Elephants and Kittens

I'm sitting in an internet cafe (the one where you cant upload photos -argh!! the other one was closed as it is now 8pm so i will go in the morning and upload them for you to see :) )
im sitting here scratching and scratching as we have just got back from the 3 day hill triibe treck & i got bitten alive - even with deet 50 and 2 mozzi nets!! i counted 23 on just my legs....yikes!!
since we last spoke we went up to the hills - the truck is one with no back, where you all sit sideways and cling on - we were going up the tiniest road on the edge of the mountain all screaming!! (haha!) then we got to the waterfall which was beautiful - very cold but worth it to see the amazing scenary!! we went swimming in it to cool off which was lovely! then we got back in the truck and when he dropped us off (on a cliff egde!) we started trecking....
when i say this was the scariest experience ive ever had, im not exagerating! we were literally climbing over logs, up slopes that were practically vertical and along logs that had a straight drop hundreds of feet down - we were all terrified and a couple of people came close to tears but it was beautiful at the top! we were trecking for 3 hours with 1 bottle of water so we started to feel very faint - which wasnt good at that height! eventually we got to the first hut and it was literally a bundle of huts in the mud!! its amazing how people manage to live like that because it stunk and the whole place was filthy - i said to ceri "my mum would have the antibax out!!" hehe!!
we showered in the river and slept in the hut after some traditional Thai food (i am soooo sick of rice already!!)

(i am keeping this pretty brief as i dont want to run out of time but i will fill you in with detail later!!) :)

we then woke up, had breakfast and started trecking again - this time for 3 hours, by which time we were absolutely knackered and could barely walk a pace - it was never a flat road, it was constant climbing/swinging/jumping/sliding down things!! I think i managed to conquer my fear of heights and spiders in that day alone - it was terrifying!!
luckily, when we felt like we couldnt move another inch, we were met by the elephants!!! :) they took us down the rest of the mountain (literally paths the size of the breakfast bar with sheer drops down the edge of the cliff!) it was soooo scary but amazing to think we were on the back of an elephant and on top of a mountain!!
we reached the bottom eventually and had lunch at some huts by the river....there was a teeeeeny kitten there who was soooo cute!! i know you're not meant to touch them but she came and sat on my lap and reminded me of keegan so much i couldnt resist a cuddle!! i checked for fleas and she very slightly scratched me whilst playing but i think im rabies free...at least i hope!! :P
we then trecked to the next hut (which again was like tight-rope walking over a cliff!!) we had one bamboo stick to help us...haha!! we got there and it was a bit nicer but not majorly....the toilets are squats and i think we have finally got the technique right!!
this morning we got on a raft and sailed down the river (it was literally bamboo strung together with no sides or back or front) we had to stand up without holding on and sit down when it got too choppy!!) it was loads of fun and so peaceful!! we then got a 2 hour truck back to the hotel and had a dip in the pool before us girls showered and came here - i cannot tell you how filthy we were!!!!"

xxxx