Chaing Dao - The Trek!

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The Trek!
Birds, bats, bed bugs, mossies and cock-a-doddle-do!!!!

We jumped in a taxi to the train station where we were due to be picked up at 7:30 to start our trek. After a two hour drive in the back of our party bus we were taken up into the mountains to the "Nest". A small hide away resort which provided a back to basics feel to it whilst still giving off a feeling of luxury and seculsion. I thought it was a very romantic resort. We left our bags in the main resort and were treated to an amazing breakfast. Potentially the best scrambled eggs I have ever had - next to my own of course!

We set off and were introduce to Tori our guide for the day. Tori like to sing and sang all of our itneary to us over and over. Our first stop was to drive to the Elephant training centre for an elephant ride. The ride took over an hour. Kirsty and I sat on top of Mrs Moon the only girl of the group. I felt very sorry for her as our driver sat on her head and hit her with a stick to get her to move and stop eating the trees. The elephant ride was hilarious as each elephant kept wandering off the track and into the trees to eat. One elephant tried to head butt a tree and knock it over! At one point I thought the Elephant that Jane and Vix were sitting was going to mount Mrs Moon and give her a bit of a seeing to - which would have been a bit of a disaster for me and Kirsty who would have certainly been squashed! The ride was really relaxing and took us through some dense jungle landscapes. The elephants were extremely good at clearing the road - as they ate most of the stuff in their way. Up high on the elephant you could really see the area of Chaing Dao - I felt as though I had just been dropped off on the Island from the TV programme Lost.

After the Elephant ride we were taken on a small tour of tori's village and once again I was faced with a life that was so alien to me. Humble and simple. We were taken to the local school and sat with the children for a while and helped them colour in. One of the little boys was flicking through a magazine and found a picture of a small white girl with blonde hair and held the picture up to me as if telling me that the picture was of me. The school gets a few volunteers from a company called, "Foundation" it was so tempting to sign up. The Thai kids were just beautiful and so so happy.
We stopped off for some lunch which was basic but really nice. Sticky rice with chicken and a side salad. Can't go wrong with that can you!

After lunch we were taken to a river bed and invited to sit on a bamboo raft - which was not the most sterdy thing I have ever sat on. We were taken down the river foe about 40 minutes. The ride was so relaxing had the seat been a bit more comfortable I think I would have drifted off. it seemes that Kirsty and I had bagged ourselves a more experienced rafter as she managed to navigate round the river bends with no problem and even when the river got a bit choppy she ensured that our trip was seemless and smooth. Vicky and Jane did not have the same luck. After every bend we would turn around to see their raft float off into the reeds. At one point the lady who was in charge of their raft lost her footing and fell head first into the river. I literally cried with laughter, the poor lady. What was even more funny was the fact that Vix stood up to help and then promptly changed her mind and sat straight back down. Jane didn't even flinch!

The river rafting had to come to an end and so we wobbled off our boats and met Tori who directed us to the back of a truck. We sat in the back slipping about thinking that this could not be legal. I am sure that this is where they put tools and stuff - not people. None the less it was nice being out in the open and having the wind in my hair. We drove along winding roads, beeping before we got to any corners to warn people that we were on our way. It felt a bit like driving through Jurrasic Park minus the Dinosaurs, we wound up the road for about 40 minutes. The views were spectacular. Once at the top of Chaing Dao mountain we met Nata our host for the evening. Nata took us down the other side of the mountain by foot to his village. The Village did not have a fence as it was surrounded by mountains which in the past had provided ample dense from intruders. We were taken to what we would be calling home for the evening...

A hut made out of bamboo. Two double matresses on the floor - and fortunately a mossie net over each. Blankets and a sleeping bag for warmth.. and that was it. There was no door to the hut, just a blanket that had been hung up for a bit of privacy. We had what could only be described as a small patio area which would be where we would eat that evening. Everything was made from bamboo and I am ashamed to say that one a number of occasions I nearly put a hole in the floor. The accomodation was well as basic as you could get... The shower did not exist and of course the toilet was erm... gross. Another hut with a hole in the floor. We were sat int he middle of a farm and what was even more disturbing was all of Nata's underwear hung up on the fence surrounding our hut... (And no they were not clean). I decided to load myself up with immodium. There was no way I was having a night like that in Bangkok here!
That evening Nata cooked for us - the food was actually rather good. We spent the night chatting to Nata who told us that he was 24 and had lived in the village all of his life. His friends came over and had a few drinks with him and then drove off on their motorbikes. Nata did his best to talk to us and to inform us what life was like in the village. It seemed to me that there was little to do other than to get drunk - which was exactly what Nata was doing. He offered us a few drinks but there was no way I was going to run the risk of needing to get up in the night and find my way to the toilet hut thing. It got really dark early and we shamefully put ourselves to bed at 8pm. Nata kindly provided us with a couple of candles as there was no electricity in the village. Worryingly I tripped over the entrance while carrying a candle to bed and nearly burnt the whole thing down.
In my "bed" I noticed two little birds right above my head. It appears that the hut was not just home to me and the girls but to these two birds and their family. Excellent. Despite covering myself with Deet I spent most of the night wiggling around. At 2am the Rooster went off. Now I was always led to believe that they started up in the morning when the sun rose. Clearly I had been lied to, the bloody thing did not stop all night! I shuffled around in the dark and managed to find my ear plus (thanks guys for getting me these before I left!) They helped... But then a bit later I was woken up again but an overwhelming need for the loo. But I was determind, there was no way I was walking out in the pitch black trying to find that hut thing and then trying to aim my pee down that hole int he dark! The birds started up... Excellent.

