phoebe the artist: Chiang Mai

looking awfully unglam 8am in the morning on the plane. it was so exciting!

a little more glam, up and ready to set off.

this is a radio production studio at Chiang Mai University. look, they're using Apple and even have a soundproof room for recording! freak... uber cool.

Day 2, up the long long flight of stairs to this temple.

lots of kids sitting around dressed in tribal costumes to make some money. sigh, this kid is too adorable. i paid 20baht for this picture with him.

a huge gigantic bell, donated by... someone to the temple.

the sky was such a nice blue, and carrie and i are all brightly dressed. sweet.

if the temple doesnt interest you, find something else to do then. take some funny pictures.

it was so freaking hot, feels good in the shade.

a waffle dog from a street stall. waffle was good, them pointing at my boobs - wth.

Day 3, a long long walk around the city. through a local market.

nice car eh.

this is... i honestly have no idea. but it sure is freaking huge!

resting at a really interesting bench. look at the tiles!

biscuits!!! an awfully old-school shop.

a visit to the night market. and they were selling puppies for 1400baht (that's about $60!)

this guy makes keychains, and he's so freaking cool. all his tools are attached to his wrist and fingers. uber cool he is.

squeezing in a song tiao, all 14 of us.

Day... i cant remember already. we were waiting to record our forum with the Chiang Mai University students on our topic on 'Culture and Tourism'.

haha, look at shah!

Start of our 3 day trek.

and my shoes were already giving way.

hmm, what's ben doing?

its only the beginning, that's why we're still smiling.

this dog has a RED nose! whoa.

lunchtime.

trekking was uber fun!

we were literally thrown into the forest, far far away from civilisation. staying over at the Karen tribe village. with this awfully skinny puppy.

and pigs.

the air was dusty from the forest fire. explains why joyce is wearing a mask. most of them were down with sorethroat and cold. i think i was lucky to be fine.

this is one of the Karen tribe shelters, where we slept for the first night.

good thing they had a toilet. its fine going in the day. at night... whoa its spookily dark!

more trekking the next day. it was so freaking hot and dry.

and we went for a really uncomfortable elephant ride. oh my goodness, the elephant kept shooting snort at us. ew.

we finally reached the waterfall, where we stayed over for the second night. uber cold the water is. and for the first time, i jumped off a cliff into the waterfall pool. no big deal? hell it is. especially when you cant really swim well. uber scary, but it was uber fun! what's ben doing again?

sleeping in mosquito nets. hell this place has freaking lots of mosquitoes.

the waterfall was lovely.

this is the toilet at the waterfall, a 15m walk away from the shelter we slept in. i drank a couple of cans of beer chang(one of their local beers) that night while playing bridge with everyone. hell i needed to pee so badly, it was so freaking dark. carrie and i were screaming all the way there.

we ended the long long trek with bamboo rafting down the river. it was crazy. in fact, we didnt need the bamboo rafts at all cos we were spending most of the ride in the water. hmm. and getting dunked so many times i cant even remember. only thing left of that ride are bruises on my shins. i look like i've been abused. ouch.

Day after trekking. COOKING CLASS!