· Intrepid travel (an Australian company that uses Guerba as its booking agent in the UK) organises two-week tours of northern Thailand (meeting point: Bangkok), which include four-days trekking and a day rafting. If you have only a week to spend in Thailand, head straight for Chiang Rai and go to Chat House (Tel: 053-711481, 1 Thanon Trairat). They offer accommodation and guided treks from three days upwards (some of the guides are the same ones used by Intrepid/Guerba locally) and they are extremely experienced. Despite the Thai government improving its policies towards hill tribes as a result of tourism, treks such as these are, however, contributing to the decline of the hill-tribe culture, particularly for some tribes, and it is therefore worth researching what is on offer before you buy a tour that might have a negative impact.
Alison Cutler

· Most high street agents will arrange this for you, but if you want to do it at a fraction of the cost, the best plan is to find the cheapest flight to Bangkok. Once there, jump on one of the many daily one-hour flights to Chiang Mai (about £50) and then when you arrive, go into any travel shop or hotel lobby, where you can buy tours ranging from two days upwards. And haggle the price. Two weeks ago I took a two-day tour that included walking, jeep travel, rafting, riding on elephants, staying overnight with a Karen tribe, and all food. It cost only £20 per head. I am sure that if I had booked it from the UK, it would have cost five or six times as much.
Tony Bayliss