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Published: February 23rd 2006
We were up bright and early this morning ready to set off trekking. We left our main rucksacks in the hotel and boarded a converted pick-up truck. When I say converted i mean they have fashioned a metal roof over the back part and put two bench seats in it. With 12 of us sqashed in we though we were just being taken to a bigger bus, no, not to be, the full three hour journey was made in this little tin heap. We stopped at the police station and they checked everyone who was going, just to make sure we all return alive i guess. The journey was broken by a trip to the market to get the food we need for the next three days. Some of the hills we went up were so steep that the truck could hardly do it in first gear. We made it though and eventually stopped in this little hill village. The children of the village were very excited to see us. It turns out that the Thai culture of sell sell sell starts early as we had barly got off the bus before the children had tied little wrist bands on us all and then demanded money.
We had lunch here and then set off. It's Autumn here and the leaves are falling making it harder to walk. The baking temperatures are not that bad once you put it out of your head. We trekked for about 2 hours until we finally reached our camp for the night. It was a small hill tribe village purched on the side the mountain. Our accommodation was a small bamboo hut on stilts about two feet off the ground. They provide a blanket or two which was really needed as the night time temeratures here dropped very low.
We had a meal and then watched the villagers perform this song and dance. It was clear than none of them wanted to do it but someone was obviously making them as money must have been involved. With no electicity and being miles from anywhere when it gets dark it gets very dark. It essential to have a torch otherwise its very easy to stand on a small pig!!
Due to the lack of light pollution the night sky looks amazing. There are thousands more stars then we can see. The whole sky is awash with them.
It turns out that this area of Thailand is also very good for growing the plant that makes opium, and the villagers make good use of it. It was great to watch them prepare and smoke the stuff and for less than a quid you could join them!
I was not looking forward to sleeping as the whole place is alive. The sound of bugs ring in your ears they are everywhere. When we got into the hut i did a quick sweep round with the torch and found this bug about 2 inches long and half inch wide sat on the wall about a foot away from my pillow. Not really knowing how to get rid of it and thinking that this little guy was probably one of thousands i turned off the torch and lay down. With the cold temeratures, the uncomfortable bamboo floor and the relentless noise from the insects it was impossible to sleep.
We had a late start and my little friend the bug was still there watching over me. Today was going to be the hardest day for trekking and it was. We walked for miles up mountains that were close to verticle and then back down them again which is even harder than going up. Everwhere is so dry and dusty, the heat in the jungle is so intense. Luckily I was one of the fitter ones of the group and although it was tough it must have been so much harder for some of the others. Being in the fitter half of the group also meant that when we stopped for breaks we would get there quicker so we had longer to relax.
Half way through the day we stopped off at a waterfall to cool off which was nice. We then had lunch is the most remote place i've ever been to. It consisted of three bamboo huts and two families. They are totally self sufficient and live with their pigs and chickens. Being so close to their animals and more importantly their animals waste you can see how easy it is for these people to catch bird flu. They really do live and sleep with them 24/7.
Our seond night's stop was in another village and the accommodation was similar but slightly bigger. This village keeps elephants and uses them for farming and of course keeping us tourists happy. There was a river close by which was populated by about 10 million frogs all of which start singing when it gets dark. Well at least they drowned out the sound of the insects.
Again it was a near sleepless night, not so much because of the frogs but the bitterly cold temperatures and the very uncomfortable bamboo floor we had to sleep on.
Day three saw us eating breakfast to the backdrop of elephants washing each other. We then used these elephants for a trip through the jungle. On all the paths we have taken I have seen elephant poo and wondered how this was possible as we were struggling on some of these little paths. Now I know that although they are three ton monsters they are also very light on their feet and seem to be able to tip toe over anything. After a hour on the back of an elephant we walked for about two hours to the river.
The bamboo rafts were about twenty feet long and about four feet wide. Once you get your balance it is really good fun and can find your way down the rapids quite easily. The inevitable dunking had to happen but it really wasn't that cold.
This was the end of the treck. All 12 of us squashed back onto the truck and made our way back to Chaing Mai.
Thinking back over what we have done none of it would have been possible in the UK. Obviously we don't have jungle or elephants but some of the places we went to were so remote and one wrongly placed foot and you would be gone forever. British Health and safety would never have allowed any of what we did.
Although the food was good on the trip you can get a bit board or rice and noddles so once we had washed the grime off we all found our way to McDonalds. This was the first time i've had English food sinse i have been here.
Well i'm up to date now, i'm going to spend a couple more days in Chaing Mai and then head back to Bangkok. I'm now travelling on my own as Hannah has decided that we want different things from this trip and i agree with her. I was also getting fed up of waiting for hours while she got ready. I also found that I am far more active and want to explore my surroundings while she is happy sat by the pool. At least now I can do what I want when I want to.
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BRIGITTE
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GREAT TIME
Wish i was there.....sounds great....look after yourself x