Chiang Mai - Hilltribe Trekking, Temples and reunited with Kat

 4th July  Hill tribe Trekking

Today we escaped to Duet National park, to the beautiful tropical forests and tranquil rivers to find pure nature.  We were up and met our guide at 9 am, he was a very strange little man and i wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, shortly after we met three French people.  All 24 years old, two girls names Estelle and Dorothee and a boy named Guillaume.  We then all head off to Maemalai market for provisions for the trek.  The market was busy and full for tables of fruit that I had never seen before and other tables of meats, intestines and even slices of Iguana meat!  . 

We all got back in the Seelaw and headed off into the mountains.  After about an hour we arrived at Mork Fa waterfalls.  On the way we passed some trees that had collapsed and rocks had formed over the top of then, they were very strange.  When we arrived at the waterfall I was amazed by the spray coming off it, we were about 20 or 30 meters away and still got soaked from the spray.  We hadn't packed our swimming things and didn't fancy being wet all day so decided not to go swimming this time (especially as we had been twice last weekend)

The next stop was the 'hot springs' I had never seen anything like it, water was spurting about  2 meters in the air and bubbling and hissing all around us.  The air was filled with steam and all the rocks were burned around it and all the plans dead.  We had the opportunity to boil an egg in the 90 degree water but we really didn't have time as we wanted to get to the hill tribe village before night fall.  We enjoyed a fried rice and pineapple lunch and then were on our way. 

It was incredibly steep and really dense forest, lush and green and still wet from the lunch time rain.  After about 10 minutes we were drenched in sweat, covered in more bites from all the insects and had red 'jungle mud' all up our legs.  It was very hard work.  By the time we reached the summit, after about 2 hours of intense trekking I must say I was very relieved.  We had a clear view of Thailand’s tallest mountain from here and our weird guide made us do some stretches and made every advance to crack a joke or touch us in some way.  There were also two local tribes people that accompanied us.The trek changed scenery as we moved on, some parts were very narrow tracks through lush forest, others were open area of slippy wet mud (like the red mud at the mud festival in Philippines) and in some parts I felt like I was in England, walking through the Cornish woods near my Nanas house.  Dirt tracks, covered in pine cones...it seemed very strange, such a contrast, when just walking up and down one mountain.  We also saw some interesting wild life.  A termite mound, a group of ants carrying a live wiggling worm, snakes, lizards/iguanas spiders, huge millipedes and could hear the loudest beetles that I have ever heard.  Apparently the beetle is called a 'Secada' and is a flying beetle that sounded like a combination of a kettle boiling and a pneumatic drill.By the time we got to the 'Karen tribe' village, we were all quite relieved.  The village was interesting and very basic.  We saw women in their red traditional costumes cooking and washing.  We saw baskets of hens, the vegetable gardens and the rice fields.  No sooner had we dropped or heavy sweaty backpacks we asked if we wouldn't mind moving on to the next camp.  No one particularly wanted to, but it did make sense that we would be closer to the elephant farm and the fiver for tomorrow.  Being assured that it was close and an easy walk we all reluctantly agreed. 

The next HOUR of out trek was the worst past, very steep climbs and very slippy mud, water was running low and we were all exhausted.  The sun set and by the time we got to the next village, called Bankbacah, it was almost dark.  We all felt a little hostile to our guide, but relived to arrive at the village and grateful to the accommodating tribes people.  We washed using a bucket by candle light and it felt so good to be clean, we then got dressed and sat along a candle lit bench and enjoyed a delicious meal of Thai curry with chicken, vegetables and rice, with fresh pineapple for desert. 

As the candles burned down and we finished our 'moonshine' (whiskey), we all retired to our small hut, clambered under the very musty smelling mosquito nets and were out like lights.

5th July – Elephant riding and bamboo rafting. 

We were all awoken at 4am by two very annoying roosters, which actually lived under our hut.  It was still dark but I shone my torch through the cracks in the wood and could see one of the noisy little things.  I was tempted to hit him with a rock, but thankfully after about 30 minutes he went away and quietened himself, pecki8ng around the hut.  We all fell back to sleep until about 8 o'clock. 

We all enjoyed a western style breakfast of egg on toast, got packed up and headed to our afternoon’s transportation.  An elephant!  Ours was a beautiful 38 year old female called 'Bosoot'.  They were lovely elephants and I was glad that the guide didn't use sticks or spike to guide the elephants.  Instead he just used commands.  The elephants were like dogs, they were very well behaved and did what they were told, apart from when they were hungry and stopped to eat plants, or drink from the river. 

The trek was about two hours in total and we mainly walked alongside or through the river.  We passed hundreds of wild water buffalo basking in the sun, rolling in the mud, or swimming along side us.  It really was lovely and our elephants actually seemed happy and content as they plodded along.  When our ride came to an end, the elephants were allowed 'bath time' in order to cool off.  They all played in the water and squirted each other, as we were feeding them bananas a family (Mum, Dad and Baby) came down the river and joined in.  They had no people with them but were incredibly tame and interested in everything we were doing, sniffing at our sun cream etc.  I loved it.

