Chiang Mai, Thailand

So when I first got to Thailand I worked with a local travel agent to plan my activities for the entire month. I had a list of things I wanted to see and do and then she had some recommendations. One of these recommendations was a trekking trip in Chiang Mai. I remember reading about these in the Lonely Planet guidebook, so I said sure sign me up.

On my voucher it mentioned bamboo rafting and elephant riding. It wasn't until the orientation the night before that there was mention of 4 hours hikes in the hills of Northern Thailand, I thought I had left these type of things behind in South America. I need to learn to ask more questions. So the schedule was to be 2 hour hike the first day, 4 hour hike the second day, and another 2 hour hike the last day. Since we would be staying in different locations each night we had to carry everything we needed in a backpack. Since there was a good chance it would rain at some point I took the tour company up on their offer to use one of their backpacks, which appeared to be an old army issue type. So that night I packed up the suggested items (toilet paper, toothbrush/paste, socks, raincoat, bug spray, towel, shirt, shorts, bathing suit, long pants, camera, flashlight, sandals), first into a large plastic garbage bag (to keep them dry) and then into the backpack.

We got picked up at 7:00am and proceeded to pick up the rest of our group. We had 2 guides Army (pronounced Amee) and Nam, and there were a total of 8 of us all together. 3 guys from the UK, 2 from Germany, and 2 girls from Holland. I couldn't have asked for a better group to do this trip with. Only myself and the 2 guys from Germany were doing the 3 day trip, the others were just doing 2 days. We stopped at a local market to load up on any last minute items needed.

First item on the agenda was bamboo rafting. I had seen photos of this and it looked like fun. So once we were changed we headed down to were the "rafts" were. The "rafts"were actually 9 long pieces of bamboo tied together. There were no instructions given and it seemed as though the guides knew very little English. So our guide pointed to the 2 girls from Holland to get on, then pointed at me to come aboard, and last was one of the boys from Germany (we took 2 rafts since it was such a big group). We were barely in position when the raft took off, no "hey were leaving now", the raft just started moving. We were all still standing up and were not sure if we should continue this way or if we should sit down, we asked the guide but got no response. The water was moving at a good pace, but standing up was not a problem. Our guide really seemed to like the trees and branches on the sides of the river as he kept taking us right into them so that we would have to duck. We assumed he got paid extra for every tourist he knocked in the water. One of the coolest parts of the ride is when we came around a corner and there were 2 medium size elephants in the water giving a ride to some tourist. The ride was very nice and lasted about 15 minutes. We ended just as we had started, without any word of warning. One minute were going and the next we suddenly stopped and since we were standing this caught us a bit off guard. One minute I'm standing, the next I'm laid out on the raft. Luckily I have built in air bags so there were no injuries.

We got back in the truck and drove about 10 minutes for lunch and then it we headed to a local waterfall. We spent about 40 minutes swimming and relaxing in the waterfall and then it was time to hike to one of the hill tribe villages where we would sleep for the night.

Northern Thailand is a bit cooler than say Bangkok, but it's still very hot. Even though I was still wet from the waterfall it was a very difficult hike. We basically headed straight up the hill. I had a few years (and pounds) on the rest of the group and was at the back of the pack for most of the hike. Nam offered to carry my pack, but I declined this offer as I wanted to do this on my own. Ben one of the UK boys was nice enough to drop back and keep me company. Once we reach the top it wasn't as bad, but there was still the heat. Johnny one of the other UK boys got us all singing as a way to pass the time. Don't ask me why but we mainly did Disney songs and we were really bad (Kimberly we really could have used you), we did great on the choruses but the rest we kinds of fumbled through. For as many times as I've watched the Little Mermaid with my God-sister Jordyn you would think I would know all the words to Under the Sea, I blame the heat and lack of oxygen.

