Elephant,Trekking,Caving and Ghekkos

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1st May
Our first outing in the Chiang Dao area was local to the Nest. A 500 meter walk took us to the start of a single track that would eventually lead us to the Tham Chiang Dao or the Chiang Dao Caves.
The walk was hard work in the heat and humidity but was made harder by the narrowness and how much debris had fallen onto the track since the last storm. Air had supplied two bamboo walking sticks to aid us up and down to the caves. They were useful to clear the path ahead and to check that there were no beasties hiding! well there were, in particular a giant red centipede which can cause problems if bitten.
We heard but didn't see some of the 300 species of birds in the forest, it was too dense and we realy needed binos, but we did see a couple of squirrels.
The trees were amazing, huge leaves that blocked out the sun. The bamboo was very tall,thick and plentiful,you can see why they utilise bamboo so much for building,it was all still standing after the storm.

After an hour and a half walk we finally arrived at the caves It was 40 Baht entry and 100 Baht for a guide who carried a gas lamp! There was a choice of caves to explore, we chose the longest, 750m long and guided by the nice lady with the lamp,forgot her name.It was great to get out of the heat and into the cool of the cave. She showed us of all the different shapes and formations and what they depicted. In the main hall there was a small colony of large Bats. The guided tour took about an hour, it was pitch dark and hard to see anything apart from the little local lady guide and her gas lamp(all the guides are local ladies)
Once finished and outside we watched the sacred fish,catfish and carp, being fed by locals.
Had lunch locally and walked back to Nest avoiding 3 chasing dogs,luckily we had the bamboo sticks,didn't have to use them though.

2nd May
The evening before we inscribed onto an Elephant and Rafting trip. However we were told due to no other takers there would be no guide but that Pong the Taxi driver would look after us.
So off we went in Pongs taxi to meet an elepant in the forest somewhere.

His name is Nia and is 34 years old, an Indian Nellyfant.Never been on an elephant so it was a surprise to discover how nimble and delicate she was with her feet as the track was narrow and steep at times.
Our Mahout(the elephant driver and trainer) did not speak a word of english, so it was very quiet apart from the odd noises Nia made! thought there was a wild animal following us at one point!
The trip took about an hour and we felt it!,the seat was wood.We finished at an old mountain village where Pong picked us up in his Sorg-taa-ou to drive us to the River Ping for Rafting.

We look like a couple of lamps on a raft! The hats were essential as there was no protection on the river from the sun. The water is low so the guy had to work hard with the bamboo pole,not a great flow of water. He had 2 different thickness of pole dependant on the river bed type, for sand a thicker and for gravel thinner ended pole. We passed small holdings fo farming veg. such as chilli. Very peaceful until the rapid at the end where we grounded on a boulder and got soaked. Some young monks watched on

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Photos

The mahout
He uses his feet tickling the ears