Once the sun had risen all the girls got up (and ran to the loo - seems I was not the only one). I had a babywipe wash and made myself as presentable as possible. Brushing my teeth and spitting over the side of our house. Which I quite liked! I noticed lots of little bites all over myself. Bed bug bites and knat bites. Lovely. I spent the next couple of days wiggling around like a little worm. Wonderful!

Nata told us that for the second day we would be treking to a cave and a waterfall and then heading off to a different village. We head off after breakfast which was once again rather nice - well done Nata! The trek was really difficult and once again I found myself concentrating on where to put my feet in order to stay up right. We trekked through fields and across rivers and up through unstable woodland. It had rained through the night and so the ground was slippy and wet. I spent a lot of time on all fours trying to climb up rocks and kept thinking that I was pleased that I had taken out some insurance! Nata's friend came with us and so helped us through the tougher parts of the trek. We were literally clambering through the jungle with no real path to follow. By the time I got to the cave I was filthy - and exhausted. We sat outside the cave for a couple of minutes to get our breath. Nata gave us all a hard hat and a torch for the trip into the cave. Kirsty and Jane decided to sit this one out but Vix and I decided to head on in!

We climbed down into the cave and expected to see a massive dark open space - you know your typical cave.... Nope! It was tiny. Nata's friend was our guide and he did not speak a word of English. He guided us through the tight corridor ducking and diving so not to hit our heads. Poor Vix being about 6ft tall had a few knocks. Bear in mind that it was pitch black and the only light we had came from the small torches in our hands it was impossible not to walk into things. Even me and my 5ft managed to donk my head a number of times. It was dead dead scary as the cave was silent, we could no longer hear Jane and Kirsty talking at the entrance all we could hear were the odd drops of water hitting the cave floor. I kept expecting to see a skeleton of some kind. We had to do a lot of climbing and sliding down the rocks and at one point I had to get on my stomach and crawl through a small gap in the floor. I felt a bit like Indiana Jones! I could tell that I was filthy but kept my mind purely focused on where I was going to put my foot next. My eyes had become acustomed to the darkness and I started to think about what sort of a nutter would have wandered down here first and taken a look around. All sorts of things were rushing through my mind. What happened if our guide slipped and fell and hurt himself. We would never know how to get back! What if I fell...? What if Vix fell? We were underground in the cave for about 20 minutes and I was looking forward to getting to the other side and seeing day light again. When suddenly our guide stopped and turned around... "Now go back" he said.... WHAT?!?! There was no through route?! We had to turn back and weave our way through the darkness back to the beginning. It was horrible and memories of the film the Decent came back to me. It was JUST like that... Vix screamed as she sae something move and I definately felt something brush against my leg. There in front of us was the biggest spider I have ever seen. I am not one to be scared of spiders but by god this one was massive. The size of my hand when scrunched up in a ball... We clambered out as quickily as we could without falling over ourseleves.

The light from the outside hurt my eyes and I looked down to see myself competely covered in dirt. My legs and hands were filthy and the top of my hard hat was covered in scratches from all the times that I had bashed my head on the roof. It was absolutely awesome! I was on a proper high. I loved it. It was so dangerous and so exciting as you really felt like you were delving into an unknown world.

We head off towards the waterfall. Vix and I agreed that no matter what we were getting in and washing ourselves - as best as possible anyway. I was glad that we had made this agreement. If I thought I was dirty from the cave I was in for a shock. The path to the waterfall was steep and slippy. We clambered over wet rocks and clung to branches and dirt to try and strady ourselves. A number of times I nearly slipped and fell down in the mud. We walked along the river following it up the mountain to the waterfall. This meant that if I slipped I would fall into the water and be taken away with the current (which was quite strong). I may have had the advangtage of being short in the cave but I was seriously disadvantaged when treking to the waterfall. Every step I needed to take was huge and I wondered whether my little legs would stretch far enough to get me to where I needed to be. The climb up to the waterfall felt like rock climbing to me but we didn't have any harnesses...
When we finally made it to the waterfall I stripped off and jumped in. It was freezing. But it felt good to clean the mud that had attached itself to my skin. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lydia for the quick dry towl that she got me - came in handy here! Nata jumped in as well and washed - we reckon this might be the only time that he gets to clean himself....

