Chiang Mai and Jungle Trek

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Hi all.

After our last update we were yet to board the overnight train to Chiang Mai, the biggets city in the North of Thailand. That evening we became more adventurous with our side street meals and bought a fish that looked rotten, yet extremely tasty, (although not Ben portion size!). We then took a cab to the train station, boarded the train and set up camp in our seat/bunkbed where we enjoyed the cool breeze of the airconditioned car. On the down side Nik had a weird man staring and filming her, perhaps he had never seen a ginger!. We had a sleepless night on the train because Nik was scared of the filming man!! We decided to share a cramped confined bed. We also had our first introduction with Eastern toilets/holes on the train. Nik accidently went in the a squatter loo because she couldnt read the Thai writing and when ready to go, realised that we were coming into the station with the window open and so quickly vacated the squaller of a loo, more off putting was that "your business" fell directly onto the track - an unusual experience! Enough of toilet humour... Other than sleeping, the journey was nice - when it became light we could see dence rainforest with the occasional forest fire and predominently dried derelict paddy fields, nevertheless beautiful.

We arrived in Chiang Mai late morning, tired yet cooler than the buslling streets of Bangkok. Immedietly a swarm of guesthouse owners tried to persuade us to stay at their places. We chose SK House because it was recommended in our bible - Lonely Planet - a good choice considering it had nice rooms, not to mention a swimming pool to cool off from in the warm tropical air. Like any explorer we immedietly searched our surroundings and located a good place to eat, a place where we could taste the local Chiang Mai dish. We continued our wrecky unearthing beautiful temples as well as one or too clothes shops. We then exploited our "free" pool to chill and cool down. As the sun was was falling behind the evergreen mountains we took a trip to the Doi Suthep Temple, an amazing temple on top of a steep mountain,- a perfect picture opportunity with the dying sunlight making the golden mounts of the temple glisten. We both admired the peacefulness and tranquility and and love the beuty of budhist life. Later in the evening we explored the night market, and tried out our bahtering techniques. However Nik was far to nice to haggle! The streets are lined with stalls selling a huge variety of clothes and gifts. With the smell of insense burning and the waft of thai food its even a pleasent walk for me.

The next day was a chill out day. This gave us time to plan en-route to Laos and also book our jungle trek. Not too much to say about this day...

Trek.
It was Friday the 13th - What could possibly happen? We set off in the back of a pick up truck, squished in creating a natural seatbelt for the short journey ahead. Our group consisted of 3 other English Girls our age, 2 Germans, 1 Swiss, 1 Italian and token 61 year old fit as a fiddle Japanese man - Nicknamed "Mr Miaggee"! Fortunately English was the groups mother tongue yet a variety of languages were flying around with the Swiss guy able to speak 6 different languages. Our first stop was at a local market where myself and Nik sampled a tasty bamboo worm delight. Shortly after however unlikely connected Nik was struck down with an "upset stomach" in a very delightful public hole in the ground and she had to pay 4p/2baht for the pleasure!. Nevertheless we quickly got the bumstoppers/imodium and we comfortably on our way. We also visited hot springs where and Nicola was ill again - perhaps this is the curse of Friday the 13th.... We then took a long journey to the mountains, the scenery far striking than we have seen yet, the jungle surrounding becoming more lush and a more vibrant green. Our next friday the 13th moment was that our truck got stuck at the bottom of the mountain so our 4 our trek turned to 5. With a soaring 35 degree heat with little shade at the bottom, a steep hill ahead, it was quite tough going to say the least. Once we were in the thicker jungle things got easier, although our backs sodden by a sweaty backpack we enjoyed some amazing sights accross the valleys. The sound was incredible, like a musical orchestra inscets played there tunes and butterflies danced around us. The terrain was variable with lots of ups and downs and we new we where nearing civilization when we saw some "jungle" cows sheltering near girthy trees. We wondered into a local village, Niks camara at the ready and she wasnt let down. In a picturesque loaction the wooden houses on stilts decorated with wild orchids and cats/dogs and chickens ruling the roost, this would be home for the evening. It was beyond beuatiful and so peaceful. I tasted rice whisky with fish before our thai curry dinner, I began to realize that although we were in the middle of the jungle, the village was somewhat westernized with an England shirt hung up in one of the houses and another using solar power. We enjoyed the rest of the evening around a camp fire, watching a local forest fire accross the valley which was a little daunting considering we were sleeping in wooden huts. We also got to know the members of the group a little more. The room we sleeping was large, with thin matresses on the wooden deck and mosquito nets above, although Nicola still got bitten!. We had little sleep, the roosters cockadoodling in the morning and the swiss guy making the most strangest noise because he was being attacked in the night by a frog in his dreams (inflicted by beer,whisky and the locals bong), it was never going to be a good nights sleep.

We awoke with achy legs and sleepy eyes, however when we walked out of the room we were staying, our eyes grew in awe of the surrounding scenery. After a boiled egg toast and jam, we were off on our way, hoping that we wouldnt have to climb the same calbre of hills we went up yesterday. A nice morning trek led us through anther village and into a jungle camp where we were to stay for the next night. A spider the size of my hand welcomed us above the beams of the bamboo huts. From here we took a 2 hour trek to a local waterfall/shower where we had a herbal essence moment.! Daringly as usual I was first to jump in! The cold mountain stream water taking away a momentry breath. But it was lovely to be cool and a great treat from a tough walk. We followed the stream back through the bamboo fauna and crossed many a small tree bridge to arrive back to our jungle camp. We then had a meal and sat around another fire, tasting sugar cane and really having a good time with the rest of the grub, meanwhile with the frogs croacking in the background, the locals used slingshots to catch birds and caught local crab and shrimp to cook and eat on the fire. It was a great night and we all set up camp in a similar wooden hut for the night.

The morning was alot cooler and after breakfast we had a short walk down the mountain side. Here we picked up a truck to take us through all the rice fields and the hill villages until we arrived at what was called elephant camp. Our excitement was short lived as the elephant ride was a commercial circuit along a streamed area and the elephants werent treated nicely, although apparently better than alot of other camps. A real dissapointement, however our spirits were lifted by a crazy Thai white water raftung instructer. We enjoyed the rapids and had a splash fight with the other boat from our group. The river was low however enough to be exciting as you were hit from rock to rock. It was nice to see all the locals playing in the river and splashing us as we passed. We were also able to stop and swim in the rapids. Afterwards we briefly visited an akha hill tribe before continuing our journey back to Chiang Mai. Bar the elephants - a really enjoyable trip.

Next stop Laos....

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