Trekking and Cooking in Chang Mai

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Day 4 - Chang Mai (Adventure Trek)

Our alarm woke us at 7.30am after what seemed like the best 7 hours sleep we have ever had. After our standard breakfast of toast, sliced banana, pineapple, fruit juice and coffee for a cheeky £1.50 our tour guides came to pick us up from the hostel. We were relieved to see they had a real minibus as opposed to a sawngthaew or a convoy of tuk-tuks! There was the six of us plus German and Dutch couples so we had a good chin-wag in the minibus and after driving for about one hour we arrived at the elephant camp. Katie and I were very quick to choose the smallest elephant, soon to find out this was a big mistake as trunk and elephant size are not necessarily in proportion. This meant that we got a larger dose of elephant snot than everyone else, and with the baby elephant friend that accompanied us throughout the trek, we definitely had our fair share of snot attacks. There was also the added bonus of having to buy mouldy bananas to feed to the elephants to ensure that they decided to move. We were soon to find out that it was actually better to not have any bananas to feed them, as this was the only way they would keep moving for more than 3 seconds.
After the one hour elephant trek, we headed to the restaurant for some lunch. After lunch we began our trek from Karen Village - one of the hill tribe villages, with the occupants originating in Burma. The two hour trek through the jungle definitely lived up to our expectations and the scary river "bridges" added to the fun. Take one guess as to the only person who fell in the river! Unfortunately it was unexpected so there is no video available but needless to say it was amusing! She somehow tripped over her left foot and in an attempt to regain balance with her right foot; tripped that one on a log. After tripping on both feet in a matter of milliseconds; a grab for a nearby tree ensued but alas she missed and ended up planted in a small stream. We found a waterfall halfway through the trek (very convenient) and had a nice swim in the cool water.
After the walk we headed to the river for some bamboo rafting. The ten of us started on 3 rafts; skippered by Jack Sparrow 1, 2 and 3 (I'm not sure these were their real names). There seemed to be an evil glint in the eye of Jack Sparrow 2 as I boarded his vessel but I thought nothing of it as I looked forward to a peaceful ride down the river. After we went through the first set of rapids and he tried his best to tip us out I knew it was going to be an interesting little ride. The Sparrows favorite trick was to ride up to one of the other rafts and slap their big bamboo punting sticks splashing the passengers on the other boats. For some reason Sarah seemed to be their favored target and got completely soaked to the bone on several occasions. The German chap also seemed to have problems balancing and managed to fall twice in the first 10 minutes and then he joined our boat because of buoyancy issues. He promptly dragged poor Jimmy down into the water during one of his topples. By this time the third raft was really struggling and after some shuffling we ended up with everyone on 2 rafts. We went down the river for just over an hour and it was definitely not just a peaceful float down the river.
Once we got back to the guest house we were very happy to have a nice (cold) shower and headed out for some dinner.

Day 5 - Chiang Mai (Cooking School)

First thing in the morning we headed off to the market with our teacher to get the lowdown on all the local vegetables, herbs and spices. For some reason she found it completely hilarious that Katie thought that some Lemon Grass might be a Spring Onion - I thought it was quite a good shout! There were some odd dishes in the market; the best probably being the deep fried Chicken Heads. I'm not sure what the nutritional content is like but each to their own I guess. There was also an alarming amount of Pork Scratchings for sale which at 9 in the morning isn't the most appetizing smell in the world. I do think that if the Thais could develop a taste for bitter they would be right at home in a West Midlands pub.
The cooking school itself was really nice and passed Sarah's high hygiene standards. We could pick almost anything and cooked Pad Thai, Big Noodles, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Spring Rolls, Green Curry, Red Curry, Yellow Curry and Fried Vegetables between us. The owner of the cooking school was very taken by Phil and due to his excitement at the prospect of cooking Big Noodles she affectionately called him Mr Big Noodle (much to Anna's jealousy). There was a recurring theme of Fish Sauce, Oyster Sauce and Sugar throughout the cooking which would explain why the northern cuisine is quickly becoming a little stale. After we stuffed ourselves full of everything we had cooked we collected our certificates (apparently we passed exams!?) and headed back.
After posting this we will head off to do some suit shopping and will spend the evening in the night bazaar.

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Photos

Elephant Trek
Rob and Jimmy riding an elephant.

Lunch on the Trek
Our whole group tucking into our lunch of Red Curry, Stir Fried Vegetables, Rice and Fresh Fruit.

Log Bridge
Sarah crossing a log bridge...(this is not where she fell in).

Waterfall
The waterfall where we took a much needed swim.

Master Chefs
At the cooking school - we got certificates to prove how great we are. Definitely a good addition to the CV?

Comments

[Emma Day]

Oh Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, well done for falling in!! i'm sure i would have too!! it sounds like you're having a ball so far and i loved your story about 'Mr Big Noodle'!! ahaha!! i'm looking forward to hearing of more adventures! big hugs xxxxx