same same, but different (official thai motto)

well, uploading photos isnt going quite like i had planned.. the computers here never recognize my SLR camera.. so maybe egypt?!

i just got back from a 2 day trek in chang mai.. wish i couldve gone on a longer one... but ive got lots of places to go! tonight im headed back to bangkok on the overnight train again.. and then ill explore ayutthya (or somehting close to that) tom before getting back to bangkok to fly to cairo!! so where did i leave off?!

after my amazing tour of the islands... vanita and i headed to krabi mainland where life was a bit cheaper! we got there in the afternoon and i spent about 2 hours trying to figure out what to do with my life.. i could fly to singapore with vanita if i wanted, or head to malaysia by train or bus because it was soo cheap and close.. i could fly to cambodia and pit stop in vietnam and try to cram in 2 more countries that i really wanted to see, or i could head to northern thailand to trek in the jungle and stay with the hill tribes.. everyone i met said that the trekking was amazing..and it basically filled the plan for the last 5 or so days i had... so i went with it. i booked a flight to bangkok and planned to overnight train it up to chang mai... vanita and i walked around through a few markets and an unbuilt temple? it looked like it was in the process... looong staircase up this hill wiht dragons weaving down the railings.. we saw some more beautiful limestone cliffs peaking out of the water.. and went back for a little nap.. that night i went to a neighboring hostel and ate a "cheeseburger" for 3 bucks so i could have 30 mins of internet :) the burger was alright..im no burger fan at home so i guess my vote doesnt count.. it was a nice change from the mounds of fried rice and pad (phat or pat) thai- fried noodles with good sauce and some veggies- that ive been eating for practically every meal. i went back to the night local markets and got a kilo of lychee and a kilo of mangosteens for 17 baht... i basically had 4 pounds of fruit for 50 cents! mmmm.

the next day i said goodbye to vanita as she went on a tour with some other girls to hot springs, temples, waterfalls, and the likes... i couldnt go because of my 3:30 flight to bangkok.. so i took the local bus for the local price to the tiger cave temple.. my bartering is defintely improving! first you just flag down the right color pick up truck with two benches in teh back and a roof cover, and then you tell the driver where you want to go and how much you want to pay. he says yes or no. so i got to the temple for 50 baht... where i went to hike the 1237 stairs to the top for an amazing view! it took a solid hour..and there were definitely more than 1237 stairs because they were numbered.. and they stopped counting once you got to the top and didnt count the ones where you go barefoot... (every building you enter you haveta take off your shoes) and let me tell you... some of those stairs shouldve been broken into 3 steps! they were as high as my knee! but i made it! and felt good! and then i had to get back down without the monkeys attacking me. i explored the area seeing the caves where the monks live and the 1000 year old tree.. of course those 200+ steps didnt count either :) i was whipped..and everyday im convinced i sweat more than the last.. i thought i had it planned perfect to take a quick shower before my ride came for the airport.. but the lady who sold me the ticket ran in and said hurry! they leave without you mam! and she drove me in her minivan down the road to where the bus was.. i get to the airport..and my flight has been delayed 2 hours. of course. so stocked up on timtams, pepperidge farm cookies and sour peachies they had on sale at the airport. SUGAR! my boday actually went through some withdrawls from artificial sugar.. ive since recovered but there were 2 days when i really just needed some good old fattening american candy and i couldnt find any! so i get my flight and they give me vip front row because im supposed to catch the train in bangkok at 7 and the new flight gets in at 6:15... and the train station is across bangkok and its rush hour.. needless to say we pulled in as the train pulled out..of course! and so my expensive taxi dropped me off at the "bus station" so i could catch the bus.. i wish i had paid for the local bus into bangkok for half the price! bah. just my luck! so anyway i get ushered into the TAT..the government run tourist booking place.. somewhere the tuk tuk would take you.. theyre supposed to be fair prices cuz its run by the government.. b.s... tired, still sweaty from 23134556 stairs, and bummed i missed my train with a bed.. i let them book the rest of my time in thailand.. so i paid just over 100 bucks for my night train up to chang mai, my hostel, my transporation, my transportation, andmy train back.. sounds like a decent deal but i knew i was being ripped off.. but i couldnt fight it at the time! coulda prolly saved 20-25 bucks had i done it on my own. o well... its been too easy now.

