Chang Mai, Chang Rai, Longnecks & Jungle Trek

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Well I got onto the over night train and luckily this time I was helped by a guy as I had been dreading falling over again since I had arrived at the platform. I got onto the train and was shown to my bed by the conductor. The bed was very reasonable and I was pleasently suprised by the comfort as I had been dreading having an awful night's sleep. I was in a room with 3 other beds as well as my own and the people in the other beds were a Belgium family I later came to discover as I chatted with them over coffee in the morning. They were all sleeping and so I got into my bed and closed the curtains and began to read and relax. I managed to sleep pretty well and woke up the next morning around 9am to have some breakfast which was fried eggs on toast and a coffee.

The train arrived at Chang Mai Station at around 11am and I got off the train (without falling over...) and went to find my guide. I bumped into one of the couples from the 2 day 1 night tour and asked where they were staying but it was not the same location as me. We said goodbye and I found the group of people who were waiting transportation to the same Hotel as me - Thong Inn Guesthouse. (It is acutally pronounced Tong not Thong but I of course still found this amuzing.)

I got speaking to a guy called Christian from Germany and we ended up having to get a Tuk Tuk to our hotel as we could not fit in the mini bus that had been provided. Once we arrived and checked into our hotel Christian and I arranged to meet an hour later to go and explore the city of Chang Mai.

We walked around all day looking at Temples and looking around the city and by the evening I was very tired and hungry. We got some food and headed back to our rooms for an early night.

The next morning was my trip to Chang Rai; here we were to see the White Temple, head to the boarder of Laos, and see the Longneck Tribe. I got on the coach at 7.30am and we made our way to the first stop.

The White Temple was like no other Temple I had seen before, it was still under construction and is not expected to finish until 2070 as they are still painting the inside with very strange pictures which included the twin towers, spider man, batman, preditor and other odd things. Around the Temple were skeletons, hands coming from the ground and it was all rather creepy although, from a distance it looked stunning.

It is called the Wat Rong Khun Temple and was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat and they started the construction in 1994. There were Golden Toilets which were very odd and over all I did find this place facinating but it really creeped me out unlike any other temple I had visited before.

Further information on this temple can be found on this website http://www.thaizer.com/tourist-attractions/white-temple-chiang-rai-wat-rong-khun/ or you can simply google the White Temple and you will easily find it.

After the White Temple we headed to the river to get a boat over to Laos. We had a boat tour that lasted around 1 and 1 /2 hours and we were told about the seperation between Laos and Thailand, the money struggles they have and the place they call no mans land where apparently they used to store opium. We got off the Boat and walked around a small area of Loas where there was a market selling the usual toot from pointless gifts to shoes, bags and clothing. There was a little girl who couldnt have been older than 4 years old walking around with her 1 year old brother strapped to her back asking for money from the tourists. This girl had no shoes and her clothes looked like they had been worn for years. The baby looked so sad and it was awful to see. We were told not to give them money as this would encourage them not to go to school. It really broke my heart.

We then headed back to Thailand and went to see the Long Neck Tribe. These were a tribe of people who fled their own town and who are not allowed to cross the boarder into Thailand so they are stuck where they are. They have no passports and can only earn money by making and selling items to people who visit thier tribe.

Women of the various Kayan tribes identify themselves by their different form of dress; tghe women of the Kayan Lahwi tribe are well known for wearing neck rings, brass coils that are placed around the neck, appearing to lengthen it. The women wearing these coils are known as giraffe women to tourists.

Girls first start to wear rings when they are around five years old. Over the years the coil is replaced by a longer one, and more turns are added. The weight of the brass pushes the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage. The neck itself is not lengthened; the appearance of a stretched neck is created by the deformation of the clavicle. Many ideas regarding why the coils are worn have been suggested, often formed by visiting anthropologists, who have hypothesized that the rings protected women from becoming slaves by making them less attractive to other tribes. Contrastingly it has been theorised that the coils originate from the desire to look more attractive by exaggerating sexual dimorphism, as women have more slender necks than men. It has also been suggested that the coils give the women resemblance to a dragon, an important figure in Kayan folklore .The coils might be meant to protect from tiger bites, perhaps literally, but probably symbolically.

There were young children who wanted to look like thier mother so had a few rings round thier neck and these things were not easy to carry so they obviously cause such damage to the body. I found this also very unhappy and felt bad for the tribe who almost looked like zoo animals as people stared and took pictures of them.