We arrived at the hill tribe village were we would be staying. Our sleeping quarters was an open air bamboo hut. The floor was made of bamboo and there were blankets and sleeping bags for us as well as mosquito nets. The bathroom was a little outdoor shack with a squat toilet. The shower consisted of a pipe coming out of the wall. The water was collected in a large rubber garbage can with a plastic bowl. The plastic bowl had multiple uses, it was used for getting wet and rinsing when showering, but was also used to get water from the rubber can to "flush" the toilet. After the hike a nice cold shower really hit the spot.

We had time before dinner so Army told us we could and check out the village. First thing we noticed were the piglets. There were the cutest, tiniest, little black piglets just running free everywhere. If we weren't so tired we might have tried to catch one, but just trying to get their photos was hard enough. There were also roosters, chickens and chicks running around, and a fair amount of dogs.

The houses in the village were made of wood similar to our accommodations and were up on stilts due to all the rain. There were some women working at some of the houses. Feeding the pigs, hanging up laundry, preparing food. At one house there was a little girl (~4) and her mother outside and so we went up to say hello in their native language (pronounced like "oh my Chopin"). I had brought along a pack of Oreo cookies in case we ran into some kids. I didn't want to just walk up and take their photos without giving something back in return. So I made sure it was OK with her mother and gave the girl a cookie. I was completely surprised when she ate the Oreo as it should be, by separating each half and licking out the cream filling. We all got a kick out of that, here we were thinking that these people lived somewhat isolated lives.

After checking out the rest of the village we headed back to camp. We passed the time by playing some card games, which is really hard to do with 8 people even when there are 2 decks. There was one potential tense moment as were got ready to play rummy. Johnny was shuffling the cards and stated we would be playing by "Nazi rules" (aka strict rules), not even thinking about the fact that 2 of the guys were from Germany. They didn't make a big deal out of it and we all ended up laughing at the slip.

Turns out it was one of the girls from Holland (Saskia) sister's birthday that day. She called her to wish a happy birthday but she was not in and so she had us all sing her happy birthday on her voice mail.

Dinner consisted of soup, rice, and a noodle dish. A bit after dinner we were informed that the local kids would be coming to sing to us. By the time they arrived it was dark and Army and Nam had the bonfire going. There must have been about 20-30 little kids, ranging in age 2 to 9. They sang about 4 songs in their native language, and then sang "If Your Happy and You Know It" in English which we of course participated in. Then Army informed us that they had sung for us so now it was our turn to sing for them. We were completely unaware that this would be expected and clearly Army did not pay attention to our afternoon performance or he would given us a heads up so we could practice. Once again we started with Disney, with a bad rendition of The Lions Sleeps Tonight. We split the group in half, 4 doing the wimoweh part and the other 4 doing the lyrics. I think we may have frightened the poor kids. So we then sang some kids songs and ended with Old McDonald which I think was our best effort. Before the kids left they came by and shook each of our hands and thanked us, one boy had a donation plate which we happily filled.

Earlier Army had warned us at night to always wear shoes and carry our flashlight to be on the look out for things like scorpions and snakes. As the kids came by I noticed that a good portion were barefoot. The nearest hospital was about 2 hours away so if the local kids do get bite it might not end well.

After the kids left we continued to sit by the bonfire and Nam played the guitar and we continued our attempts at singing. I think we did best with songs by the band Oasis.

Everyone else in the group but me were headed to Koh Pha Ngan after Chaing Mai to attend the monthly full moon party. They said I should change my plans and go to the party, I explained that being just a couple of days away from my 39th birthday I was too old to party all night which is generally what happens at this party. In response my new friend Ben responded "but you act like an 18 year old" which I think was a compliment.

A really great start to the 3 day trek which I'm sure will end up being one of the most memorable parts to my visit to Thailand.

After a breakfast of hard boiled eggs, toast, fruit and tea we went for a visit to the school. It looked like the school was for kids in grades preschool through about 4th grade. There were a couple of rooms that appeared to be for the older children, a couple for the younger kids and also a good size library. The rooms were all made of wood and really hot inside even though it wasn't even 10am. There of course was no air conditioning, some did have fans. I had brought a couple of hard plastic soccer balls to give to the school and had hoped that the teachers would help facilitate in giving them away so there wouldn't be any fights. Unfortunately their English was not great and so as soon as I handed one of the balls to a teacher she would hand it to the nearest kid, not sure if they understood it was for all to share.

