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Published: October 16th 2006
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3 day trek in the jungle, oh my buddah how do i fit 3 days worth of clothes in my day pack?? Dont worry i managed!! A group of us (2 Brits, 1 from Belgium & 4 from Holland) met outside guest house at 9am and we are on our way to experience the jungle / village living / trekking for 3 days without running water, electricity, flushing toilet & BYO toilet paper.... We drive an hour to go Elephant riding. The elephants are huge however i did feel very sorry for them, they didnt look all that happy but i think they really appreciated the ba na nas i bought to feed them while sitting on their back swaying side to side. I went on my Elephant ride with Koen from Belgium and we had about 15 ba na na each to feed the elephant along the way, the Elephant would move his trunk over his head for us to place the ba na na straight into his trunk, sometimes when we were trying to look at the scenery he would blow on us to get our attention so we would feed him again. Alot of hot breath can come
Our shower on 1st day of Trek
yep, this was our shower. Pass the soap please... anyone one need shampoo? out of an elephant believe me and their spit isnt that nice either.... besides that the ride was peaceful and the scenery lush, we got to see a baby elephant too.
Next stop was lunch and then our trek began. Our guides will be Nu Nu and Dee, Dee had just gotten off another trek and walked straight into ours - very energetic guy.... later into the trip we nick named him monkey boy as he was mad as the Brits would say - he could climb a 10 meter tree with bare feet in 5 seconds, do back flips into rivers, loved rubbing a plant which they use for lipstick all over this nose and cheeks and he tried to be a real ladies man, cough, cough!!!...
We trekked through mud, amongst rice fields, over rivers, under huge branches at a 60% slope... until we came to a water fall.... this was were we shower & we thought the guides were joking!!, so we all put our bathers, lathered ourselves with soap and merrily washed the sweat from our bodies. The water was cool but devine.. The weather so far had been very very humid, our shirts
were soaked and hair dipping from sweat so hopping to the cold water was perfect.. There was a water fall about 3 people high and we swam in the water for a little bit then went and stood right under the water fall to find that there is a cave and a little beach like sandy area behind the water fall... i just stood under the water fall for 10 minutes and was revived, it was cool and invigorating, i couldnt get the smile off my face..... Finally I started to get out of my head and back in to my body (hoorah!). As i came out of the water fall and out of the water there was about 10 bright yellow butterflies swirling around my body - was this my best day ever!!!! - could possibily be close to it!!!
It was just a short easy walk to our home for the night... our home was made out of logs and bamboo on stills with our little mattresses and mosquito nets lined up next to each other. i chose the bed in the middle so i could see out of the entrance at any time - the view
amazing... jungle / rain forest / rice paddies / mountains.... so beautiful. Thank you mother nature.
We pottered around then sat in a common area which was also on stilts with a roof but no walls, we sat on bamboo mats and chatted that night away. There was one light for the whole area which was solar powered.
Dinner was served on a mat on the floor in the kitchen - which consisted of a huge black pot on an open fire.... we all sat around cross legged on the floor in this little hut with a tiny piece of light coming through the doorway..... it was perfect.
I saw more stars than ever and we were all sung to sleep my the cicartas (sorry about spelling but you know - grasshopper type things!!!)
The next morning breakfast was the usually white bread with strawberry jelly and we were on our way.
Today we would be trekking for about 6 hours, 4 hours in the morning, had lunch (2 minute noodles, some with the additional bonus of a maggot or 2...) then we're off again, most of this day we were trekking up mountains, they
were so steep 60% or more. it had been about 2 hours of trudging through the mud i was so proud of myself thinking that this is what it must of been like for the ANZACs and i was thinking that i was so proud to be an Aussie and the ANZAC spirit was inside me and i was feeling so connected to nature and in quite a zen state then suddenly.... lllaalalalalal lsalalalalalall - hmm that's strange... our guide Dee had his mobile phone in his pocket and he had just got a message ------ Straight back into reality.... Thanks Dee!!
To another water fall for a shower and a swim and this is where we were to stay on the second night. the water fall was so loud you forget that they keep going and going and going, that they dont just fall when humans are around... how self focused i have been!!
That night we had a bon fire and sat around and played Thai games then i was off for an early night.
On our final morning i woke up earlier than anyone else and just sat on a huge rock at the
bottom of the waterfall for about an hour before anyone else woke, i would close my eyes to meditate then open them and be absolutely amazed at the beauty of my surroundings. The longer i became still the brighter, clearer and more real the forest seemed. It was an awesome experience.
We packed up to head off for a 2 hour easy-ish walk to be picked up by truck at a local village. Then off to bamboo rafting.
We werent advised to take our cameras with us on the bamboo rafting, however after spending 3 days in the jungle with no external influences and totally immersed in nature this was a surreal experience. the bamboo poles were about 8 meters long and 3 of us would sit in the middle as we were steered by our lovely and very funny 'captain' Bang Bong who stood at the front of the raft. At first he tricked us in his broken English and said that this was his first time steering, I think he had a sparkle in his eye & a hope that we would all fall in and get soaked, he was about 15 and very very funny.
stick insect
It took me about 5 minutes to get the courage to touch this little creature. Our trip down the river was so peaceful just gliding along, the trees so lush, the sun was out, we could all be with our thoughts and by this time i didnt really have any.... i felt at one with nature. i doubt there could be any closer way to float down a river than on a tree (rather than a plastic or fibreglass boat)...The ride went for about 40 minutes and it was a wonderful way to finish our adventure in the Jungle of Northern Thailand. Before we knew it we were back on the truck and it took about 1.5 hrs to get into Chaing Mai.
That night our group met up for drinks (Fark i needed a beer by this time!!) and we talked about previous travel adventures, places we were on our way to and about our expereinces over the past 3 days. we talked into the wee hours of the morning.... Oh yeah, by the way, i ate deep fried cricket aswell, mmmmmm very crispy!!!!......
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Christine
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Beautiful nature!
Hey Dani sounds as if you are having a wonderful trip in the beautiful surrounds of the Thai hills... so gorgeous! Great story, great pics. Enjoy the rest of the trip! cp