Advertisement
Published: January 31st 2007
Edit Blog Post
"Can you please open your store so that we can book trecking for tomorrow morning please??" We organised our stuff that night and headed out early the following morning to the travel agents where we were to be picked up for trecking - a 3 day tour consisting of walking up mountains for 2 days stopping overnight at a tribal village and elephant camp, proceeded by a 1 hour elephant ride, bamboo rafting and white water rafting.
After picking us up from the travel agents we had a full truck... too full. So we seperated into 2 trucks with 2 day hikers in one and 3 days in another. Us and another 3 day couple remained in the 2 day group though due to an imbalance. We stopped once at a market to get supplies and once to acknowledge a poor girl's cry for a wee break, and then we had lunch, fried rice at the base of the mountain.
It started off slow, with more breaks than we would have liked, but as we had a bigger group, the guides had to cater for everyone. The walk got harder as we came to the steep section and
it was from then on that the breaks were well deserved, as our legs burned on the way to the top. We made it to our village after 4 hours and had a shower in a building with walls only 4 feet high, good for exhibitionists! over dinner we got to know some of the other tourists we hiked with and got to meet the local children, devils in disguise! They started off cute, grabbing the girls and painting their nails, but once we lost interest they became pests, vying for attention. They searched through people's bags stealing belongings, threw bags accross the room and hit anyone who tried to stop them. The worse thing was that some toursists allowed the kids to do it, encouraging bad behaviour. It was a great example of how tourism can destroy village custom, with the kids becoming too used to being spoilt by new foreigners every day. After a while they stopped and we enjoyed chatting around a fire - on the bamboo patio - where we chatted to another couple (Pat and Jess) late into the night.
Elephant riding was a great experience but it seemed to be over all to
quickly. Although we did get to stroke the elephants before and after, feed them and take pictures, it was great because it didnt feel supervised, with the guides trusting the elephants and us.. When riding we both got to spend the whole time taking turns sitting off the chair and on the elephant's neck, although it was less comfortable we felt like it was much more of an experience, not just a high up ride. It was also fun trying to avoid falling off as the elephant made its way down steep tracks.
White water rafting was an enjoyable one off experience, as the rapids were pretty tame, being the cold but dry season. So although fun, we were satisfied with one hour. Of less excitement was the bamboo rafting, but it was still pretty cool because it felt so primitive, it made you feel like a native, floating down the river on bamboo rafts, navigating with a big bamboo pole, gnawing on chunks of pad thai (haha, you thought i was gonna say bamboo... right?!)
We arrived back in Chiang Mai late, where we found out that evey accomodation was booked solid. So after another 3 hour
trek around town we settled for an apartment building that usually rented out in 1 month chunks. It was actually quite cheap and was comfortable also with cable tv. Haha, i got hooked so we spent the night there, rather than going out to the weekend market. Using this acomodation as our base we set out on mopeds over the next few days to see the royal flower display for his majesty the king, whom everyone adores, hence 450 acres of amazing landscaped gardens and flower designs in his name donated from many surrounding countries. But wait there's more, a massive sound and light show with performers incl thai dancers, elephants, props etc. Although narated in thai i think it told a tradional story of some sort.
Also on our map were temples, a cool open range night safari, weekend market, go karting on a dirt track, yup drift-karting!, and off road buggies similar but better than ATV's through mountain tracks. The last took up 3 hours so we missed out on the monkey school, dog farm, butterfly farm and elephant show. We also went and looked at bungee jumping, and then left! - no we actually decided to
do it the next day with all the animal stuff but spent the following morning trying to repair our motorbike, so that we wouldnt have to buy the company another one. I suppose this needs some discription...
We were driving back on the highway when suddenly the front and left pannels peeled off the bike from the wind. I pulled over and we collected what we could find, then Yalini held them as we drove back to town. The pannels had broke at the screws but some were intact - all screws missing, so i borrowed a screwdriver from a lovely store lady, took half the screws from the remaining pannels and semi- repaired the bike. It definately wont stand more than 20 kms an hour, shit it nearly fell apart from the vibrations at idle, but it looked ok, so it fooled the owners. I got my passport back after a quick inspection and we left town before they started her up!
- It is unfortunate, as this incident is something one would normally want to complain about, but seen as you sign a waiver saying you are liable for anything that happens during your ownership regardless
Waterfall
Really cold waterfall that we stopped at to have lunch. There was huge pressure on my shoulders! of who's fault it is, it is not worth being honest... dont be too quick to bring things to their attention. We met a couple who were even ordered to purchase a new bike over a few scratches and a bust taillight. In the end they lost their passport over it.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 23; dbt: 0.059s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Craig
non-member comment
Treking
Wow Broden what a holiday, I am so jealous. After looking at your pics I recall treking in the same area vividly. We could not walk more than 15 metres at a time without stopping for a drink due to the heat and steep hills. It's good to see your trek started after lunch as ours did, which is probably the worst time to head off, but hey the locals like stirring up the silly tourists. Enjoy the rest of your holiday, it's a great opportunity to experience life to the full. I know your dad is very proud of you for having the get up and go to do what the two of you are your doing. I wish I had the b---s to have done it, but I was way too sooky at that age, oh yeah and way too pretty. Cheers Craig (Your dad's work)