After the school visit the 3 of us that were doing the 3 day trek headed off, while the others headed to the meeting point with the truck. When we started it was beautiful and sunny and it stayed this way for hour or so, then came the first drops. In a matter of seconds it started pouring. We barely had time to get our rain gear on. It poured as we continued to walk to our lunch stop. Once we got there it stopped raining and the sun came out and quickly dried things out pretty well.

After a lunch of homemade top ramen soup we rested some and then continued to hike to the place where we would spend the night. We would spend the evening at a really beautiful waterfall. The sleeping quarters were the same as the night before as was the bathrooms. One difference was that we used the waterfall as both a shower and a swimming pool.

After a nice swim we sat downstream from the waterfall and tried to catch some of the very little fish that were in the water, we had no luck at this.

There was a lady at the campsite that was there to help with the cooking. She and the 2 guides were cutting and slicing many things and we knew that the meal was going to be great. One thing I noticed is that they really had a good feel for food safety. They were washing things like the pots and cutting boards in the river water but then would rinse everything with boiling water.

The "stoves" were 2 metal pails with wood in them. They almost always had water boiling on one of the stoves. First things made were white rice and bamboo soup. Next was a very simple stir fry which contained garlic, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, fried tofu, and eggs. The last dish was green beans, garlic, onions, and some hot spices. The meal was one of the best I had while in Thailand.

As we were eating a man appeared from out of nowhere and I noticed a pair of chicken feet sticking out of his bag. Turned out he was the husband of the lady helping with the cooking. He proceeded to hold the chicken over the fire for a few minutes before taking it over near the water. I think he was removing the organs but I wasn't really that curious to know what he was doing. They made a different meal for themselves with the chicken but offer some to us to try and of course it was good.

After dinner we played some poker using leaves as the currency. We finally drifted off to sleep to the sound of the waterfall.

For breakfast we had scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes, toast, fruit, and tea. Considering our location we had really good food. Then it was time to hike to the place where the truck would pick us up.

Most of the trip was downhill which to me is worst than uphill since it's so much harder on my knees. At one point both the guides are in front of the 3 of us and they suddenly jump to their left and yell snake. We all freeze where we are and I do see a skinny quick moving green snake. I wasn't even gonna try and get a photo. We asked if it was poisonous and they were not sure.

We made it to the meeting point at which time it started t rain a bit. We headed off for lunch and then to the elephant riding which I had mixed feelings about. I love everything about elephants, they are so beautiful and so smart it seems a shame to have them cart tourist around.

As we went towards the spot where we would board the elephants we saw the smallest elephant I've ever seen. We were told it was only 10 days old, we ended up riding on the father of the baby. The guide of our elephant seemed to have a pretty good relationship with the elephant, but even then I think occasionally the guide did things to the elephant that it didn't like and expressed it through various noises. The guide of the another elephant near us used the guiding tool way to much. Since it had just stopped raining the trails was really muddy. Our elephant seemed to be better a picking routes that weren't so slippery. The last part of the ride we went through the same river that we had gone bamboo rafting in. We had been warned that if the elephant is hot it might take some of the river water in it's trunk to cool itself down and the water sometimes hits the riding tourist. Since it just rained the elephant was already cooled off. The ride went for about 20 minutes and I think most of us weren't feeling to great about it by the end. There has to be a better use for the elephants.

We were going to join up with a another group for the ride back into town. So as we waited for them I could see in their group their was another little elephant, probably about 1 year old. As they went through the river the little guy laid on it's side in the water for a bit. As they came up the trail to the spot where the riders get off the little guy came running right up to us as if it wanted to play, too bad we didn't have a ball or something. The older elephants went over to the place where they could get leaved to eat and the little guy didn't want to be left out and went over and got some to. While some of the older elephants seemed to be resigned to their life of giving tourist rides, the little guy still had some playfulness in him.