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Published: April 9th 2006
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Wildboy
I'm good at ruining beauty. Yo, I'm back in Chiang Mai after the jungle trek. Man, that's something you gotta do if you are here. It was a great time. They did a really good job of putting a group together, which made it fun for everyone. Everyobody was around the same age and the guides were freakin hilarious. There was a couple from Chile, some Brits, some Canadians, some Germans, and an Australian and Swedish dude. There were 15 of us in total. The actual hike wasn't too extreme but the first day we walked uphill the whole time and it was super hot. I think everyone was thinking "Oh man what did I get myself into?" but that was the toughest part of the trek. There wasn't much to see but that evening we came to the village where we were spending the night and the guides cooked us some supper. We even got to take a shower and drink some beers. Some of the children dressed us in traditional clothes and sang some songs for us. Then some local guys brought out a guitar and a drum kit composed of a beer bottle, a gas can and a lid from a pot. They
turned out to be really good and it was alot of fun. Actually, I drank quite a few beers and some moonshine and ended up playing guitar and singing funny songs about everyone. This was a bad idea. What was I thinking? I had to get up and walk all day! The bed was just a mat on the floor of a big bamboo hut where everyone slept, but I had no trouble falling asleep after a day like that.
The next day we got up and the guides cooked breakfast but I was wishing I could sleep a few more hours. Too many Beer Chang(the cheapest Thai beer). I had a Chang-over, that's for sure. The biggest relief came when we hiked to a waterfall and got to go swimming. Then we had lunch(and I had a nap) and we headed off for another waterfall. Now we were seriously deep in the jungle and it was really unlike anything I've seen. So green and thick, really quite beautiful scenery. We pretty much just followed the river all day until we arrived at the next village to spend the night. It was a nice little place with just one family
Girl
This girl was really shy but I snuck a photo. It didn't turn out too well but she was adorable. living there right beside the river. Nobody got too drunk and disorderly that night...especially not myself. The guides 'Jungle Jim' and 'Jon' (they pick easy nicknames for westerners to remember) were always cracking jokes and picking on eachother. Jim would always beat Jon with a stick and tell him to shut up. They were gambling in the hut and all of the sudden we hear Jon cry out, "I want to die!". He had just lost 1000 Baht which is alot for a Thai person. It was so hilarious because the Thai languge is very tonal and nasal-ish so it even sounds funny. Jim was rubbing it in saying, "I'll just take the keys to your motorbike".
The next morning everyone was excited because we were only about half an hours walk from the elephant camp where we got to do some elephant riding. I didn't know what to expect really. As you'll see in the pictures, I had to ride on the neck. This wasn't the most comfortable experience. The elephants have very coarse prickly hair and I wished I had been wearing long pants instead of shorts. I really had to hang on for dear life....it was a
Moo
Look at the ears on her! Elmer Fudd will have to be vewy, vewy quiet. really 'bumpy' ride. I was amazed that an animal that size was so gentle though. I thought something so big would be a bit clumsy. I don't know how they know where to place their feet when walking around or over rocks but at one point on the path there were 'elephant stairs' in the dirt and they made it up no problem. And it's not like the ground shakes when they walk like I thought. They don't even make a sound. Man, I really liked my elephant. I got some bannanas and he would just walk along and reach up with his trunk and take one right out of my hand. The trunk kinda has like a 'thumb' on it so they can grab even really small things. And they're smart, they respond to verbal commands....thai verbal commands. They know more Thai words than I do!
We did some rafting after the elephant riding. It was really fun but it is low season right now so there weren't many fast rapids. Some parts were OK. I have to try white water rafting now for sure. I was on a raft with some very tiny people from Korea and Japan,
Waterfall
This was relieving after the beer-filled night before. so guess who had to do all the paddling? Ah, they were really nice though. The trip was finished off with some relaxing bamboo rafting. It's just a bunch of bamboo tied together and the guide has a pole and pushes you along.
So all in all, the trek was the best thing I've done so far in Thailand. And now I have to spend a few hours putting on pictures so you jerks can see why.
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WEEEE
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Lucky Bastard
I WANT TO BE THERE!!! If i wasn't in school I totally would be! Did you get to see the long Neck tribe? You know the one you see on National Geographic.. they are from Chang Mia.