so on the train i met rafaelle.. from switzerland.. we were both cuddled up in our two seats trying to make beds for the night... i fit a bit better than he did.. so i told him about how i got scammed into my trek and about the nice hostel i had and he decided to come with me... so we shared a room and i got a few bucks back on the deal! we walked around chang mai all afternoon.. finding ourselves in real thailand.. where we were the only white people... had some authentic food, and went to our trekking meeting where we met our tour guide... jay jay! ha. he was funny. raf and i went to dinner and checked out the lame nightlife before turning in for our big day.. i packed up my bag the night before and he kept making fun of me for being such a tourist and being so prepared... i was more concerned with fitting everything when my camera takes up half my backpack.. so i went to bed and he went out again..and when i was ready to go at 8 and he wasnt.. i got my laugh in :)

we headed out with jay jay and two boys from DC and a swiss couple.. not a very diversified group by coiencidence.. now that i think of it these were the first ppl that ive actually really met from america though. we went to the local market where i got a waffle for 10 baht :) and then i found out it had corn in it.. strange.. adn the lady liked me and gave me some waffle dough balls? as a bonus.. ha i have no idea what they were.. except delicious! and of course some more mangosteens! the group then went elephant trekking again.. you always learn to do things better and cheaper the second time around... it was much better than my trek in phuket as they elephants were running around crazy!well, they still walked but they were so much happier.. and the photo that i hosulda bought was only 100 baht..and the frame was made out of elephant poop! how precious... only lauren would appreciate the paper fibers out of the poop like i did! haha... we then had some rice and were off on our trek.. the jungle was pretty cool..and we got lucky with little rain again.. it actualy didnt rain at all til we got to our "house" for the night and were under the roof (made of leaves!).. we stopped at a waterfall after about an hour and half.. had a swim and a nice break..and then hiked for 1.5- 2 hours more to a village hill tribe.. and then aorund the village to the family we would be staying with.. apparently this was one of the biggest hill tribes...as they have been established for 50-60 years.. and there were about 250 familes in the tribe.. or maybe it was 250 people.. our place was nice... and we had HAMMOCKS!..or so we were so stupid to believe.. two of the boys tried them out and crashed to the ground before we realized they were actually the mosquito nets... hahaha.. oops! we hung out enjoying our amazing view of the jungle... played some card games.. and ate a hugeee wonderful meal prepared by jay jay.. we couldnt even throw our butchered thai at the family to say thank you because all the hill tribes have their own languages..we learned hello and goodbye but i already forgot :( so the little shed for lack of a better word where we stayed was cool.. there was definitely no electricity.. they had their own runnning water setup and the standard toilet hole... the hill ppl wear these cool bright colored sarongs and vest like shirts.. most of them with a bright magenta in there somewhere..with necklaces hanging from their earrings..which were more like massive plugs.. they were nice and happy to take our money for waters and beers and bracelets etc... we were entertained by the 3 dogs.. 2 kittens, and 67 chicks runnign around.. one of the dogs wasnt theirs..he had followed us for about 3 hours.. adn decided we were cool enough to stay with all night.. he slept in our shed too! ha.. our dinner was more than the 6 of us could eat..chicken adn potatoes in curry, rice and pad thai with tofu.. mmm we were quite hungry after our journey

the next day (today!) we had a nice large standard breakfast with REAL tea.. i mean ..straight from the leaves in the pot.. the standard toast, adn some eggs and pineapple. :) we... dog included head off to the village school where we saw the kids in their classrooms... im sure they love all the white visitors always peaking in! i was taking pictures of the kids and one of the smarter ones stuck his hand out after he smiled for me and said 10 baht! it took me a while to realize that was what he was saying...but the swiss guy helped me out! haha... i let them see the picture on my screen... you should see how bright their faces got looking at the digital image.. it was crazy.. there was about 5 of them crowded around me starring with googoo eyes at the image.. hah. one of hte boys from the family we stayed with looked through all my photos twice with me last night as well.. just in awe.. it was cool and crazy we think of it all as so standard.. we walked for a few more hours..up and down big hills.. jumping rivers and brushing all types of crazy plants and bamboo..i ate a wild starfruit..that was def not ripe..adn we saw some CRAZY snakes and spiders... in aus.. brown is bad and green is good... here brown is good... TO EAT! adn green are bad... the spiders..ah. huge and colorful.. i was mesmorized and scared to death at the same time.. we eventually took a break by a river..and hiked a tiny bit more before enjoying our bamboo river raft ride.. it was peaceful.. and nice..and kinda wet becuase the bamboo planks dont really ever touch.. we went down a few rapids too..nothing too big..but still a little hectic for our 15 foot raft that was only 3 feet wide...

so ive been keeping very very busy.. think ill sleep well in my two seats again tonight! and then... tomorrow night off to cairo! so see ya in egypt! just talked to some canadians who told me their tour of egypt was beyond amazing and the best way to go.. good to hear! adios!!!!!!