Trekking: Humble in the Jungle

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I write this while on a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong on the border with Laos. I'll take the opportunity to blame any spelling or grammatical errors on the fact the driver has decided to test just how hard he can push the shock absorbers. It doesn't help being right at the back of the bus either. To think I used to think the bus between Wolverhampton and Tong was bumpy! Its comforting to be right next to the emergency exit, although the lack of glass breaking hammer in the holder would perhaps contravene EU rules. The conductor is holding a sweepstakes over which ravine we will inevitably plunge down etc etc. Ok, you get the picture. And regardless, if you are reading this, we have arrived and found and internet connection.

Before I go on to how we got on with our jungle trekking, something has just occured to me. The town we are on our way to will be the northern most point in our entire trip, excluding the UK of course (my mental map is usually pretty accurate, do correct me if I am wrong though). In map terms, you could say its all downhill from here. Hehe.

Right then, trekking, where do I begin? Day one seems as good a place as any. So on Monday we were up bright and early to be picked up by a local pickup truck taxi and dropped off at the travel agents where we had booked the trip. After securing our bags and signing for our valuables, (and the inevitable waiting around that goes with Thai timekeeping) we were on our way. We had a 2 hour journey into the mountains to look forward to. So it was during this time that we got to know our trekking counterparts. Obviously national stereotypes should never get in the way of getting to know people properly. But this bunch did little to dispel any preconceived opinions. We had Martin, the very opinionated, zany German who said he insists on having a massage everyday because 'he likez it'. There was Todd, the middle-aged American. To him everything was 'neat', that included his attire, which comprised of the standard American tourist look, white trainers, baseball cap - you know. A 'nice guy' though. Next we had Stephane. The young, bearded French-Canadian who if wasn't snowboarding in the Rockies, was out saving whales or something. There was the obligatory moody Frenchman whose name evades me. Perhaps because he never bothered to tell us. There were also two English louts called Tom and Paul. Add them to a random Chinese guy who smiled a lot but didn't speak much and you had a motley crew of nationalities. Unfortunately, there was a distinct lack of young Swedish girls. Oh well, 5.5 more months to meet plenty of them. Comparing our bags to those of the others suggested we had packed very light for the trek. As it turned out, we had packed just right, and the others had packed heavy!

Perhaps an hour into the journey, as the truck had began to wind into the mountains, we pulled over at a checkpoint. For a second I had to do a double-take. Approaching the truck was a white haired, bearded chap. I thought for a second it was Donald Sutherland the actor. Bearing a name badge saying 'John Collins' and an American flag, his uniform revealed he was not in fact a mock-up sheriff, but a volunteer for the Thai tourist police. Brandishing copies of all our passports he informed us that the Thai authorities keep track of all tourists who head to the northern mountains, due in part to lawlessness that exists up there. Although, you got the impression there was nothing to fear, as should anything have gone wrong this guy would have appeared on horseback brandishing a revolver.

After another hour or so driving we arrived at the point at which the trek started. What followed was maybe 3 hours of hard, but really enjoyable walking. Lots of tough uphill stretches and even tougher downhill bits. The area we walked through I would most definately describe as jungle, but it wasn't rainforest. The trees were all deciduous as opposed to tropical looking, but still created a thick canopy. We got some great views before finally arriving at the famous Karen tribe which elongate the necks of the women by using metal rings.

It was at this point that some of the group expressed their dissatisfaction that despite the fact we were at their camp, the longneck people werent anywhere to be seen. It turns out that this ancient tribe, as a result of their celebrity status, commute between several camps, in order to see as many tourists as possible (and thus make as much money as possible). When they did arrive that evening, it was somewhat interesting to see them, but you couldn't escape the feeling they are perhaps beginning to stop being a tribe, and have started to become just an attraction.

