Trekking through Chiang Mai

We slept horribly in the horrible Chiang Mai Backpackers' Meeting Place (never go there) before setting off on a series of activities that would have health and safety critics in the UK shuddering in horror. It started with a three-hour-ride in the back of a pickup truck with eight random strangers from the UK, Germany, Holland and France. We witnessed a man strapped to the roofrack of a pickup truck, wearing a poncho and barreling down the motorway at breakneck speeds. well, he wasn't barreling--he was holding on for dear life.

And then we rode elephants. This was most likely unethical, which Sara and I only considered after. And it was most definitely unsafe. We assumed our position atop an elephant sort of inside this metal box, equipped with what i'd like to call the 'oh sh*t handle'. It was open air. It was mental. The Thai man leading our elephant kept on hitting it on its head, which didn't sit well with me. But then our bugger of an elephant sprayed up with its trunk, took a lunch break, took a pee break, took a little rest. Elephants. Who knew?

From there, we made our way into the Northern Thailand jungles, temperature 95f plus humidity. Within seconds I was dripping in sweat. We wound our way through the jungles, up into the mountains with the final destination of a hill tribe, where we spent the night. And on the way we slipped through rice paddies:
Waterfalls:
And other stunning jungle scenery:


Our home for the night; we slept on the floor, under mosquito netting in little thatched huts. Interestingly, the noise of the crickets and cicadas was more deafening that my normal london night bus city noises.

On day two, we woke up early and sweated our way down the mountain in our ponchos. Walking through the village, we visited the local school, which gave me a lot to be grateful for in my current job.


And for our last stop, we sped down a river in a bamboo raft. Due to the high level of water, we could only make our way partially. But that was definitely enough for the big scaredy cat inside of me:
So after two days in the jungle we made some lovely international friends and were definitely geared up for sun, rest and relaxation. Since Sara was only staying for the two weeks, we tried to cram in as many of her beach destinations as possible.

Which is how we ended up in Phuket.