I was glad when this day was over as it was not the best day I have had in Thailand so far, although it was very educational. That evening Christian and myself went out to find some food and we ended up eating at a street cart at around 10pm, I had a vegetable noodle soup and it was the most amazing soup I have ever eaten - the way these carts look compared to how amazing the food tastes does not look possible; but it was. The next morning we did not have to be up until 10am so I managed to have a nice lie in.

So on 7 November it was time for my 3 day 2 night trek in the forest, below is information on the trek and the itinery of what we did over the 3 days...

Doi Chiangdao mountain range lies North of Chiangmai. The area is home of many ethnic hill-tribe villages, down to the west of the mountain where flows the Mae Tang river through scenic forest and valley. This adventurous and strenuous mountain will take participants across the mountain range, down to the Maetang River valley on trails that are regularly used by villagers. Trekkers will enjoy scenic views from the mountain as a long part of the hike is on the mountain ridges.

DAY 1: DRIVE TO THE COUNTRYSIDE AND START TREK

Meeting at your hotel in Chiang Mai city. Departure by covered truck to Chiang Dao valley. Proceed to the Chiang Dao Elephant training center to watch the demonstration of elephant at work. After the show, enjoy an elephant-back ride aroundthe valley (1 hour) before driving up the mountain to reach our trek starting point. We begin our hike with a first hour mostly uphill, to a village. We make a lunch break there. Pack lunch. Continue for another two hours hike on forested trails to reach our overnight destination. Overnight as guests of a village family in their traditional wooden house. A Thai dinner will be cooked by your guide.

So there were about 14 of us in our group and we headed to the Elephant centre to ride the elephants. They were the most beautiful animals and they were so big!!! We were able to ride the elephants and feed them which was amazing although it didnt seem that the elephants themselves enjoyed walking around several times a day with several people on thier backs. The elephants were fed and washed after each ride so it seemed like they were treated ok.

After the elephant ride we had lunch and then headed to the start point of the trek. It was about 2pm before we began and right from the start it was not an easy ride. There were many hills to climb up and down, and there were always obsticles in the way which included a river which we had to walk across a plank which had been covered by 1/4 meter of water, if you fell in you would have got very wet and all your stuff for the next few days would have been soaked so we had to be careful. Our guide had informed us that an English guy had fallen in about 2 weeks before. I was lucky it was not me with my past history of accidents!! During the walk we stopped at a beautiful waterfall where we could swim and get behind the waterfall itself. We stayed there about 45 minutes swimming and relaxing, although I did slip and graze my knee which was not so fun.

The walking was so tiring and it was not easy to walk far in the forest with a backpack on in the heat and also when you are as unfit as I am!

We continued to walk for a further couple of hours and eventually after dark (around 6.30/7pm) we got to our first camp for the night. This was deep in the woods and there was no light except fire and torch light (if you had one; which of course I forgot to bring on the trek). We all chose our beds and I got changed ready for dinner which I was looking forward to as I was starving after the long day of walking and activities.

After dinner we headed to sit around the camp to chat and have a couple of beers to congratulate us on our long day. There was a guy who lived in the camp with his family who joined us who our guide Man (yes that was his name) called "Mr Happy Man" as this guy was always laughing and it was hilarious. Later on he walked off into the woods in the dark with a torch. Man said he was going to the other camp which was about 15 minute walk to get us what he called Happy Water which was a rice water that was alcoholic. Mr Happy Man took a long time to return and we had started to wonder if he got lost but he eventually came back bearing the water for us to try. It tasted to me like weak whiskey but it was not too bad.

At around 12am we decided to head off to bed and prepare for the next day which was a 5-6 hour trek. I had to sleep on a hard bit of wood with a rug over it and so as you can imagion I did not have the best night's sleep.

DAY 2: LONGEST TREKKING DAY WITH APPROXIMATELY 6-7 HOUR’S WALK

After breakfast, we will begin today’s hike. We walk the mountain ridges on well-marked trails with some scenic views. Picnic lunch on the way. Eventually reach a tiny Lahu village on the top of the mountain overlooking the valley. Simple bamboo hut accommodation. Your guide will cook an excellent Thai dinner tonight. Participants should be ready to walk for about 6 hours on undulating terrain.

We woke up around 9am and had breakfast around 10am, it was scrambled eggs with warm bread and jam. I had started to get used to this breakfast as this was a popular breakfast given to people on tours. Before we head off for the next day adventure we had to seperate our group as 8 of them were only doing a 1 night 2 day trek so after this seperation there were only six left in our group; me, Christian, Clemant, Sylvian, Celine and Matthew.

