After about 2 hours of trekking we arrived at the camp or home stay. It was very very basic but really cool! The room we were staying in was like a shed - holes in the walls ... entire wall panels missing, and a bamboo floor with 14 blankets laid out on it. It was then that I realised why people had told us to take really warm clothes with us because it got cold at night! There was a lovely river and waterfall beside the home stay so we decided to go have a quick dip to freshen up a bit. Phil the kiwi even decided to take a slide down the waterfall ... he survived but i'm sure it wasn't advisable.

After our swim it was dinner time. We had a choice of fried rice with potato curry or fried vegetables ... it was lovely! After dinner we had a few beers around the camp fire and Tom Tom brought out the guitar and the rice whiskey as well! He only had about 5 English songs and one of those was jingle bells but he seemed to keep the group going for hours but maybe that was what the rice whiskey was for! We were lucky though that they had loads of beer Chang there too, 6.4% alcohol ... and it took us about 2 hours to drink all f the slab they had. Fortunately the locals were good business people because when they saw the beer starting to run out 2 of them headed away for more ... About an hour later they arrived back with 2 more slabs of Beer Chang which I think we managed to drink the most of too definitely making the beer run worth it!

Then the Thai music broke out ... and the host family had taken over from us at the singing ... Of course we all joined in with the words or no words sometimes too and we even tried to loosen out the muscles by dancing along.

About 10 o clock we were all knackered tired and quite drunk so off we headed to bed!

After a wonderful sleep we woke up about 8 when the attendants were going around putting everyone up for breakfast. We didn't have breakfast ouselves as we both had nibbles and said we would wait until getting into Chang Mai itself.

We got off at our final stop Chang Mai where we grouped together with everyone that was wearing an 'Unseen Travel' sticker and off we headed to our guest house .... The Chang Mai Inn.

The guest house was quite nice. Clean rooms, a warm shower and drinks down in the common area. Both of us went for a shower as we were feeling really bad after almost 3 days of traveling and we got our laundry done as well in preparation for the trekking. The entire trekking group had to meet downstairs at 5 to meet our guide and to find out the details of the trekking.

We headed for a brief walk around the centre of Chang Mai itself to see some of the local sights and sounds. We had lunch in a lovely little restaurant just inside the old moat and wall (used as a defense against invasions of past centuries). We stuck to some of the reliable dishes as usual. Fried rice with chicken for me, and sweet and sour chicken with rice and tofu for Caroline

At 5 we met some of the trekking group downstairs along with our guide Mr Sam! From our guest house there was Jessica, Annika and Maria all from Canada as well as David from Belgium. Mr Sam explained what was entailed in the trekking. Day 1 we would go elephant riding in the morning. Have lunch in the town and then start trekking to our first home stay house in the jungle. Day 2 we would set of trekking in the morning again, have lunch in the middle of the jungle and spend the afternoon trekking before staying in a 'Karen' Hill tribe village. Day 3 would be trekking in the morning, then going back to the town/village and going bamboo rafting in the afternoon before being dropped back into Chang Mai. We agreed to head off in the morning about 9 or so and off Mr Sam went.

 We still had most of the evening free so we asked the reception staff if there was anything we could do that evening and luckily enough because it was Sunday evening there was a huge night market on in the middle of town.

Off we headed to the night market and it was like walking into Koh San Road again ... well a more local Koh San road, there was food everywhere and hundreds of stalls selling everything, clothing, paintings, carvings, jewellery as well as many more! I bought myself a few nik-naks ... oh and a cowboy type hat for trekking! Well it was a good buy at the time!

I also got to try some of the food. I got a pancake thing with egg, banana and chocolate and it was gorgeous.... I only wish I knew what it was called! We grabbed a tuk-tuk back to the guesthouse and went to bed early .... in preparation for the trekking.

Symptoms of hitting the “Traveler’s Wall” might leave the lone vagabond listless.  Longing for the comforts and the familiarity of home after being on a constant move from city to city and one country to another, a sudden state of inaction sets in; you hit the wall.  It’s the disquieting doldrums of the extended travels that leaves one wondering when and where the next “wind” will pick up the enthusiasm, the spirit, and the zeal found at the outset of the journey.

The “wind” that put the impetus back in the sail was found again in Northern Thailand at a place called Chang Mai.  Situated hours away by flight from crazy Bangkok and the overrun paradise lost beaches of Phuket and Phi Phi islands of the South, Chang Mai offered a slower pace, friendlier locals, and a laid back life style without sacrificing vibrant Thai life that is promised in the travel brochures.  The quiet retreat to the nearby mountains also offered a dilapidated traveler an adventure to reclaim the soul that is being sold or lost in the more touristy South.

Departing with eight other Germans on our three-day trek with our guide Charan or “Jimmy”, a Bruce Lee reincarnated, it was a great feeling to step off into the lush dense woods.  We stopped 10 minutes into the hike to lather up with mosquito repellent and continued to our first mountain village huts.  Over the next three days and two nights spent in the mountains we:
•    Showered underneath a cascading waterfall.
•    Fought off blood sucking leeches and sprayed them to submission with Deet (it worked like a charm Kevin!).
•    Wondered if any of us will succumb to Malaria or Dengue fever from the numerous blood-sucking mosquitoes we endured.
•    Rode an elephant and got chased around by a three-year-old baby elephant.
•    Rafted down a river on a bamboo raft in the rain...exhilarating!
•    Played with mountain village children and shared small gifts we brought along.
•    Ate the most unusual uneatable looking fruits.
•    Seen the biggest cockroaches, spiders, and butterflies in my life.
•    Mein Deutsch ist besser; dieses geschieht, Wenn Sie das einzige nicht Deutsche sind.  

