I came back yesterday from my 3 day jungle trek. Very tiring and very enjoyable.

The walk was set in the mountains some 1 hour from Chiang Mai. Our group of ten and our guide started the accent up one of the forested mountains. The scenery and wildlife distract the attention away from the heat and make all the walking worthwhile.

Our first night was spent staying with a small tribe of mountain people, they were very welcoming and insisted we participated in more than a few local 'traditions'. The second was an entire day of walking with the eventual destination being a another small tribe at the foot of a powerful waterfall. Here we stayed and made a fire talking to the early hours. An early start on the third day eventually brought us to the white water rafting point that would allow us to move down the terrifying rapids to calmer water. Here we switched to half-floating bamboo raft that really had seen better days and completed our journey.

Ive just been resting in Chiang Mai since then, apart from last night when i was persuaded to do the 70ft climbing wall that is a major feature of the night area. People from bars stand round and watch as suicidal individuals attempt to accend the floodlit wall. I didnt think i could do it due to the over hangs but completed the climb in 4 mins out of the allocated 30. Quite chuffed. I'll probably try and get a bus over to Pai today before slowly moving into Laos over the next week or so. Byes