Before the tribe arrived, we saw out the afternoon by playing the traditional Thai sport we had seen outside the national stadium in Bangkok. A sort of keepy-uppy using a wicker ball. Our Thai guides taught us how it was played competitively over a net using similar rules to volleyball. Great fun. Further entertainment was derived by watching the camp animals constantly fight. There was a definate hierarchy amongst the dogs and a (pun intended) pecking order amongst the chickens. One of the dogs of the camp was possibly the saddest looking creature we have ever seen. A little dog on deaths door if ever there was one.

After a basic evening meal which we found fine, despite the complaints of some of the other trekkers, we settled round the fire for a few beers. We had a real good laugh with the Thai guides and a few of our fellow trekkers. It was unfortunate that the constant complaining of certain people had got the backs up of some of the guides, so they took a little more convincing to sit down and have a drink.

Thanks to the days hard walking, and the evenings healthy supply of beer, we slept soundly in our communal shack. After breakfast it emerged that it would just be Paul and I taking part in the rest of the 3 day trek. The other participants had decided they had, had their fill of walking and visiting tribes and wanted to skip straight to the day of activities. We weren't gutted. It meant we had a guide to ourselves (who, admittedly, wasn't overly chatty) and could cover the scheduled 4 hours hiking in much quicker time. So we set out, and over the course of the morning and lunchtime, probably did some of the toughest walking Paul or I have ever done. The terrain was unforgiving, switching from scrambling up and down rocks, to walking across baking hot banana plantations. We were amazed at how the guide kept pulling away from us with just sandals on his feet! It was great to feel a sense of achievement when we finally reached the second camp. The only problem that arose was that because we had done the walk so quickly, it was 2pm when we arrived, and there was nothing to do at this camp, and no other travellers. We therefore resorted to going to sleep for the entirety of the afternoon, until teatime!

That evening, despite being just the two of us and our guide, was spent very much in amongst the tribe. This tribe seemed far more authentic, they definately lived in the camp and although they lacked gimmicks such as long necks, it was really powerful to spend the evening around their fire.

The final day bought about all the fun-filled activities that they use to sell the treks. After a short walk we were straight into the first one - elephant riding. It was a good experience no doubt, but I couldn't shake the thought that if this elephant decides all of a sudden it doesn't want us on its back, we wouldn't stand much of a chance.

Next up was swimming in a waterfall. We have probably been a little spoilt after experiencing the Erawan waterfalls, because although pleasant, this one didn't really compete. A short distance from the waterfall was the sight of our third activity, white water rafting. We had an awesome time doing this. The water was by all accounts pretty tame. But we more than made up for this by messing about, pretending to fall in and sabotaguing other teams.

The last event was bamboo rafting. The name more than adequately describes what was involved. Floating on a raft made of bamboo down the very picturesque river. It was a nice, relaxed way to conclude an action-packed day. Also, as a result of the days water-born activities, we were probably as clean as we had been in 3 days!

Overall trekking was a really good experience. Despite not getting ourselves on perhaps the best organised of treks, and even though the travel agent had arguably been a little liberal with the truth in selling us the trek (by no means a unique trait). We will definately look back and appreciate the 3 days, especially the memory of sharing the 2nd evening with the tribe to ourselves.

Perhaps the most powerful thing to take away was despite having so little, these tribal people seemed so happy. It's an overused proverb, but it may be true that material possessions don't equate to happiness. But that said, from my expensive phone and wireless keyboard, this is a very happy Tom in my stylish clothes, signing off for now.

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Photos

My View as I type this Blog!
The benefit of having an all in one phone eh?

Paul with the American
International diplomacy!

Camp on Night One
You can see the net we played the local game over.

Dead Dirty
Nothing new for Paul!

Comments

[Jack Parr]

When did you buy stylish clothes Hingley!?xx

[Tom Essex]

As above

[anonymous]

i bet parr just read the last paragraph (like me) jokes

[hingus2000]

Essos Literacy
TBF essex, that was an achievement in itself for you. Whats Africa saying?