One day you’re slipping and falling in the rain soaked soil.  The next day your ass is being pricked apart by the rough hair on the elephant’s head you’re sitting on, as it playfully slaps its ears on your legs.  Then you’re struggling to maneuver a bamboo raft with a bamboo stick as the slick river and the downpour of rain drenches and slaps your soul back to life!  Let’s not forget getting even with the blood suckers and spraying leeches with Deet and watching its rendition of the death dance as the anti-coagulated induced blood spill and spill...and it’s easy to curse at the moment yet you’re laughing and embracing the wild surroundings with your new German friends.  Life changing moments for some and life enhancing for all!  

And exactly how do you top the experience in the wild jungle of Thailand?  You don an apron and take a Thai cooking course with the new German alliance!  First stop is at the market to learn about the variety of nomenclatures of vegetables, spices, fruits, mushrooms and...”what was that thing”... before heading into the kitchen to make your first vegetarian spring rolls with peanut sauce followed by six other dishes including Thai soup, curry, among other mouth watering Thai dishes, and topped off with a sticky rice with sweet coconut milk sauce and mango dessert!  It’s all paced optimally and gently guided by the kindest Thai female chefs.  We started at 9 AM and the moveable feast ended at 3 PM.  Needless to say, we didn’t eat for the rest of the day.  

It was possibly one of the most relaxing and satisfying classes I’ve taken and hope to pick up more cooking classes back home.  I understand my next destination, Laos, has their own twist and specialty to the SE Asia cooking.  Might throw in another $12 into the trade.  I’ll be sure to send invitations upon return to share and experiment on those of you who have read this far.  Must send code word “Chang Mai” in your reply to receive invitation as a reward for enduring this far in the email reading.  Ha ha...lol... ☺ ...sorry for the “email prose etiquette moment there.”

Reinvigorated and ready to move on, sort of, I’ll be flying to Luang Prabang (you can really have some fun with SE words: Phuket...need I say more?) in Northern Laos to walk the temple (wat) lined streets of the World Heritage listed city then follow the Mekong River down to the capital Vientiane.  To say I’m going to miss Chang Mai with its friendly inhabitants, the Sunday market, its lush forest, night market, food, etc. is an understatement.  List Chang Mai down for a place to return in the journal and stay at the Chang Mai Garden Guest House for $10 per night and practice your German with the friendly owner who spent three years in Gainesville Florida while her husband got his PhD in Agriculture at U of Florida and you’ll have more insight to comparative culture of Europeans, Americans, and Thais.  Cured of “Traveler’s Wall” and pressing on to Laos.  Phop kan mai...see you later in Laos!

                                   Sung

Chang Mai was one of the BEST places I've been on my travels.  Really I think alot was down to luck of timing & the people I met but at the same time you make the best of what you're given & I definitely think Martina & I did that.  Arriving in on a Sunday was perfect as there is a night market on Sundays.  We amde sure we had a nice 2 hour massage before thinking about that after the 14 or 14 hour train journey up from Bangkok overnight (this is actualkly the best way to do it).  The market's got loads of nice stuff at dirt cheap prices & very busy so there's a great atmosphere & is well worth checking out.

The next morning we went off on a 3 day trek which was incredible.  We started of nicely with an elephant ride & then lunch followed by a swim in a waterfall.  We had no idea what was in store for us then though as we went on a HOT & very steep hike for what felt like hours although I think it was about 3 hours.  Just the heat was unreal never mind the fact that it was all uphill.  Believe me we were all exhausted when we finally got to our 'hotel'.  We stayed in a sleeping camp with the Karen tribe & although we didnt interact with them we had a lot of fun drinking that night as the tour had a container full of ice & beer so we could buy refreshments :) There was a great mix of nationalities (Scottish, English, French, Welsh, Spanish, Swedes, Italian, Austrians, & more Irish people.

Day two of the trek was definitely easier.  We spent alot of the morning lying around doing nothing/recovering from the night before.  We left camp & made our way in the direction of our camp for night two.  On the way we saw some more of the Karen tribe & visited the coolest little school, & then spent a couple of hours at another waterfall.  It was very much a day to relax & the hike was much much easier.  The camp that night was amazing as it had a big that more resembled a dorm room with mosquito nets on each bed.  We bathed in the river & had a lovely dinner around a campo fire.  That night was more drinking again & a great laugh.

Day 3 was a long hike to get to a place where we were going to go down a river on bamboo rafts to finish off the trek.  It really was a cool end to three great days.

The best was yet to come as we all organised to meet that night & ended up at THC the Spiceyd.  THC was very cool with buckets & drum & base music.  It was hard not to enjoy it, even if you're not a fan of drum & base like me, as you're 4 flights up & it's got psychadelic lights & all funky painting on the walls in alluminus colours that really could freak you out if you've had a far too much to drink.  It was 5am before I got home I think.

As great that night was we had forgotten that we had a cookery course the next day at 9am.  It was a great course & definitely worth doing but not if you're still pissed when you're picked up at your hotel.