Chiang Mai July 30 - Aug 6

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Upon arriving in Chiang Mai we were swarmed by the usual flock of people wanting us to stay at their guesthouses. We were so lucky to be approached by a really kind and gentle woman, who ran a guesthouse with her family. For only a 100 baht per person it was by far one of the best places we have stayed, not only for the quality of the establishment but the sincerity and kindness of all of the staff.

We spent our first afternoon in Chiang Mai wandering the streets in the Old City, which was enclosed in a square moat. After Bangkok though, the Wat’s we explored paled in comparison. We booked a trek later that evening. Trekking is one of the main activities out of Chiang Mai and as a result most of the areas close to Chiang Mai are more of a conveyor belt, spitting people out from the jungle onto a bamboo raft and then swiftly on to an elephant. Wanting to have a bit more of an authentic experience, we opted for a 3 day 2 night trek slightly further afield close to the Burmese boarder. We headed back to the hostel and decide that a night out was definitely in order. We started off the evening with some good quality junk food and large Chiang beer in our room. Later on we ventured to a local watering hole.


We slept in quite late the next day, but made it out to the Chiang Mai zoo. We were all eager to see the new baby Panda that was born just a month earlier. Unfortunately the baby Panda was not out for viewing, however we did get a glimpse of him on a TV monitor. The father Panda was out and was quite amusing to watch, just sitting there eating bamboo as if there weren’t a crowd of people peering in and taking pictures. The zoo was much more like a wildlife sanctuary and we saw everything from hippos to colourful hornbill birds. After a long afternoon wandering around in the heat and to prepare for our three day trek, we thought it would be best to have a relaxing night having Thai oil massages. Luckily we didn’t have to go far; there was a nice Thai massage place next door to our hostel.

We woke up early the next morning for our trek. There were 8 people total on the trek, a group of three British girls, an Aussie and a Dutch guy. Our guide ‘ToTo’ was very friendly and we were all excited an anxious about our journey. We drove a short while to a local market, where most of us got talked into buying a water bottle holder made by some locals. Later we actually found them quite useful! After our guide stalked up on our provisions for our trek, we drove for nearly 2 hours where we stopped for lunch. After lunch we again hopped back into the back of the truck and drove to the beginning of our trail. We only trekked for half a day, however the sun was high in the sky, with not much cloud cover, it made for a grueling first day. I think by far the first day was the most difficult, with some pretty steep inclines. We also had a local guide join us…”Dr. O”, he was a seasoned trekker, only wearing sandals and carrying most of our provisions on his back in a woven basket backpack. As we approached our first hill tribe village, there was a beautiful rainbow, a wonderful way to be welcomed to our “home” for the night.

The village was quite basic consisting of bamboo houses, although some adorned with satellite dishes! The soil was quite a vibrate red and was more like clay. To greet us were chickens, roasters, water buffalo, pigs and a host of small children! We all took sometime to relax, settling into our own bamboo house. We each had a mat on the floor with a blanket and pillow, enclosed by a mosquito net. We had a wonderful dinner of fried vegetables and curry. Later that evening all the local children came to play and sing with us. This particular hill tribe was unable to read or write. Most girls got married at the age of 13 or 14 and would usually bear up to 12 children. The kids wanted their pictures taken. The kids sung us some beautiful songs in their local language and even surprised us with Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday. Our attempt to sing to them was a bit of a sad site. Exhausted from our day of trekking and with no electricity in the village most of us were happy to go to bed by 9:30pm.

All of us had a relatively rough sleep, not used to being awoken before the crack of dawn by roosters! We were essentially right over a chicken coop and next to a pig pen. And all the stories of barnyard happenings are not untrue, roosters do not cock-a-doodle-do just to wake you up when the sunrises. In fact, they don’t seem to care what time it is! We set off early on our second day of trekking. There was a good mix of uphill climbs and parts that were flat, but because it is rainy season, most portions were very muddy and slippery, making it quite challenging to stay upright! We finally made it to the river around lunch time, stopped for a quick meal of noodle soup and then began our bamboo rafting adventure.

