The village of Lahu

Hello, hello...
It's Saturday and I think that means daylight savings for Canada but I'm not sure. Must appologize for the typos and other such errors; keyboards in Thailand are well used and a bit sticky, plus which, I pay by the minute and who has time to edit?
I just got back from an unbelievable trek in the Pai region, just outside of Chiang Mai. This mini trip deserves an entry of its own so here goes..
I booked the trek in Bangkok a few days back and planned to arrive in Chiang Mai just a few hours before departure. Everything when smoothly, a friendly Thai man picked me up at the train station after a 13 hour ride, I was taken to a guesthouse where they stored my bag for the night, and we headed out to the tribal village on Lahu.
After a 3 hour, UP HILL, trek the seven of us arrived. Our group was good and we got along well, including our 19 year old guide who was called "Mr. T" (he insisted and we didn't argue). It was a seriously strenuous climb, especially when you factor in the intense heat. We were sweating bucks and had to take frequent breaks.
When we arrived at the village it was all worth it. The view was incredible and I saw blue sky. We relaxed, took a tour of the village which communicates in its own unique dialect, played with children (got some great shots of that debacle), and had the BEST thai food since arriving. Our guides took take of everything from carrying extra items to cooking all the food. At night we were visited by a group of children dressed in traditional garb and listened to some songs from their village. At the end we all broke out into internationally known tunes including Twinkle, Twinkle and Old McDonald. Pretty funny because I think the adults enjoyed Old McDonald much better as demonstrated when we continuted singing for a few minutes without the kids. :)
After sharing in some music I felt like playing guitar. Our guides borrowed a decent one and I played solo for over an hour! It was great to sing by the fire. The other trekkers seemed pretty appreciative too. Even some Thai men (usually very distant from the foreigners, especially women), came to listen to the concert. Nothing like music to bring folks together.
This morning we woke up and trekked back down the mountain. There, we rode elephants (so cool!), went white water rafting, and had a ride on a bamboo raft before heading back to Chiang Mai. It was a jammed packed day and right now I feel quite tired. I'm now staying in the same guest house as two girls that I met on the trek. They are from Holland and we're about to visit the night market. I'll write more once I arrive in Taiwan early this week.
love Rach