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Published: February 16th 2007
North by Northwest
Train from Bangkok to Chiang MaiWow! What an incredible few days it's been. Just returned from a three day trek through northern Thailand's Khao Sok National Park. Our group started off with 7 and ended with just 3, including myself and two "super fantastic rock-n'-roll Japanese Survivor girls."
We left early Wednesday morning and made it to the elephant camp. The elephant part of the trek was honestly a bit of a disappointment, as it was more like a pony ride with elephants and the
mahout,or handler, kept whacking the poor thing with this stick like bat with a big hook on the end to get it to go where he wanted. I'm not really sure who was driving whom at one point. The sound was a bit rattling, but it was a short trip thankfully. From there we made our way to the trail, hiking most of the day through some gorgeous teak and bamboo forests. We stopped at a Karon hill tribe where cold Chang beer awaited us. The tribes people are mostly rice-farmers and are quite the savvy entrepreneurs as well (they could have charged NYC prices for that beer and we would gladly have paid!). This is the off-season for crops
Rice paddy
Off season for mountain agriculture. During monsoon it's flooded to grow Thailand's famous jasmine rice. and they are burning the fields for next season. It fills the valley with a thick haze and makes your throat hurt from breathing it in.
The next morning most of the group didn't want to continue! These two French guys had only planned on an overnight trip so were leaving anyway. The Dutch guy I met on the train, Arjun, became ill overnight (nothing like waking up to someone getting sick in the bunk next door), and it was a bit too strenuous for the Thai person on the trip. So then we were three: just me and the two Japanese girls, Hiruko and Asami. They were total troopers and didn't speak any English, but the three of us spent the next two days hiking through the uplands and meeting the local Karon tribes. Since our group was so small, one of the families invited us in the house for homegrown peanuts and homemade rice "whiskey". (I asked one guy what he called it, and he referred to it as "moonshine"...good enough). We had chicken curry and rice for dinner complete with more cold Chang beers. This morning we headed out at about 9 after a breakfast of
banana pancakes and good ol' Nescafe coffee. It's very humid and hot, but the jungle stays pretty cool in the shade and there was a nice breeze most of the day. We went swimming in several waterfalls and then stopped by a hill-tribe school. Again, our group being so small, we were able to go into the classroom and I found myself teaching English numbers to a classroom of 7-10 year old Karon tribe schoolchildren. Some of them walk 5 miles to and from school everyday. I never expected the experience I've had. The people are very friendly, and it is amazing how much you can communicate with gestures and smiles.
Our guide "Nu" speaks very good English and has been guiding the mountains here for about ten years. He works 6 days a week in the mountains and has wondeful stories of Cobra bites and broken bones. There's no helicopter to come and get you if there is a problem and he has had to carry more than one tourist out of there. We made it down the mountain through banana plantations and had pad-thai for lunch. Then we rode bamboo rafts down the river to our awaiting ride
class is in session
do I have your attention? back to Chaing Mai.
I just had two dinners for dinner: red curry with rice and pork spareribs with rice. It's Chinese New Year tonight and we (Arjun the Dutch guy) may head into Chinatown to check things out. But I'm feeling very spent so will probably call it an early night.
Stay tuned!!
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