After the waterfall we continued our trek up hill to our next village destination. The trek started off through the jungle in the same fashion but later took up to a footpath which lay at a 60/70 degree angle. Let me tell you - nothing can prepare you for this. The heat and the incline ensured that I went through three bottles of water whilst trying to get to the top. This may be even harder than the 10K run I did last May...

When we made it to the top we were taken to a small village that over looked the mountain edge. It was paradise! Not only were we shown a hut with a door on it - but it had a toilet next door - a real working toilet AND not only that but electricity! A light in the hut and a light in the toilet. I think Kirsty and Jane were on the verge of tears. They were not taking to the roughing it of the trek like me - who was loving the whole not washing and crawling around in the mud business. We were exhausted after the days treking and were delighted when dinner was announced. We were taken to a little woodern patio which hung over the mountain edge. Thai red curry, rice and vegetables it was a feast and I am not ashamed to say that I had thirds. We soaked up the atmosphere and the view and watched the sun set behind Chaing Dao mountain. Sadly we were all so wiped that we were in bed by about 7pm (and this was a Friday night!).

Although we had electricity and a working toilet we still had farm yard animals and mossies. No bed bugs tonight but the hard floor seemed to set off Jane's snoring which kept me awake for the bulk of the night. The came the rain. I looked up through the darkness to the thatched roof of our hut and wondered whether I was going to get soaked during the night. Amazingly we remained dry all night!
We had breakfast on the patio and listened to the rain crash down around us. Breakfast was dissapointng - museli... I'm not very good with dairy products when I am abroad and after my incident in Bangkok I was not going to tempt anything and so ate my cereal dry. Not very nice....

We were introduced to Sam and Natapa - who we called Tapas, they were our guides for the day. They handed us a large walking stick each - which I loved because I felt like Gandafle the Grey from Lord of the Rings. Later I realised that that my staff or stick potentially saved my life...
We set off into the jungle, although the rain had stopped the ground was wet and slippery. We were told that Chaing Dao experiences three seasons in one day. Rain in the morning and then blistering sunshine and then cold and the occasional shower in the evening. They were not kidding!
Our first stop was to visit Sam's village and the local witch doctor/ priest who would if permitted would prey for our safe passage through the jungle and wish us good fortune in the future. The climb to the village took about an hour or so. Sam's English was not amazing but he was an extremely happy little man that like to laugh out loud and hit people. Kirsty thinks that I will be just like him when I get old. As we were walking towards the village Sam called out to the village people who all whistled and cheered at us as we walked through the town. Two children ran after us singing - I felt like a mini celebrity.

We took our shoes off and sat in a small hut and spoke to Sam's Uncle who was the village priest. We were given tea in little bamboo shoots. The tea was not good. We were also offer some bananas - which we initially refused but Sam's uncle looked so heart broken I found myself eating two to bring a smile to his face. We bought a couple of nick nacks and listened to Sam play an instrument that he had made out of a dried mango and bamboo - Vix and I gave them a quick demonstration of the running man and other dance floor classics. I was in my element. Kirsty seemed to have an admirer with one of the young kids who at the age of 12 thought that he could provide for Kirsty and be a sutible match for her. He was asking Sam to keep us here and not to let us leave which was really sweet.
Sam's uncle came round to each of us one by one and placed a small bracelet on the wrist of our right hand and performed a sacred prey for us. He spent a lot of time looking at the piercing on my arm (which I had covered up with a plaster) and gave a seperate prey for me - which I can only assume was to speed up it's heeling.
At first it was hard not to laugh at the Priest as during the prey he half blew and half spat on our arms. Jane made the comment that it was just as well that we all had our Hep B injections. But when it was my turn I fdid find myself fall silent and listen as he muttered the words under his breath. I had to admit - whether it be a con or not I left the village feeling really privilaged for what I had experienced and felt my right arm go all tingly.

Our next stop was a cave. This cave was supposed to be a lot bigger and not so claustrophobic. The trek to the cave was quite tough and I found that I used my staff to pull myself up and stop myself from slipping off the edge of the cliff a number of times. It was just as well someone had preyed for me to pass through safely! Tapas carried a massive knife with him and cut a loose path for us through the trees and Sam spent a lot of the time laughing at us all slipping over. The trek was proving to be real fun and a really good bonding experience. For every step we managed to find a song to sing to or something to laugh about. I felt as though we were a real team, almost like a family. One of the things that I loved about our group was how we all looked out for each other. At some point everyone tripped or slipped and we were all there to help each other up the terrain and through the slippery paths. Sam and Tapas were brilliant at helping us through the jungle as much of the trek was challenging and still very wet.

