Chang Mai

We visited the night market, that was very nice, just strolled up and down the rows of stalls selling much the same as the market in bangkok but a lot more relaxed, went for a couple of beers on the way home, saw this really great dress, which was 5quid, didnt buy it as thought thats a hotel room for the night, wish i had now though, might go back!!
We went on our tour, first of all we went trekking through the jungle on foot to visit a tribal village, the trek lasted about an hr, mostly up hill. We got to the village and it was a shock the people there have nothing, the kids just play in the mud with the chickens and the dogs and the parents just try and make ends meat selling crafts that they have made. They litterally live in shacks, with 2 rooms with like a straw bed, one room for the kids and one for the parents then they have another area which is for toilet and kitchen, when i say kitchen it just had a rice burner init nothing else, no sink or units?? They had a table and chair set outside were they could sit and eat their meals! Really made me think when i left, maybe that dress isnt that important afterall!!! Just joking, but did make me realise what we have and how much we take for granted! The people in the tribes cannot even get a passport, the only place they can go is Chang mai city center, they cannot even go into say, Bangkok?? We then had to trek back down and the tour guide was pointing out to us all the different trees, and mushrooms and told us what wildlife live in that part of jungle, he was a funny guy while we was trekking he got his mobile out and played boyzone songs and Britany Spears, weird feeling being in the jungle listening to music! We also visited another tribal village called Karens tribe, the tribe people here make a living out of making silk scalfs,tablecloths, clothes, Again it was a shock seeing how they live, the kids especially, there was animals just running all over, piglets, pigs, dogs, chickens, cows! Tried to catch a piglet a few times but just couldnt they are too quick!!
We visited a waterfall, did a bit of swimming then went to the elephant camp, Here we boared an elephant and went trekking through the jungle for about 1hr, have to say it was an experience we will never forget, but it wasnt a good one and dont think we will be doing it again in a hurry! The elephant man sat on his head and we sat on its back on this wood planel with a steel frame around. The man had a wooden stick with a metal hook on the end and everytime the elephant did something wrong, like..go the wrong way or pick some food up along the way, he would wack it with this stick, after about 10mins i was nearly crying and wanted to get off, it was horrible made me feel sick! We went up big hills holding on for dear life so we didnt fall off the back and then down steep hills, again having to hold on so tight so we didnt fall out the front, eventually it ended and we got off, felt so sorry for the elephant though, wanted to take the stick of the guy and hit him! All the other people who was on our tour felt the same, think its put us all off!
We then went Bamboo rafting, which was great, on Our raft there was me and paul, the guide at the front steering if u will, and this other lad..we went round a river and there was other rafts quite close by, the tour guides kept splashing the water so we all got soaked and even stepped onto one side of the raft to make it sink so that we'd end up in the water, it was good fun though! We stopped for a while and everyone had a bit of a swim and paul was jumping off the cliffs into the water, i didnt though, most people was doing it once or twice paul was there the whole time doing it over and over again!
Yesterday, we wasnt well at all, spent all day in bed..had nothing to eat and just spent most of the day sleeping, still not 100% today but bit better, think it was either a bug or something we have eaten?
Just gonna try and sort out our tickets to go back to Bangkok, bus this time though, which will be approx 10hrs!! Just got a message off my brother too saying he is coming Bangkok Tueday, so will hoepfully get hold of him today and make arrangements to meet up with him!!