Advertisement
Published: March 22nd 2006
ahhhh!
wish you were herehello hello
i cannot even describe what thailand is like. i just love it . i'm not sure i am coming home...
i don't really know where to start. we left bangkok a week ago to go to chiang mai, a town at the north of thailand just to fill some time before will chris and bruce got to thailand and it has been the best experience so far...ever ever ever... We arrived after travelling overnight on a clean train (!) to a different type of thailand...no real tourists..just a really chilled out beautiful place up in the mountains, surrounded by jungle.and went to 'Banana' guesthouse..ran by 'king kong' Mr. Neung and crew, which is this just fantastic wooden shack, covered in graffitti of happy, drunk people who have stayed there from all over the world..the lounge area is sprawled around, with people improvising on their guitar ,veryone chatting together, reading books...its just awesome..(makes us see how much hard work china was)and as soon as we had checked in they said they needed two more people to do a trek so dave said yes and that was that ..the next morning we left on a trek. (i was afraid. very afraid.)
so we got up and off we went..packed our little green camoflaugey type bags and special sleeping bags, got in the back of a jeep and headed up the largest mountain in thailand with a french couple, the most amusing, non speaking english, japenese people i have ever met, an english bloke called ali and a beautiful swiss called miarco and of course our guides mr. neung and mr. T.
the pictures really describe the trip the best...i don't think i can do it justice..but the first day was just alot alot of walking..we got dropped in a village up the mountain, put on our backpacks,took our walking sticks and just walked..for ever. it was so so hot, like 35 degrees, and no shade at this point as we weren't in the jungle yet, so it was hard but it was so beautiful. .eventually we arrived at this amazing waterfall so we cooled down here for a while swam and stuff..before starting again and finally arriving at the elephant camp. on the way mr. neung and mr t..sang and showed us how to roll cigarettes with banana leaves, where to find things in the trees like tiger balm, and poisionous
spiders and caterpillers..at the elephant camp we collapsed and drank mucho coca cola before any of us had the energy to move anywhere. .and then left our two huts to go explore the area around our camp and found a place to shower in another waterfall
that evening we sat and talked at the camp. dave and ali set about the manly job of creating the camp fire (i wish i could describe to you the alpha male competition throughout. it was priceless) all the people were really cool, but the japenese were hilarious..unable to communicate they just kept shouting 'Hattori Hanzo' over and over again .. so we just chatted and whatever until supper which was cooked by mr. neung in his little hut next to ours and was the best food i have tasted since leaving england..it was so good..we had a tame jungle curry and a green curry..real thai style. and beer and banana cigarettes (not me muma) quickly followed by samsung whiskey . ' whiskey- no worry.'it was just really cool..we all staye up and chatted til like half twelve, drinking and swapping stories and stuff before getting out our sleeping bags and going into
our hut to sleep. the next morning we woke up at nine to see elephants outside our door...(they let them go out into the jungle every afternoon free and have to go and search for them every morning to bring them back) you see elephants in the zoo or at the wildlife park but being right up close and stroking its trunk..is just the most incredible thing. and i am not an animal kind of gal.. anyway..so after breakfast of fruit and eggs..we got on the elephants and rode through the jungle on them for an hour, and dave and i took it in turns to sit on its head..it was awesome..with mr. t behing them shouting instructions that they understand and stuff..it was very cool (p.s. did you know elephants are hairy?)
after that we walked for 2 hours up to the tippy top of the mountain (did i say it was the highest in thailand?) ..i think that it was only chris jennings and the epic exploration of bibury woods that allowed me to make it through..the great thing about this trek is that its not like a tourist route..Neung lives in a tribal village up the top
of this mountain and knows it inside out, so not only did we see noone else, but the track is no well travelled route, it was improvised as we went along and consisted of, among much else, jumping rivers, climbing through over and under trees and just sliding down parts where there was no possible foot hole..so it was hard work. but the whole time its green as green as green and there are buterflies and sunshine ..and it was just great. when we arrived at the top it teh view was immense. we had these great little lunches of noodles wrapped in banana leaves with bamboo shoots as chopsticks..so sat and ate them and just looked out over it all. before descending on a three hour walk (just as hard us uphill) to the Karen Village Khun Poei. .Mr. Neungs home village..
we arrived at the point of collapse in this village and i can honestly say that i never wanted to leave. i wish i could describe it well..but we were all staying together, the eight of us in our hut made out of bamboo and leaves and then again there was the little hut for mr.
t and king kong and the camp fire..we went from there just for a little walk around the village and the ground is this amazing deep red, and the ladies of the village are cooking the meals for that evening in all thier traditional clothes with their babies strapped to their backs..cows just wondering all over the shop..and just this stunning backdrop of the jungle. as we were walking with the french couple two little boys came up and asked us to come and follow them..or thats what we gathered so the four of us did and they took us to another waterfall with a pool so we cleaned up there and played with them for a while..before they walked us back, running into the field to give is a lectuce as a gift. when we gto back to the 'camp' i wondered off to explore while dave showed miarco and ali back to the waterfall. i sort of talked in stilted conversation to a few women who were so lovely..they showed me their babies and laughed at me, held my hand and stuff..and then i walked to the school which our guesthhouse is helping fund with the money from
our trek. cos these people in these villages are 'chao khao' literally called ' mountain people' and each tribe has its own language, customs, dress and beliefs..so they really have no connection with thailand..they stay in their village for always and speak there own language..so becasue mr. neung came from there he is making a school...otherwise they have no outside knowledge apart from us trekkers they see..
the third and final day and we woke up and walked outside and were hit with this amazing colour where the women had hung up all teh sacrves they weave for their living around the fence.we ate a fruit breakfast again joined by the childen who we were in love with at this point becase their laughter was infectious..they didn't stop poking and pulling and just laughing... before we left chaing mai to go on the trek ali, miarco , dave and i had decided to buy some things for the children at the school, but the school is only for 2-5 year olds so far and these kids were great so we gave them half of the stuff..and a major water fight ensued with the water pistols! they loved it and it
was brilliant..after we went to visit the school they had a planned military operation going on and were waiting to ambush us outside!!
so the third day and we left the village for the hardest hiking so far..first two hours to another huge waterfall and then another liek hour and a half to another village where we got picked up by the jeep and taken to this river where we went bamboo rafting. literally four pieces of bamboo held together by rope (camera out of battery by this point) and it felt so good just to sit, put our feet in the water and be taken along venice style along this river. soon got into turbulence though and all got soaking wet..we all fell in and got splashed by the thias because white people are funny..but we also got given beer so you win you lose!
and that was it. it was absolutely amazing. you should all come and do it now...really do wish you were here!..hope all good in everyones hood...
lots and lots of love...
mika
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.081s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0513s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Tank
non-member comment
Wow
Wow wow wow!!!!!! Seriously jealous guys, must have been an absolutely amazing experience.....Dave I hope your nose gets better