We got to the cave and stopped for some breath. Jane decided to sit the cave out but upon the advice that the cave was not so small and tight Kirsty decided to venture in. I am not sure why I decided to go in, the experience of the day before would and should have been enough. It was so bloody scary I couldn't quite believe that I was volunteering to go back!
True to his word Sam took us through a massive cave that was vast and empty. As we delved a bit deeper in the cave fell through silent with the odd water drop echoing around us. My torch was inadequate and did not give me enough light to see how big the cave actually was. In some respects I found this cave more scary because you could not see to the other side to see whether there was anyone or anything else in the cave with you. Sure enough we were not alone... Sam pointed his torch up to the ceiling to reveal a family of bats hanging from the roof. They were all clustered together and seemed to be unaware of our presence. Sam picked up a stone and threatened to throw it up at the bats. I nearly punched him.
The cave was big, wide and dark and despite what you might think it was very warm in the cave and the air felt very thin and close to you. We walked around following Sam and flickering our torches around us. Suddenly Sam stopped and instructed us to all hold hands and then walk and follow him... Seemed a bit odd.
In order to get out of the cave we had to climb up the side of the cave wall to get up.. the path up to the top was sloped and on an edge. The inclide was about 60 degrees and god knows what the drop to the right of us was like. In the darkness, blind leading the blind we pigeon stepped up the cliff edge sticking as close to the wall as possible. Now if this wasn't dangerous I don't know what is... Once we had climbed up to the next level of the cave Kirsty started to panic a bit. Walking alone cliff edges was something that we were used to doing outside in the broad daylight, doing the same thing in a pitch black cave with a little man who doesn't speak much English and being armed with a tiny torch is another thing... I found that whilst I was in the caves I was stripped of any emotions and did not find myself panicking or - well feeling anything. I think I was too busy concentrating on not plumeting to my death to panic. I looked up and saw a small strobe of light and pointed it out to Kirsty. Instantly relieved we made our way towards the light to exit the cave. On the way out Sam pointed out that part of the cave had been used as a Budist shrine and had been inhabited for many years. Which was pretty incredible.

We continued through the trees until we found a small shack type thing which looked a bit like a bus stop in the middle of dense bush land to me. We sat down and Sam set up camp and lit a fire. He pulled out a wok from his massive basket which he had been carrying on his back. He began preparing a bush man style lunch - rice with vegetables and fish. A secret sauce which tasted amazing. Tapas wandered off - we assumed to go to the loo or to cut down a path for us to walk. In fact he spent this time hacking away at a bamboo tree and the next thing we knew he had made six bowls for us out of the tree bark!
we sat down and ate the best meal that I had had in ages. I couldn't believe my eyes when I found myself eating out of our man made bowls. The whole experience was just brilliant and once again I found myself feeling as though I was experiencing something out of the ordinary.
I was stuffed - but there was no way I was going to leave any of my food - not after the rubbish breakfast that we had had! We a very full stomach we head off for the final part of the trek - back to the road to be taken back to the Nest to go home. The final part of the trek took about three hours which was quite gruelling and once again I found myself gripping desperately onto my staff trying not to fall over. By the end of the day I had blisters on my hands from gripping so tightly.
Walking through the trees was tough in terms of mapping your feet and not falling over. A lot of this type of trekking is just as mentally draining as it is physical. The last hour though was a straight walk up a dirt track in the blistering heat. Fortunately we had ample water to keep us going and took every opportunity to stop and rest when we needed to. I found the trek very though and relished the challenge. When the main road where our car would be waiting was insight I broke out into a run and ran the last 100 metres just to get there as quickily as possible.

With all the endorphins pumping we sat in the back of our truck feeling estatic and really pleased with ourselves. All of us had found the trek challenging in one way or another and everyone came away feeling as though they had accomplished something as well as undertaking an amazing experience. We were however looking forward to getting to a beach and sitting on our asses for a couple of days and doing nothing!

we opted for some food at the Nest which went down a treat. We then boarded our party bus taxi (A van with not doors at the back and loads of coloured lights on the roof) and were taken to the airport. We waved goodbye to Sam and Chaing Dao and looked forwarded to heading south to the beaches.

I can honestly say that the trek in Chaing Dao was one of the best things that I have ever done and would thoroughly recomend this to anyone who is thinking of heading to Thailand. 😊

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