We were handed our lunch which was apparently noodles that had been cooked and wrapped up in a large leaf to keep secure. It did not smell appetising and I was not looking forward to lunch. We set off and walked for about an hour and a half before stopping at another waterfall which also had elephants around it - including baby ones! They were not wild, they had people looking after them so they must have been used for riding etc. I did not swim as on the way I had fallen over and twisted my ankle and made a huge whole in my leggings which also left a bruise. I was in pain but did not want to give up and so continued to walk but just very slowly. Man checked my foot several times throughout the day and always ensured that I was happy to continue walking.

After the others had a swim we continued to trek for about an hour maybe two onto our next stop where we had lunch. We sat by a waterfall on a rock eating noodles from a leaf with bamboo chop sticks that Man had made for us on the walk. I was the happiest flower of the bunch, how could it get better than this I thought! The noodles turned out to be gorgeous and so tasty, I ate them so quickly! After we had finished our lunch we simply threw the leaf and the bamboo sticks in the river; it was all nature and so nothing was being dumped.

We continued our trek for another 1 and a half hours before arriving at our last camp for the night. The views were amazing and it was beautiful. Unlike the night before we had a lovely matteress too which I took full advantage of. We were cooked a lovely Yellow curry by Man who left us to eat and came back to sit with us later. According to thier tradition they have to ensure that the guests are well fed and happy before they can enjoy a meal themselves, so they consider it to be rude if they were to eat with us.

We sat around the bonfire talking and laughing with beers but I went to bed around 10pm as I was shattered and could not be sociable anymore. 12 hours sleep was had by me and so I woke up very happy.

DAY 3: EASIER TREK DOWN THE MAETANG RIVER VALLEY CAMP; BAMBOO RAFTING

After breakfast, walk through the forest around 20 minutes, mostly downhill to reach the Maetang river valley. Enjoy a picnic lunch on the river’s bank at Mae-Tang River Camp. After lunch, we experience bamboo rafting on a peaceful river before transfer back to Chiangmai and drop off at your hotel.

So after my long sleep I woke up at 10am to have breakfast with my new found friends. 4 of them were french so one of them had to translate what they were talking about to me and Christian as he was German and only knew English. We all got on really well and had a good trek together.

Once again the breakfast was scrambled Egg with jam and warm bread (supposed to be toast but not cooked enough). We walked about 20 minutes down to the car which took us along to the bamboo rafting, The bamboo rafting was relaxing and not very strenuous which was quite a nice end to the trek. We sat on the raft for about an hour and drifted along the river.

I was so proud of myself for finishing this trek in one peice as it was not easy and we had all become a family together during the long days.

We arrived back to the hostel at around 4pm and we planned to go and watch the Muay Thai Boxing as a last group night out as we were all departing the following day going in different directions. The boxing was really good and I enjoyed watching it. We had VIP seats right at the front and I was sitting right next to the stairs where the red team entered the ring.

There were 5 fights ranging from very young fighters of around 7 years old to women fighters and blind fold fights which had 3 opponents one of which was a dwarf boxer - it was hilarious. I took a video of this and hope to upload it to facebook soon.

After the boxing we decided to stick around and have a couple of cocktails and play pool. I chose a cocktail that was called London calling just to give me a memory of the UK, not that it tasted of anything in the UK, it was just strong and syrupy. We left the Boxing Hall at around 2.00am and the french guys went off to a disco but I wanted to call Joe and I had to be up to leave for Laos the next morning so I went back to the hotel with Christian. We sat outside and watched the last of the Manchester v Villa football match (it was good to see your team loose dad 😊 ) and then we said our goodbyes, Christian and I had become like brother and sister whilst we had been in Chang Mai. He was heading off South to meet a guy who he met in China before he came to Thailand.

The next morning I woke up and packed my stuff for my bus trip to Loas which collected me at 9.30am and bought me to Chang Khong to stay over in a cute little guest house. Tomorrow I will be getting a speed boat to Luang Prabang where I will stay for 2 days and then head to Vanvieng for 1 night before getting the over night bus back to Bangkok to meet Joe! Excited to see him and head to the South of Thailand!

I hope you are all enjoying my blog so far and finding it interesting to read! Please feel free to leave comments!

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Comments

[charly]

LOVE LOVE LOVE
Enjoying your blogs so much babe, im telling everyone i know to read:-) I feel like im in Thailand with you, your blogs are so detailed, which is good for us back home to see what your really up to every step of your trip! keep them coming, i bet you get bored of doing it soon lol love you so much, so very very proud of you, cant wait for Joe to come out and give you a big HUG! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx