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From Chiang Mai, located in the north of Thailand, I undertook a 3-day trek into the Thailand jungle. I was picked up early doors from my hostel, thrown in the back of a van with 6 others, and driven deep into the rainforest.
The first day started out quite hot, and we hiked uphill for several hours, looking forward for a "swim" at the waterfall. Well the waterfall was impressive, but the body of water beneath it was about the size of a paddling pool. Still, a perfect way to cool down in the heat.
That's when it started to pour. Did I mention it was rainy season here? A monsoon descended upon us, but on we walked, through the driving rain and slippery mud, and reached our base for that evening's rest and meal.
Thankfully the great Rain God decided to call it a day before it got dark, and our guide Toto, and his mates, proceeded to set up a roaring campfire for us to huddle around, protecting us from the cold of the mountain's high altitude.
The next day, after more of walk through winding jungle trails, we arrived at our lunch site, after
which we did the highlight of the trek, elephant riding! Ours was the biggest and 3 of us were perched precariously on a bench on top of his back. After 5 minutes of being carried however, the guide let me swap places with him, and I found myself on top of the elephant's back with my legs behind his ears, his back and neck muscles grinding ferociously together as he plodded along.
At first I thought it slightly cruel to the elephants, but I read that they can carry up to a thousand pounds of load, and nobody ever thinks horse riding is cruel, so I sat back and let him carry me through the jungle.
That evening we arrived at the remote hill-tribe village, where the children put on a dance for us which pretty much involved walking around the campfire repeatedly. They than started singing traditional Thai songs, followed, somewhat bizarrely, by a medley of "Incy Wincy Spider", "Kumbaya" and "Frere Jacques"! We were then presented with a donation bowl to go towards the children's education. Hopefully it will go some way towards teaching them some new songs.
The next day we floated down the
river on a raft made entirely from bamboo, which was interesting but pretty relaxed, and finally we arrived at the village of the long-necked people.
The women of this tribe have a heavy brass coil wound around their necks from a very young age, and each year it is replaced by an even longer one. This has the effect that it pushes the collarbones down and the skull up, elongating their necks. The men don't have to wear them, but nobody is sure if this tradition started as a sign of beauty or as a protection from tigers by guarding the jugular. Nevertheless, it cost quite a bit to visit this village, and once you were there it felt like visiting a zoo, as they posed unemotionally for you to take as many photos as you liked. I got several, but obviously that's when my camera battery decided to die....
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