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Published: October 17th 2008
DAY ONE (14th)
After breakfast at the hotel (eggs again), we climbed into the truck with the rest of our group! There were 13 of us in total for the first day and it was quite a squash in the back of the truck! We made a pit stop for last minute supplies and then it was off to the elephants!
I was nervous but there was no need to be....they were so intelligent and gentle for such a big creatures. Iris and I sat on the seat and Nat sat on the neck with not a lot to hold onto. His ears were massive and flapped against her legs but he was no dumbo! At times on the steep parts she was almost vertical and had to cling onto our feet to stay on! On the way round he climbed the steepest of hills with ease and even took a few shortcuts to get to the banana stand quicker than the other elephants...he was definitely intelligent.
We bought three bags of bananas on the way round and he polished them off quicker than a chubby kid with chocolate! He kept putting his trunk up to us to feed him
During the hike!!
No...we aren't glowing......thats just sweat!more and wouldn't walk until we gave him another. As soon as we gave him one he was straight back again for another! Greedy Guts! The hour on the elephant was fantastic and an experience I would definitely repeat again!
We then had a lunch of rice, vegetables, potatoes and fresh fruit before setting off into the jungle on foot. The walk in the heat was hard and uphill for most of the way and all of us got very sweaty! Luckily after about a two hour walk (only saw one spider...amazing!) we stopped at a waterfall for a break! We went under the waterfall to get refreshed...so so cold but I was wondering if this may be the only wash I got all day so I took my opportunity!
After the waterfall we set off on the hardest part of the walk yet....a steep uphill incline towards the camp we would sleep at. Once there we were shown to our beds (thin matresses in a hut with mosquito nets over!) and shown the bathroom (smaller shed with a hole in the floor and a hosepipe for the shower)! Mmmmm...jungle life!
I managed to get clean...well, jungle
clean and then we had tea cooked for us over one small fire by Drew, one of our leaders. I don't know how she cooked so much or made it taste nice but I cleared my plate...twice! Following dinner we sat around the campfire and had a beer, played some simple mind games with sticks and chatted amongst ourselves about how we had all been taken for a ride by the TAT office! Woody (the other leader) was a bit of a joker and entertained us for a while before we all went to bed! The sheets smelt pungent but it was so cold that night that I even slept with my head under them in a big ball! Glad I took a jumper!
DAY TWO (15th)
I slept really well considering the hard floor and was raring to go when I woke up! My sleep was only interrupted once when a guy from the group started shouting for help in his sleep....I thought a snake had got in at first but apparently he had crazy dreams often and shouted out!!
After scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast we set off on a short walk to another waterfall.
This one had a kind of plunge pool and you could get in and swim in it! Most people sat on the rocks in the sun but a few of us braved the waters...pretty cold but least I felt cleanish again!
After 1 hour at the waterfall we set off on an uphill hike through the jungle. The hills were never ending and we were all rainforest sweaty! The views from the top were amazing and it was nice to feel that my body had been pushed through its paces! With one more hill to go before stopping for lunch I was told by the leader that we had to run up it...stupid as I am I set off running only to realise when I got to the top that everyone else had refused! Tired legs were attached to my body!
Lunch was noodle soup again cooked by Drew. Still amazed at her abilities on such limited facilities! We stayed in the village where we had lunch for an hour or 2 to explore. Lots of cows and boar around being fattened up for food. A few wooden huts, solar panels to give them some eletricity, but very
very basic! I don't think I could live like that!
Following lunch the walk to our night camp was easier and mainly downhill. Still despite being downhill we did have to go through long grass over our heads (bit like in Jurrassic Park) and over tree branches and boggy patches etc. We really were in the jungle as this was not an everyday stroll!
When we arrived we were shown to our hut (similair to the last one) and then we all headed to the waterfall to wash ourselves and our clothes. I really felt I was living the experience as I sat on the rocks washing my clothes...maybe minus the John Freda Shampoo!
Following dinner we sat around the campfire with the tribe who lived there and they entertained us once more with magic tricks and games. The final game was called James Bond....point at people and say 'zero', that person points at someone else or themselves and says 'zero' again., then the same for 'seven' and the same for 'bang'. When someone is banged, the people either side have to throw their amrs up and shout Aarrgghhh! Mistakes were punished with putting black on your
face from the pan...pan grease...nice!!
Some funny phrases resulted such as 'I'm not sure who's banging who' and 'I want to bang him next to me'!! Once we had played for a while we had a sudden death game.......first to make a mistake got their whole face covered in black.....guess who lost......ME!!! Surprised?!!
Following my face being covered we took some photos. Natalies came out all weird and the flames from the campfire seemed to be over our heads and there was a definite monster face in the flames. I don't usually worry about ghosts but the camera doesn't really lie and it freaked a lot of us out. Having to walk to the waterfall to wash our faces in the dark didn't help and worse still......when we were sat back around the campfire I could hear a hissing noise and then Natalie scream. She had a huge beetle like creature in her hair about as big as the palm of my hand. She had her head upside down screaming to get it out. I tried to bat it out but it was stuck. Luckily one of the tribesmen helped, put in on the fire and then ate
it......not my idea of a tasty treat!!
The whole group felt pretty uneasy and after a long tiring day it was time for bed! I slept well but others, Natalie inparticular had a lot of trouble sleeping!!
DAY THREE (16th)
The third day was pretty similiar to the others in the morning. Breakfast, wash and set off on a trek. Crossed a few Indiana Jones Bridges along the way! We stopped at a waterfall for a while and then walked a little more. I had done so well so far at avoiding mosquito bites....I didn't have a single bite so far however today was different. One of the little suckers must have had a bite and thought 'mmmm, that tastes good........that tastes real good' and then shouted to all his mosquito mates 'hey everyone, come see how good she tastes'! I ended up with about 10 bites in the space of 60 minutes!
After lunch, we headed to the river to do bamboo rafting. We couldn't take photos as our cameras would get damaged but it was brilliant. About 10 bamboo poles tied together to make a long raft, 3 people from the group on each raft
and one leader. I took the rear of a raft and helped to steer. the first part of the river was a lot of playing, splashing, trying to make people fall off and racing the other teams. We then had to sit down to go through some good whirte water. So cool! My favourite part of the day by far!!!
Following the rafting we got in a truck and set off back to the hostel. I couldn't wait for a shower. I managed 3 days and 2 nights in the jungle but it was enough for me. The no make-up, no hair brush and waterfall washed clothes didn't bother me, nor the hard beds or jungle animals. The washing with a hose pipe and toilet facilities were something to be desired however and one that I wouldn't like to repeat for at least a few weeks!!
BACK IN CHAING MAI
The shower was the best ever despite it just being 3 jets of water. I felt clean again and it was nice to be back in civilisation! That night we chilled out and went for some food at a local bar/restaurant! No Thi food on this night though......a
Clean again!!!
In the bar once showered and fresh!! little bit of Spaghetti went down well!
One more day in Chaing Mai and then its the overnight train to Bangkok again before going further south!!
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