Life in the Jungle

---

Well we have arrived in Pai from Chiang Mai on another 4 hour bus ride on windy mountain roads! It was definatly time to get out of the city. Our trip is a nice mix of big city, village and town. When we arrived in Pai we found a cute little bungalow to stay in the forest. We just explored the city and went to talk to different companies about the treks we could do. We decided on a 3 day 2 night trek. The night we got to Pai it poured rain the whole night! We were not impressed because it was the first rain since we have been gone and we started our trek at 9am the next morning. When it rains here it is torrential!

The next morning we started our trek through the jungle and the hills of north thailand. And the rain stopped! the hike was amazing but not half of what i was expecting. It was really easy and relaxing. When we do hikes at home we dont stop sweating the whole time!! It was a nice change. We hiked until about 4pm and then arrived in the Lahu village. We stayed with the tribal people in their surrounding with no electricity. They made us an awesome dinner over campfire and the little kids from the village sang us a bunch of songs. Then they wanted us to sing to them. That was the hard part. We couldnt think of any songs. They were not impressed. The next day we did some more jungle hiking. The next night it was only 4 of us and our 3 guides. We had dinner and drinks out of all bamboo dishes. I couldnt believe what they did. Everything we had for dinner was served and cooked in bamboo. They even made our shelter out of bamboo trees leaves and sticks. It was amazing. The night was scary though. We were basically sleeping under the stars in an asian jungle. We saw rats mice and Huge bugs the size of my arm. I was creeped out and didnt not have a good sleep at all after seeing those things. I also woke up today with more mosquito bites than i can count.

Today was the best day of the trek. We first walked for a little bit and arrived in the Karen Village. From here we found a couple elephants to ride through the jungle. We rode them for about 2 hours. Thank god it wasnt any longer because it was sooo uncomfortable. We then took a bamboo raft down the river until we reached a cave. This one was alot more set up for tourism than the one we visited in Laos. all the caves we have seen have been different but all really good. This trip has really made me realize how luck we are to live in canada. These people we have visited in the last few days make less than a dollar a day and survive off only their farming. They seem to be happier than alot of the people we see at home. They live very simple lives. Off for dinner now...will update soon!

---

Photos

Hill Tribe Kids!
These kids put on a good singing show for us while we stayed in their village.