Jungle Trekking

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After a week's hard work at the elephant sanctuary, we had a day to rest in Chiang Mai before trekking. Neither Hannah nor I had been feeling very well on the last few days of the sanctuary so it was also a chance to recover : pool, reading and even managed to venture to Doi Suthep in the afternoon, a temple high up on a hill (took a tuk-tuk)

By the following day, I was feeling much better but Hannah wasn't so fortunate so she opted to stay in Chiang Mai while I went out into the jungle :

Day 1 - I met the group ( two Dutch couples, a Spanish couple, two German girls) and our guides (Daye and Singh) early in the morning and we set off on the drive to the National Park. After about two hours we stopped for our packed lunch - rice in a box - and then it was time to begin walking - white converse, the world's most practical trekking shoes. We started in a Hmong village; these people choose to live up in the mountains and preserve their ancient traditions, but have admittedly adopted some modern conveniences. An afternoon of hiking - up and down, through the mud, crossing rivers on precarious looking logs. It was absolutely stunning : hundreds of shades of green, overhanding banana leaves, trees that soared to the sky, mist rising between the bamboo. Every so often we would come to a clearing and we'd all be in awer of the rice paddies stretching across the valley, a few people dotted around, hunched over, working away. So secluded, so remote. In the late afternoon, we came to a waterfall and all eagerly jumped in, cooling off after our long, hike. In the evening we stayed in a small camp - relaxed by the fire and then all 7 of us, lined up on the floor of a bamboo hut to get some rest.

Day 2 - The trek on the second day became a little bit more intense. Woke up to the sound of the cockrel (the real one this time, not the obnoxious ringtone of my phone!) The group split between the two and three day trekkers and we set off on Eight hours of walking, the morning in pouring rain. It was tough, the path overgrown and slippery, winding its way up. We reached the peak in time for lunch - noodles wrapped in a banana leaf. The sky began to clear as the misty green mountains appeared streching for miles in every direction. Beautiful ! After break, the hiking got easier and I was more able to appreciate the flora/fauna around me. Daye was a brilliant guide, friendly, hilarious and informative - he continuously pointed out all sorts of meficinal and edible plants, insects and small animals. A swim in another waterfall in the late afternoon - jungle shower and then we arrived at the Karen village. All the houses were made from bamboo or wood and built on stilts, the animals live underneath. It was amazing to see the way these people lived - hard work on the rice paddies, but very tranquil.

Day 3 - After a easy morning walk, we were picked up and drove to the elephant camp for elephant trekking. Given that all I had learnt last week about elephant training, I was not going to condone their abuse and so there was no way I was going to get on the back of an elephant. As I sat, watching the elephants chained up and rocking out of desperation, a number of people asked me "Well, don't you like elephants". "No", I replied, "I love them." And that was the exact reason I can't stand for them to be treated in such ways. After lunch though, it was time for bamboo rafting, an activity I was more than willing to participate in ! Hopped onto one of the long rafts with the two german girls and enjoyed the ride ! Our guide, Muang, was a lot of fun as he steered us along the river, splahing us, throwing us in and even letting me punt along (disaster!).

We arrived back in Chiang Mai in the late afternoon, at which point I headed to the hospital. Yes, Hannah's condition had gotten worse and she in fact has dengue fever. I phoned her on the second day of my trek, when I finally got signal and learnt she had been kept there overnight. However, there was absolutely nothing I could do...very stressful. Fortunately, she was doing much better yesterday and had finally been able to get some food and water down. She's still in hospital, but hopefully all will be ok soon !

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