The Providence Hotel Chiang Mai

... stop at (see pics). Incidentally, making a video of any of the journey would have been lunacy without elastic straps to hold the camera to one's chest - there was no way I could free one hand to hold the camera.
I nearly came off a couple of times (especially when ruts tried to steal my direction) but had lots of fun even then. I think I wanted to come off actually - it would be a grittier experience. Forgive the pun.
I got my wish on the second single track. The ...

... n'a que 9 ans mais quand il me tappait sur le ventre comme il le fait sur la photo avec sa soeur, ca cogne!
Retour ensuite a Chiang Mai ou je fais soigner mes blessures a l'hopital (infectees :-(. Le lendemain on repart tous les trois par le train de nuit pour Bangkok ou je fais une grosse crise de fievre peu apres le depart du train. Phoranee m'interdit alors de partir en Birmanie (mon avion devait decoller 2 jours plus tard) et me propose d ...

... our 2 day trek.

The trek was scheduled for an early start, and sure enough our transport arrived at 8am. Our first stop was to a Butterfly & Orchid Farm, only real thing of not was a couple of the biggest butterflies I've ever seen. After that it was a trip to a local market before we headed off to do some Elephant Trekking. The Elephant Trekking on this tour lasted longer than the one I did at Kanchanaburi, however the Elephant's were smaller. After about an hour ...

... had some effect. I had forgot soap, deodorant, and a toothbrush. Pretty essential items for a two-day sweaty mess of a trek. So I had to borrow some soap from one of the others, brush my teeth with my fingers, and smelled au natural for the rest of the trip.
We then all sat around on the balcony of our hut and ate a dinner our guides had prepared for us. The dinner consisted of chicken and potato red curry, with rice ...

... 30B (85¢/45p) for the easier downhill return trip.By Tuk-Tuk -- The ubiquitous tuk-tuk (motorized three-wheeler) is the next best option to the songtaew for getting around Chiang Mai. Fares are negotiable -- and you will have to bargain hard to get a good rate -- but expect to pay at least 40B (US$1.15/60p) for any ride.When talking prices, it is good to write it down on a ...

... Bea good. Peanuts, chopped Tomatoes, onions, coriander leaf, chiles, and Burmese Tea leaves, drizzled with oil and served with raw small cloves of garlic. Some kind of Burmese Tea Leaf Salad. I know it sounds strange, but once you've tried it you'll want it again.

It was sad saying goodbye to all of the students, and ...

... to fried egg sarnies & a massive lightning storm. Date tells us that we have to wait it out or we risk being either hit by lightning or crushed by a falling tree. We choose to wait. The rain meant we now was walking on slippery mud up & down hills. Everyone was falling over & getting very wet. Was good fun. We trekked up over a big hill where we could look out over the jungle. It was stunning with the mist from the low clouds. After our days trek we arrive ...

... home after being at glastonbury having the oportunity to finally having a shower and use a proper flushing toilet once more after 3 days in the mountains! Tonight we are visiting the nght markets in Chiang Mai and getting a well deserved massage in the morning before getting back on the sleeper train to bangkok in the afternoon. The organised part of my trip ends tere so it will soon be time to wing it on my own! Will write more from Bangkok! Love to all Hxx

... asleep!it was amazing to see them so close. We left on the 13th to head to Bangkok for a few days before flying onto NZ. We got a coach down to Bangkok overnight arriving in Bangkok around 7am, too early to check into a hostel so we headed to the city's most famous temple 'Wat Po' which opened at half past 8 and we got to see the worlds largest reclining Buddha which was beautiful. We will update you all on Bangkok and arriving in NZ in our next installment, hope you are all well L and M x

... sort of thing.

The hill tribes consist of bamboo huts with no windows. They are afraid that bad spirits will come in if they have them. I guess they didn't think about the doors or all the cracks in the floors and walls. They have dirt floors so they can light fires inside the house, and also so they don't have to clean the floor. Due to no windows it gets a bit hard to breathe inside with all the smoke. The men and women sleep in separate ...