From the 'Lahu tribe' village we all boarded our bamboo raft and set off down the river.  Basically our raft was made from about ten bamboo poles threaded together with banana leaves, but it floated well and was really steady.  The river was such fun, beautiful and every so often we went down sections of white water rapids, I loved it and it brought back memories of my Canoeing down the Ardech in France or the trips I went on when I worked as a canoe instructor for Camp America.  As the day went on our guide and his friend got more and more drunk on the whiskey that they had brought with them, and the more drunk they got, the worse their rafting skills were.  At one point we hit a huge rock and went half over it.  One of the guides and Jenna got flung off into the water and the rest of us hung on for dear life while the raft cracked and split under our feet.  Eventually we freed our raft and headed back off down the river.  By this time, thankfully, the French guy was with us, volunteered to steer the raft.  From then on we had a much safer journey. We all enjoyed noodles for lunch and then headed on our incredibly bumpy journey back to Chiang Mai. 

That evening Jenna and I went for Thai curries for dinner and then enjoyed a couple of drinks in a very interesting bar.  It was full of Gay men, including older western men hitting on young Thai boys, and lots of stunning looking transvestites.

6th of July - Doiu Suthep Temple and Palace in Phuping.

Today it rained and rained all day long.  Never the less Jenna dressed in out suitable attire (long skirts and covering tops) and headed off to see some of the temples in Chiang Mai. 

Due to the fact that it is low season and due to the rain, we actually had to wait for two hours for our bus to fill up enough for the driver to take us there.  The journey was incredibly whindy and I felt quite sick by the time we arrived.

The temple was up in the mountains, and apparently on a clear day you would get fantastic views of Chiang Mai and the surrounding areas, but for us all we could see was mist, fog and rain!  However inside the temple was beautiful.  It was difficult to work out when the building were made as everything was in Buddhist years.  Apparently they are 543 years ahead of us.  So for them, this year is 2550 (...I think) The building were so intricately made, everything carved so carefully and covered in gold leaf. 

It was different to the temples in Korea, whereby the was more gold, more fancy decorations but no paintings and patterns on the ceiling, like I got used to seeing in Korea. There were hundreds of golden Buddhas and each one was covered in precious stones and surrounded by gifs, candles and flowers.  We also got to watch some Buddhist monks taking part in a ceremony.  Despite the different language, it sounded very similar to the chants we heard in Korea.  We were no allowed to wear our shoes and we were slipping allover the place, and with out soaked skirts we tried to remain as respectful to these gentle people as possible. 

After a couple of house of looking around, listening to services and walking around the museum: which only contained foreign money and broken Buddha(as it is bad luck to own a broken Buddha, but even worse luck to throw one away!) then, we left.

That evening we went to a bar named 'Tuskers' owned by an English couple; we enjoyed yet another Thai curry and chatted to them about the charity that they run, saving Elephants.  Jenna said that I should take up a career as a journalist, as a journalist herself she said that she has never seen someone so inquisitive who asks so many questions!  I guess that is what traveling is all about though - asking questions, and learning new things!

7th July - Reunited with Kat again

Jenna and I were up early to make the most of our morning before we headed to Bangkok.  We headed off to "Wat Phrasingh' temple, which our guide book had advised to be the best in Chiang Mai.  Luckily the rain had stopped and we spent the morning looking around this fantastic temple, took part in a service and took in the peacefulness of the beautiful surroundings.  It wasn't long before we had to get on the move again.

Back to Bangkok airport.  When we got off our plane Kat was there waiting for us, with a big smile on her face.  It was lovely to see her, we thought that we would be waiting for a couple of hours before her plane had come in, but it was a lot earlier than expected.  The three off us can now properly plan our travels.  Something that we have been planning for, and excited about for so long now. 

We all got ourselves settled in to a hostel in 'Thong Lo' in Bangkok.  Our room was already a pig sty because of the  English boy, a South African girl and a guy from New Zealand who were already in there.  We were eager to find somewhere to sit and eat so that we could exchange our stories and tell each other what we had been up to over the past month. 

We headed out to the biggest market area in Bangkok called 'Mo Chit' however as soon as we got off our train the most torrential rain I have ever seen began to pummel into the ground, we were getting drenched under the shelter and after about 20 minutes we decided that we couldn't possibly go out in so decided to head back to wards 'Siam' where we could shelter in the mall they had there.  As soon as we got of the train we darted in to the mall like scruffy wet dogs and immediately felt out of place.  The place was amazing.  So huge and posh and everyone looked perfect.  We wondered around the rather expensive food court and eventually agreed on a restaurant where I ordered a very spicy noodle dish and we sat for hours exchanging our stories and catching up on our time apart.  

As we boarded the train to go home, Jenna and Kat got on ok and I (along with a few others) got trapped in the doors, like the time when I first arrived in Korea.  I was left alone on the platform, but this time felt strangely less worried about being alone.  I think my confidence and independence has sores in the past 10 months.  We all met up at the next station and headed back to out hostel. 

It felt good to slip into the clean sheets and know that by this time tomorrow I would be in Koh Chang!

• Posted by emily1183 on 07/07/2007.
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