The most fun ever!

Elephant trek

We went on an elephant trek from tuesday til wednesday.  It started with a trip to an orchid and butterfly farm then we trekked for 3 hours in the jungle.  It was pretty heavy going made worse by the rain - we don't have waterproofs! There were some amazing views but unfortunately not much wildlife other than insects apparently all the big animals have been hunted. 

After the trek we arrived a the elephant park.  There were about 8 elephants working there.  We went for a swim in what we later found out was the elephant drinking water! It was bliss as it was sooo hot and humid.  Then we got to ride on the elephants on a seat on their backs.  We went up through the jungle up some really muddy steep terrain.  Our elephant was hungry and kept stopping for snacks! There was a big bull elephant who wandered off into the jungle - with two argentinian girls on his back!  He got angry and trumpeted when the guy made him come back!

We had a campfire that night had a few beers and a jenga tornament with the other trekkers that evening then slept in a bamboo hut on the hillside.  We were woken up by the noisy bull elephant in the morning. He didn't like his breakfast so made a fuss - very noisy!  We washed the elephants in the morning by getting in the pool with them and scrubbing them.  Then I was allowed to ride the elephant back on his neck!  It was fantastic!

Tim ripped his shorts doing this!

Later that day we went swimming in a waterfall in the mountains then whitewater rafting down the river.  It was a really great couple of days and we made some good freinds on the trek.   

Thai Boxing

We got some tickets to the thai boxing on monday night.  There were 7 fights and the big one was the international final fight- a german against a thai.  It was really good fun especially the women's fights as they were really vicious! There was a funny charity fight in the middle where 4 guys were in the ring blindfolded.  There was the referee (without a blindfold) to make sure they were in the middle of the ring but he kept getting hit by the other fighters -it turned into a bit of a free for all but it was very funny, especially when the ref high kicked one of the fighters!

The final fight had a very efficient german who looked like a tank and lasted 25 seconds.  The thai guy didn't stand a chance!

Chang Mai

We're now in Chang Mai in North Thailand.  It is beautiful and definately the nicest place we have been yet.  We got a 10 hour night bus up here which was hair raising at times, a few swerves across the road usually just as you were starting to nod off!  We arrived and wandered about in the heat looking for a guest house with air con within budget, it took a while but we eventually found a beautiful place with air con and a telly so tim is happy!  We have also found out the all the premiership games are shown on thai telly so unfortunately managed to watch West Ham vs Stoke on saturday! :) 

Last night we went to a walking market which was really good fun.  It went on for about 2 km with stalls and different performances, singing girls and bands.  The food there was fantastic and we went a bit crazy and bought lots of things.  I had to drag Tim away in the end! We're going to stay in Chang Mai for a few days and today we're going to book a trek with an elephant ride.   

We are now in Athuttaya just north of Bangkok.  We decided to get out of the capital after 2 days as it is just so busy - Tim has had enough of London so going from 1 city to another wasn't ideal! We spent a couple of days looking round siam square and khoa san road and sampled the Chang at 6.4% it is like stella's older and harder brother! bad heads all round the next day.  

We got the train out of Bangkok up to Athuttaya which was amazing.  We passed loads of paddy fields and watched the sunset as we pulled into the station.  Athuttaya is much more slow paced and there are lots of ancient temple ruins that we have spent the day looking at.  Walking through the market was an eye opener as some people were selling spit roasted rat - we decided against those as a snack! We saw a 12 metre bronze buddha in one of the temples which was beautiful and also saw elephants being ridden through the streets! they have been trained to pose for photos and perform dances which was a bit weird - bit touristy too.  I will post some photos when I find a computer that isn't a relic!

We're heading up towards Chang Mai tomorrow where hopefully we will see more elephants and go trekking .

We're Here!

We finally got to Bangkok after an 11 hour flight.  We are both exhausted and a bit disorientated but glad to be here.  We got the bus from the airport down to the city centre where we found a hotel and had a nap to try to combat the jetlag.  We were just about to go out and explore but it is chucking it down here! A good excuse to wimp out and sleep straight through until tomorrow and have a whole day exploring.  :0)

Today is the day!

Today is the day we are leaving - Exciting! We spent last night in Ashwell sorting out the things we need to take.  My pile is lots bigger than Tim's, he is going ultra minimal! We had a fantastic time on Saturday night and want to say thank you to everybody who came,it was so nice to have all our friends together.  We fly at 10 o'clock this evening so the next time I write on this blog we will be in Thailand  :0)

11 days to go...

I've finally done it and set up a blog so you can all follow us around the world! At the moment we are packing up the house and trying to decide what to put in our VERY small rucksacs - it's really difficult because we are not sure what we will need! Unfortunately my Jimmy Choos will have to stay behind :'0(