Basically the rafts were made of at least 8 large bamboo shafts lashed together, in the middle there was a sort of tripod to attack our packs. We had two rafts, 4 of us on each as well as guide. I was relegated to the back with Tom, the Dutch guy. We were given long bamboo poles to steer the raft down the river. It was quite the ride, being instructed to push left or right and balancing down along rapids. After two hours on the river we arrived just outside of the Lisu hill tribe village. After a short walk through rice paddies and corn fields we arrived at the village.

The Lisu village was much smaller than the hill tribe we had bunked with the previous night and there were not as many children running around. Again we settled in, even more exhausted than the day before, luckily some of the village women came to our hut and had bags of chips and water to replenish our energy. Later that night after dinner, there was no singing or fun with the children, but rather a bit more adult form of entertainment…a village brawl. One of the local men had drunk 3 bottles (750ml) of the local whiskey and started a fight in the bamboo hut that was the kitchen. Our guide was in the hut, and from outside there were points where we were worried we would have to guide ourselves the next day. Luckily the “head man” was contacted and he seemed to remove the man. A different kind of cultural experience, a taste of the local goings-on!

After another restless sleep we packed up the next morning, hopped into the back of a truck and were driven to the base of a cave. A local family, including a small girl about 5 years old, guided us through a huge limestone cave. We were all given headlamps to light the path. Unlike the cave we explored in Malaysia, this one was huge and therefore the bats were at a much safer distance. After about an hour and a half in the cave we made it to the end. We then had a step climb back to where we had started. As I mentioned before, the paths were quite slippery and Tom took Sarah for a little ride down the side of the mountain. No one was hurt but it definitely solicited a burst of laughter.

It late morning when we finished the cave, meaning we had a long day of trekking ahead of us. Similar to the day before we were challenged with step slippery climbs, but rewarded with level trails. We crossed upwards of 20 streams and most of us opted to trek in our flip-flops. We made it to the beginning of our elephant trek by early afternoon and we were all happy to perch atop the elephants and rest our legs. However, riding atop exotic animals is romanticized by world travelers a bit too much. Riding on an elephant while it maneuvers its legs along a small jungle trial is really not that comfortable. Sarah and I both found ourselves banging up against the metal seat perched on the elephants back. We rode along for about an hour and by that point were ready to hit the trials again despite our legs being ready to give up. We finally reached the end in the late afternoon and took an hour ride to the main tourist trekking area and had some lunch. We boarded the back of the truck again and made our way back to Chiang Mai.

We made it back to the hostel in good spirits all chanting “Ahboya”, a word we learnt from the hill tribe people, meaning pretty much anything, ‘hello’, ‘good-bye’, ‘thank you’ etc. After a much needed shower we all headed out to a local Italian restaurant for a much needed western meal.

The next day Sarah’s friend Ashley zoomed off in a Tuk Tuk to the airport. Having just about a week off, she was headed back to Seoul via Bangkok. Sarah and I literally spent the rest of the day in the hotel room reading and resting. Sarah unfortunately caught a bit of a bug, probably from the water used in the villages. We planned to leave the next day to make our way to the Thai-Lao border. However, early the next morning we decided to stay another day to allow Sarah to recover. I decided to take advantage of the time Sarah was recuperating and took a half-day cooking course.

The course was amazing, for under $30 CND we made 5 different dishes. I was joined by an Irish guy and we began our course with a trip to the local market. Our instructor pointed out the local ingredients we would be using. At the cooking school, I prepared fried vegetables with cashew nuts, green curry paste, green curry with prawns and mini spring rolls. It was a very fun and rewarding experience. Now I know how many chilis’ I can handle and was also quite impressed with my spring rolls. Later that afternoon, Sarah and I went to the local clinic to ensure that Sarah would be alright to travel and then we treated ourselves to a traditional Thai massage and a foot massage!

The next day we didn’t leave for the Thai border until around 8pm and just spent the day puttering around our guesthouse and preparing for our slow boat trip into Lao. I was commissioned by the guesthouse a couple of times to chat to fellow backpackers who were interested on going on the same trek. We felt almost like a part of the family by the time we left and were so happy to have gone with the woman when she approached us at the train station after arriving from Bangkok. We drove six hours that night to a guesthouse close to the Thai-Lao border. The Mekong River acts as the dividing point between the two countries.

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