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Published: April 2nd 2008
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Thai village kids...
They swarmed us as soon as we got out of the truck... Sooo funny! Bargaining with them for their bracelets and necklaces was hysterical! Into the Jungle…
Ok, so Fede and I are back in Chiang Mai after a 3-day/2-night adventure in the jungles and mountains of Northern Thailand. What an experience… It was incredible. Honestly, we had some misgivings about it all when we set out on Monday- felt the tour company was giving us the run-around, weren’t sure we were getting what we expected, happened to get placed in a group where no one else spoke English (More on that in a second…)- but we made up our minds to make the most out of it and have a good time, and that we surely did. It turned out to a great time, and exactly what we were looking for (Save the group not speaking English, of course…).
The short of the long story of the 3 days…
We had a meeting at our guesthouse Sunday evening before leaving on the trek on Monday morning, just to get the details of what we needed to bring, meet the other members of our group, etc. We came to find out that there would be 7 of us altogether (9 including the 2 guides)- Fede and I, and a family from Taiwan.
The family consisted of the father, his 2 sons (10 and 7), his sister, and his uncle… We quickly realized that none of them could speak any English, and that it could be a LONG 3 days in the jungle with 2 little kids, and what seemed to be some people that didn’t really know what they were getting themselves into… We left the meeting half wanting to get our money back and do something else, but stuck with it. I’m so glad that we did…
Day 1: We left Chiang Mai and drove into the mountains of Northern Thailand to visit one of the various hill tribes that reside there. As soon as we got out of the truck, the children from the village were SWARMING us with there bracelets, necklaces, bags, and other home-made goods… “Hellotwentybaahhhht” “Hellotenbaahhhhht” “Hellofiftybaaahhhhhht” (The “baht” it the Thai monetary unit). Too funny! We were bargaining with them, down to “FREE!!”, and then they would all start laughing. It was fun. We moved out of the village after having lunch, and set out into the jungle towards our first night’s campsite- the elephant camp. It sprinkled on us a bit, but nothing too
bad… Down through the jungle, along stream beds and through dense bamboo forests, we finally come out into a clearing and made it to the elephant camp. We dropped out bags, rinsed off in the stream, and relaxed while the guides cooked dinner and fashioned home-made chopsticks right there on the spot. We all went to bed early, as we were all pretty tired.
Day 2: We had coffee, tea, and toast before saddling up the elephants and setting out into the jungle. I had never ridden an elephant before, but I have to say it was a cooler experience than I though it would be. They are soooo smart, and seem to move so smoothly and simply. They know exactly where to put their feet, even when walking through stream beds of what seem like sharp and slippery rocks. It was amazing just to watch them amble along, stopping to tear down a tree here and there when they got hungry- pretty cool. We rode the elephants for about an hour or so before hopping down and continuing the trek through the jungle. A waterfall shower, lunch on the trail, and before we knew it, we were arriving
In the Bamboo Forest...
Fede and I in the upper forest... in Dulong village about mid afternoon. That was to be our camp for the second night.
We played a game of soccer with one of the village kids, explored the various houses a bit, and were treated to one of the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen. Absolutely incredible. I can’t even describe what it was like, and the pictures don’t do it justice (They never do), but it was absolutely breathtaking. After dinner, some of the village girls came and sang some songs for us, and then we went to bed, hoping to get a good night’s sleep. Not to be. There must’ve been HUNDREDS of roosters in that damn camp, and for some reason, they found it necessary to have a crowing competition every hour or so. It was nothing short of a chorus of crows, ringing through the camp at all hours of the night/morning. Ridiculous! At first, I thought I was dreaming (Having a nightmare), but soon realized it was real. I don’t know how the villagers put up with it- you can’t “get used” to the sound of a hundred roosters crowing in the middle of the night… Needless to say-0 no sleep that
night.
Day 3: Up early (6am with the roosters, of course), breakfast, and then back on the trail. We walked through a couple of more villages (Nothing too exciting as no one was around), and then hopped on some bamboo rafts for an hour ride back to the truck- a thrill a minute, let me tell you… A 2 hour truck ride back into Chiang Mai, and here we are again!
Set to head to Laos tomorrow- hope to keep things updated…
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