Trekking Through Thailand

Trekking Through Thailand

The next morning began our trekking adventure north of Chiang Mai, near the Burmese border.  Our guide picked us up and we met the other 6 people in our group.  Our first stops were at the market (of course) and then to the orchid and butterfly farm. 

We then headed about an hour and a half out of town, ate a quick packed lunch of fried rice, and then we started hiking.  Our hike would last about 4 and a half hours into the mountains and would bring us through various hill-tribe villages and a dark cave filled with bats. 

Many portions of the trail were quite difficult, up and down, slippery and wet.  I obviously won the slip-and slide contest, totaling four slips and falls.  Miraculously my bottom never hit the ground, but I was quite muddy (and greasy and wet from the heat).  We took a few much-needed breaks along the way, and our guides, Tom and Tep, pointed out many wild plants like lemongrass, ginger root, and plants used for medicines.

We reached the village where we would be staying around 4 in the afternoon. 

Our bamboo hotel

At first, it was quiet and a bit awkward. Our guide ran off to begin dinner, and most of the tribal men were still away working.  The longneck women, those that wear rings on their necks to elongate their bodies, shuffled to their respective shops, each selling similar hand-woven scarves, bracelets, and jewelry.  It was interesting to see that we all sat on one side of the village and they sat on the other, looking at each other like young boys and girls at a middle school dance.  Eventually, Jon and I made the move to go purchase a few things and get a few pictures. 

The children were playing hopscotch in the dirt and building with rocks and sticks.  Dinner was a delicious massaman curry, and after dinner we got drinks from the local "7-Eleven" (which was a hut selling semi-cool drinks with a cardboard sign that said "7 11."  It's true what they say about Thailand's love affair with the convenience store.  There really is one everywhere you go.

I was able to engage with the kids by beginning to draw in the sand using sticks.  I started drawing a smiling person, and one of the little boys outdrew even me!  A girl was telling me the words for different body parts in her language by pointing to the drawings, and then wowed me by showing me the various English numbers and letters she could write.  The smallest girl, probably about 2, continually filled up a bottle cap with sand, and then would spit in it a bit and pack the sand in.  I was laughing so hard, but she was quite engaged and wanted nothing to do with this "falong" (foreigner).

Jon was instantly drawn to the sound of music, and asked if he could try playing the tribal reed flute that the older men in the village were playing.

Later in the evening, we overheard one of the mothers singing and playing guitar to the youger children, so we asked our guide to get permission for us to listen in.  So we sat on their bamboo porch, passing around the reed flute for everyone to try, playing to the man's homemade (and beautiful) guitar, and listening to them play and sing traditional music.  What an awesome experience!

Once it was bedtime, we found out how difficult it is to sleep on bamboo in the jungle. 

The sounds were deafening, between the bugs and birds and the villager's pigs and whoknowswhatelse, it sure was noisy.  It didn't help that Jon spotted a large spider near our beds right before lying down!  After some rest (a few hours at least), it was time to get up for another busy day.

After a quick breakfast, we continued on our hike.  My legs were screaming "why?" at me as we started up and downhill again, over streams and through dense jungle.  Jon spotted a scorpion on the trail as we walked. 

Large beetle with amazing leaf-cutting strength

After about 45 minutes of walking, we were picked up in a truck to bring us to a nearby elephant camp.  We were able to get in the river with these massive and beautiful animals, get kisses, and then take a ride. 

During our ride, some water buffalo happened across our elephant, who trumpeted loudly, and quickly was ready to rear back and/or run.  It was a bit of a scary moment, but the "mahout" (elephant care-taker) was able to get the elephant back under control.  Speaking of control, these elephants were controlled using bullhooks and were also wearing chains around their necks and legs.  I was very upset about this when we first arrived at the camp, and will write more about these practices when I share our experiences at the Elephant Nature Park.

After the elephant park, we took a slow-moving bamboo raft ride and then were off to see a waterfall. 

After only 15 minutes at the waterfall, our guide was hurrying us along to go whitewater rafting.  Rain threatened, and from what I could make out, if there was rain we could not get a guide to bring us.  This was the only multi-day guided tour Jon and I have taken on this trip, and we quickly realized why we don't do them often.  Some people like the ease of traveling when everything is laid out.  Somebody tells you where you're going, gets you there, and then tells you how long you have.  Our guide was so pushing and rushed
everywhere we went.  It made it difficult for us to enjoy the experience.  We just don't travel that way; we like making our own itinerary and doing the things we most enjoy for as long as we'd like.

We made it quickly to the whitewater rafting launch, rushed to put on gear, and then sat and waited for a guide for about 20 minutes (grrr....).  It was, however, worth the wait.  The rapids were fantasic and our guide was great fun.  In between rapids, we had paddle splashing fights with the other boat.

(Pictures taken from videos we took.  Hopefully a compilation video will be posted soon)

Close to the end of our ride, it started raining pretty hard, so it was perfect timing to head back into town and relax for a bit.  The ride itself was not relaxing, as we were in the back of a pickup truck, but once we made it back to Chiang Mai we checked into a different guesthouse (this one with AIR CONDITIONING!) and spent the rest of the evening relaxing, eating, and catching up on Facebook.  Trekking was something we were glad to have experienced, but we were also glad that we had only signed up for the 2-day experience!