Treking the hills around Chiang Mai

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After our time with the Gibbons we were a bit undecided on where to go. We had originally planned to continue up the far west of Thailand along the Burmese border to Mae Hong Son but changed our mind at the last minute and hoped on the bus Chiang Mai.

To Thais Chaing Mai is a cultured symbol of nationhood of which they are very proud. The city is situated on the Mae Ping River basin, 300 metres above sea level and is surrounded by mountain ranges and national parks. The historical centre of the city is surrounded by a moat and a crumbling perimeter wall and most of the accommodation and restaurants are around this area.

We stayed three days and nights in Chiang Mai trying to decide what to do. We knew we wanted to do a trek in to the surrounding hills and mountains to visit the local hill tribe villages but couldn't decide whether to do it from Chiang Mai, Pai or wait until we were in the Golden Triangle. In the end we decided just to book one from Chiang Mai.

We didn't do a great deal during those three days but Chaing mai was a nice place just to relax. It's not manic like Bangkok, bookshops out muscle synthetic shopping centres and boutiques and arts and craft shops are everywhere. In the evenings we went the famous night bazaar. There were hundreds of stalls selling vibrant hand woven textiles and other handicrafts from the surrounding villages. There was also a great outdoor food market here where we could eat for pennies. We visited an area called Bo Sang one day which is famous for making paper umbrellas. Thats all there is to say on that.

On our fourth day in Chiang Mai we were picked up by our guide, Ray, to start our three day and two night trek into the hills. Our guide was a little strange but very nice and like many Thais looked much younger than his 36 years. After picking up the rest of our group, eleven of us, we hit the road. The first stop was an orchid and butterfly farm where we saw some pretty orchids, but the butterfly's must have been on holiday as i didn't see one. We then visited the famous 'long necked' ladies of the Karen tribe, the ones with gold rings around their necks. It wasn't an original long neck village although the women were authentic but have migrated to be nearer the tourists so they can make more money. Because of this it felt a bit like a human zoo, like the women had just been dumped here for our amusement. They were all sat around spinning yarn and working on looms and it felt like it was all put on for our benefit which of course it was. The women are given their first five rings when they reach the age of five and then they recieve one ring a year until adulthood. It was very interesting to see but it was quite upsetting and the women didn't seem happy. We would have preferred to see them in their original surroundings.

Next was the thing we were most excited for on the trip. An elephant ride. We arrived at the elephant camp, which is where they live, and we became very excited as we saw them walking down the path to greet us. Some of them were huge, they were amazing to see so close. We got the second biggest elephant in the herd and we climbed up to a platform from where we could mount him easily, i forget his real name but we called him Gary. We bought a bunch of bananas to feed him with along the way and we set of for an hour long ride through a light area of jungle. The scenery along the way was beautiful, the lush green hills rolled into the horizon and were dotted with rice paddies and the river was just down the embankment on our right hand side. Our elephant kept stopping and sticking his trunk up to us for a banana, we soon ran out and when we couldn't give him anymore he would blow smelly banana breath through his trunk into our faces. When our ride came to an end we reluctantly dismounted, said goodbye to our elephant and crossed the river in a dodgy looking cage on a zip line and had lunch.

We spent the afternoon walking through the jungle and up to the top a mountain/hill from where we had spectacular views back down over the hills and valleys. Other people in the group struggled but this was a walk in the park compared to the treks we did in South America. Our overnight spot that night was a homestay at a hill tribe village at the top of the mountain, we stayed in a bamboo hut on stilts and the views from here were again spectacular. The people here are very poor. During dry season, which is when we were there, they cant grow crops so they rely heavily on the tourists who pass through their village for money, not only to buy food but also to feed the nasty opium habits which many of the older members of the community have. The area used to be a prime opium producing region and with it being so readily available many people became addicted . The Thai government have successfully managed to stamp out production but neighbouring Laos and Burma still grow the crop so it is still easilly available for those who haven't kicked the habit. Opium is of course the base for heroin. They offer massages and sell handicrafts to try and make money. We spent the night drinking beer and chatting around the fire. We were briefly entertained by a village elder. She was apparently only 60 but looked closer to 160, she had one tooth and skin like a soggy prune, possibly due to opium. She was also deaf but decided she would play us a song on an out of tune four stringed guitar, needless to say it was terrible.

The next day we started late, about 10.30, and walked some more through the jungle until we reached another hill tribe village. I forget which tribe lived here due to our guides lack of useful information. He had an interesting sense of humour and a dirty mind and instead of teaching us about the culture and history of hill tribes we visited he taught us rude words in various local dialects. From my own research i know that the hill tribes all have their own language, customs, mode of dress and spiritual beliefs. Most migrated to Northern Thailand from Tibet, Burma, China and Laos during the last 200 years and the main tribes are Akha, Hmong, Karen, Lahu, Lisu and Mien. After this brief stop we walked through more jungle, i say jungle but it was more a wood really as all the primary rain forest in Thailand has been destroyed, until we arrived at a waterfall. We braved the freezing temperature of the water and had a very quick dip. It was then a short and easy walk along the river to our camp for night in the 'jungle'. We spent the evening drinking beer around the camp fire again but this time entertained ourselves by taking it in turns to stand up and sing our national anthems which included England, Canada, Wales, Sweden and Holland.

Our final day of the trip was spent on the river. We first did a spot of rafting down some rapids, we were joined by a nice dog who had followed us from camp into the boat. It was dry season so the rapids weren't at their fastest but it was still fun, we weren't very successful at paddling around the rocks so we had a few crashes. We then made the rest of the way down river on a bamboo raft which was more peaceful and much less dangerous. We saw elephants along the way and passed many small villages. After having some lunch we made our way back to Chiang Mai stopping at another village on the way. I have no idea which tribe it belonged to.

We spent that night wandering around the Sunday Night Market, which gathers every Sunday just outside the old city walls, with a couple we had met on the trip. We preferred it to the Night Bazaar and spent a few hours browsing and eating street food. We also indulged in some drinks and bought a bottle of local wine which was like syrup and some bottles of some other substance which can't really be described, it was horrid.

The next day we left to head to some small towns in the north.

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