Bangkok and (in the immortal words of Axl Rose) Welcome to the Jungle

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So, a bit more detail now we have a leisurely day in Chiang Mai, after a yummy breakfast and now a coffee shop/internet place. Aah, its a hard life.

This may be a bit long for some as it's also my own diary so just skim it or email me to take your name of the distribution list at any time. Not sure you guys at work will be ok with getting blog updates all the time! Or just delete em! I doubt you will want to read all, I want all details for my own diary so i can look back, so scan or ignore as you please.

Would also like to say - thanks for all the emails - I havent replied cus its all in this blog, but its lovely to see your emails when so far from home, do keep me updated on your doings. i miss me sis most of all of course, she is me skin and blister so the only one i replied to last night when pooped, but did read all others. hi gimpo! doubt you will bother reading all this but hope you are looking after the moochers, big kiss to you all, debbie doody - have thought of you lots - please let me know how you are, hi kulvi and tell jeeves ive been on an elephant and will put pics on soon! steph - ive moonwalked in bangkok and the jungle, hey marek and zurich peeps! lindy - thought of you whenever i looked over a precarious ravine edge on the trail, jen and johnny - you would love it - go on, come out sometime! miss you work buddies, hope the office is nice and quiet without my nonsense! pets - miss slapping you about and general abuse, kaybo kirst and hayles and trev - at least you dont have to mop up my corkers ha ha. hey jenny P, you would love trekking, wish i could magic you out here for a ramble! glad you are keeping tabs jen and mel - intrinsic! sigh, you are all ace and i miss ya.

So, we arrived in Bangkok on Tues 2nd October, and got a taxi to our hotel, Sawasdee Bangkok Inn on the Khao San Road at 4pm. It was frenetic and crazy straight off and our 20 kg packs were a bloody nightmare. I confessed on the way to Sheena that I had snuck my epilator and trimmer back into my pack, oops. We realised we need to ditch a load of stuff ha ha! so what - its all part of the fun.

We were pretty poofed so just went for a noodle dinner at Sarah's restaurant. Yummy, then shopping on the Khao San Road. It's just a road full of market stalls, shops, guest houses, bars and street vendors, food and cocktails and everything you can think of all crammed in, with tuk tuks and taxis everywhere. they ask you constantly where you wanna go! but its not full on hassle and no problem, all part of it. Its bustling, busy and colourful and loud, very loud, specially if you want to sleep ha ha. Glad i bought my ear plugs, so no problem for me, i love the atmosphere. It was 32 degrees when we arrived by the way. Hot - damn hot. Excellent.

We bought fisherman trousers, - first time i wore them i got chased round a toilet by a cockroach in a bar. if you dont know what they are - they are very complicated trousers which loop front and back and flap about all over the place - i just got them undone in a loo and a cockroach attacked me, i ran out the loo - trousers flapping all over the place. lucky for me there was nobody else in there and i ran into the next loo and finished my business in peace.

Anyway, after a shop and a walk round the place we went to bed and slept like the dead.

Weds - 3 Oct.

Made the mistake of looking at a map in the street, before we knew it a lady passerby had organised a day for us in a tuk tuk and we were ushered into it and off to a wat (temple) - dont know the name! then the Lucky Buddha, then he took us to the (fake) TAT (thai government office for tourists but was fake), and we booked a jungle/hill tribe trek for Chiang Mai, then he whipped us off to a tailors where we had to go in and then say no thanks so he could get a petrol voucher! then he took us off to the Bangkok factory where they make jewellery and all sorts, we were shown a lot of gold and diamond, ruby etc stuff, then they got the idea we were not gonna buy and showed us some cheap stuff which we still didnt want, so we looked round some other stuff and then left. it was interesting anyway to see all the furniture and whatnot. Then he took us to a palace by the zoo, and took a call on his mobile. he told us it was his wife and next thing we knew he had dumped us - pointing down the road and telling us we could walk back - not far. Bloody liar! we didnt go in the palace but walked back and got a bit lost and realised we were further than we thought. We eventually got back to Khao San..legs aching, hot and thirsty.

Thurs - 4 Oct

We had the night (sleeper) train booked to go to Chiang Mai in the north, about 12 hours, the lady at TAT office said it was air con. lying mare. Anyway, during the daytime we tuk tuk'ed to Jim Thompson's house, (see guide book for details!) - it was a lovely house - he was an american architect who came to live in Thailand in the 1930s or so, after army service and became a silk magnate here and built a fabulous hoose, he disappeared mysteriously at age 61 on a walk in (i think) malaysia while visiting friends. He could have come to a sticky end but nobody knows.

From there we tuk tuk'ed to Hua Lomphong station to get the night train. The tuk tuk man was a mentalist, doing u turns across 6 lanes of traffic (each way!! that's 12 lanes!!) without giving way - just pulls out. I thought our number was up, but we got there in one piece after much shrieking and screaming. We had a few hours to wait so found a starbucks and shopping centre where we ate and drank.

