A walk in the park

Chiang Mai has totally restored my faith in Thailand. Bangkok, in all its frenetic glory, had left us exhausted and shell-shocked... as evidenced by how we spent our last day, a movie and Pizza Hut. Chiang Mai, on the other hand, despite being Thailand's second-largest city, felt infinitely more manageable. It's still a very "Thai" city, as evidenced by the ubiquitous food stalls, and tuk-tuks, but it's also much more peaceful. Maybe it's the fact that the air is a little fresher, or that the mountains feature prominently, that the greenery and lushness of the countryside creep into the city streets, or that wats are only outnumbered by uniformed school children, but Chiang Mai enchanted us.

However, we still did leave the very next day. Didn't head far though, but rather took off on a trek into the mountains, the activity for which Chiang Mai has become such a tourist hotspot. The trek we chose entailed three days of walking and activities such as elephant-riding and bamboo rafting, and two nights spent in hill-tribe villages. There were six of us on the trip, Alicia, myself, Juliet (a pediatrician from NY), Sander (a Dutch civil transport engineer), and Diane and Caroline (two German students), as well as our illustrious guide, Pumpkin, now famous in our minds for his songs and his moonshine (but more on that later).

We packed up our jungle camo-bags, put on our sexy man-shorts, and headed off into the wild, stopping first at the elephant-riding sight. We were somewhat apprehensive about the activity, both because elephants are really, really big, and we were really, really high up, but also because, being the liberal bleeding-hearts that are, we felt that we were somehow contributing to the moral debasement of the animals. However, once we realized that one of the only other few viable options for the animals was life in a zoo, we forgot our morality issues and quite enjoyed the ride. The views of the countryside were spectacular, and it was quite entertaining splashing around a river on an elephant, dodging its huge and slimey-looking trunk as it searched for the bananas you had to feed it, and awwww-ing over the antics of the three baby elephants who were part of the troupe. We then went up into the forest, and felt quite sorry for our animal as we attempted to position our dangling limbs so as to cause the least discomfort, but lost all pity when the beast determinedly marched us into a tree. Our attempts to dodge protruding branches went well, but what we should have been looking out for were the fire ants... Ouch. Bad elephant, bad.

It was then time for the trek, and it certainly was a trek. We'd somehow (stupidly) imagined an easy walk, or at least a nicely maintained path around the jungle, but instead found ourselves quite literally climbing over logs, pushing through grass and plants, and crossing streams on logs. It was exhausting (how out of shape are we?) but also exhilerating, as the views were absolutely incredible. Rice paddies, green rolling hills, misty mountains, gorgeous greenery, everything was just jaw-dropping (hopefully the pictures will do it more justice than the text).

We spent the night in a Karen village (tambrut!), highlights of which include Juliet captivating the local kids with games, the incredible feast cooked over an open fire in bamboo shoots, chatting with the local people, and the best sleep I've had in ages, despite being supported only by a thin blanket on a wooden floor. The sound sleep is probably directly attributable to the fact that I was terrified to have to use the facilities in the dark, considering they comprised of, expectedly, a less-than-hygienic squat toilet and, unexpectedly, a vat in the corner which bubbled and gurgled from its murky depths... at least until Sander turned off the tap. Oops. I don't think Bert would have ever forgiven me had I managed my attempted escape out the door when we first noticed the eerie bubbling, considering she was trapped in a compromising position.

The second day was the "hard" trekking day (what was the first?) and it certainly was exhausting, though, again, the views made it worthwhile. It briefly rained on us, but that only highlighted the beauty of the misty mountains. Northern Thailand is absolutely gorgeous... can't wait to see the south. After a long day of walking, we settled into our second village for the night, and had an absolutely lovely evening. The food was, as per the course of this trip, superb, but the best part of the night was sitting around with the group, Pumpkin, and a local guy with a guitar, drinking moonshine (a Thai rice-whiskey), singing songs, and playing infuriatingly tricky puzzle games.

The last day was the "easy" trekking day, and although the hike (slide?) down the slippery slope of the mountain felt easier than going up, I definately feel it now, a few days later. That afternoon was the second activity, which was bamboo rafting, a definate highlight of the trip. Bert and I positioned ourselves on the middle of the raft, and let the Thai worker steer from the front, and Sander from the back. We got a little wet, squealing girlishly at times, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the jungle views. It felt how I'd always imagined boating down the Amazon would feel... amazing. The trek was fantastic (thanks Pumpkin and Libra House!), my favourite thing thus far.

There is no rest for the wicked, so despite being completely exhausted (and dirty, and in pain) after the trek, the next morning we began our Thai cooking class, something else we'd been looking forward to. Turned out to be a very intimate setting, considering we were the only two signed up, and off we were to the market. The markets in Asia have been exceptional, and this one was no different; produce, meats, seafood everywhere... all of which looked fresh and delectable, plus the usual food-stalls with pastries and the like. Having a local there with us was a god-send, as she could explain what exactly everything was, including some of the fruit we'd been curious about. She loaded us up with different kinds of fruits and goodies, and we ate so much we were already full by the time we got to the actual cooking! We made 7 things - green curry paste, sweet green chilli with chicken (or tofu, for Bert), pad thai, hot and sour chicken, bananas in syrup (with coconut ice cream), hot and spicy (sour?) soup, and spring rolls (with sauce). All of the dishes looked and tasted great, and I was very impressed I'd managed to make something palatable. Hurray for us!

We leave for Ayuthaya in a few hours, and from there it's onto the islands... Ko Tao, Ko Phan Ngan (for the infamous full moon party), and Ko Phi Phi (the site of "The Beach"), definately can't wait for beaches, bungalows, and hammocks. Hope everyone is doing well,

Robin & Alicia

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