We were shown onto our train - i was a tad horrified at first, the air con we were promised turned out to be rickety fans on the ceiling and we had small sleeping sections on the top, no windows and all squashed in - felt a bit claustrophobic at first, 12 hours - gulp. Anyway, we got going and it wasnt as bad as i thought, very boring and hot but not as hot as i thought it would get. the loos were ok too suprisingly altho i was glad we were on top bunks when i noticed cockroaches and other creepies scuttling about on the floor. The train kept stopping, and eventually we got to Chiang Mai 16 and a half hours later! We arrived at 2.30pm, god what a long journey, didnt sleep much - read and listened to ipod a bit, then sat in another carriage in morning looking at the countryside. As we got to the north, it started looking very lush, green and junglally! it was great - just what i like. We were collected and taken by truck to our hotel. Also collected were 3 people from Chile, 3 Irish gals, a swedish guy - Ben, and a couple from Belgium, Miriam 53 and Marco 46. We checked in and had a meeting at 6pm to be briefed on the trek, we were all going on the trek at 9am next morning. We went for a meal at Nice Breakfast restaurant and had brek there next day too, then went to night markets again to get me some long trousers to trek in. Job done.

Sat 6 Oct

Our guide is a Thai lad called something unpronounceable, but Book for short, (29 but is he? he looks about 19) he is a happy chappy and says excuse me all the time, really, all the time! Off we went - first stop a market! i bought a bandanna as it was hot and it would keep the sun off my head and also hide my worzel hair which has exploded in the humidity. I'm looking even more attractive than usual - i dont know how men resist. Anyway - then we went to a waterfall (still by truck as not reached the forest yet), then we were dropped off and walked through secondary forest type stuff to our first Karen (pronounced car-un) village. We were shown to our accommodation - a cool big hut made of bamboo floor and roof made of leaves but very solid, we are all in together - communal, its good fun. no beds, just mats on the floor with a duvet to sleep on and blankets. There was a roofed shelter type thing outside with big table and benches to sit on and have dinner. We were then deluged by the children and women of the tribe selling us jewellery and scarves! it was the hard sell and they hung around for quite a while shoving stuff in our faces to buy but they were harmless enough and just trying to make some money. cant blame em. A bucket of water and ice appeared with beers in, and cans of pop, and there was a sheet of cardboard with our names on for a tab. We cracked open some beers and sat at our open air table with the rain pounding down. By the way, its end of rainy season in the north just now! It just sort of starts and stops constantly and we have these poncho style plastic macs which are pretty funny. They look like the scream horror cape but in plastic bag stylee and you sweat so much inside it that you may as well be wet with rain - but it does keep your pack dry. It's very warm tho, so it doesnt seem to matter too much being wet. It does make it very muddy and slippery tho so glad i bought my waterproof trekking boots, it helps to have dry feet.

So - that evening was fab, we all got to know each other better. it was nice to have company and meet other people. There was another trek party running parallel to us, with the same company (Family Tribal Trekking!) and we kept bumping into them. They were staying in a similar hut further up a slippery muddy slope and apparently they had a guitar, our guide, Book wanted to go up and join them (his mates are the guides in the other party) and so did everyone else, however, it was pissing it down again and we had changed into dry clothes and were drinking beer and quite happy where we were. We didnt fancy climbing the steep muddy bank and getting wet and dirty again so me and Sheena stayed put and Book stayed with us. The others managed to do it except Miriam and Marco came back and said it was really horrid and difficult and pitch black and they turned round and came back. The four of us had a wicked evening and laughed loads, Marco drank the local brew of a foul smelling concoction called whiskey, but i fear it is the brew of the devil and made from the bowels of demons. It turned marco into a maniac which was hilarious. Really enjoyed their company, and a couple of the villagers sat with us too, one little guy who only seemed to know "how old are you, im 53" and "which country?" showed us loads of "tricks" which were quite obvious but very entertaining, paul daniels eat your heart out. he was about 5 foot tall and very sinewy and then started arm wrestling everyone and beat everyone! we had a blast of an evening, then the others turned up again, we were all quite drunk and we carried on a bit more then all sort of drifted off to the bedroom whereupon marco jumped out at me in his pants and shouted "come on estelle" - it was the whiskey talking. anyway, not a bad night and we all slept well.

Just to add in - Book had told us all that in the past - he was an opium addict and had sold it to tourists, and fallen upon some bad times. He was then sent to a Buddhist temple to dry out and was a monk for 3 months (hmm, you can just be a part time monk it seems), where he learned the error of his ways. He told us he learnt about karma, your bad deeds follow you like a shadow. Very deep. He then proceeded to get shitfaced that evening and turned up with a very large suspicious looking home rolled cigarette which he offered round, ha ha. Altho i didnt smell hashish, and i know this aroma very well! and a few of the thai's seemed to roll big joint looking things with just tobacco, but i am still not entirely sure. Miriam and Marco were well up for it! they are a funny pair. Anyway - Book got rat arsed and did the next night too. hmmm, still a tad errant i feel even after his monkish sabbatical. he was very funny ,and kept just sort of erupting with english that was impossible to understand then bursting into manic laughter. you couldnt help but laugh with him.

Next morning after a good breakfast, we set off to another waterfall. The terrain started to become more jungle type, altho its really not primary jungle as there is no canopy and the trees are not very old or huge as they would be in the real dense jungle. Just very tropical forest really, but fab as that is my favourite place to be. I love this environment, but wish there were monkeys and snakes and suchlike, would really like a hard core jungle trek which this isnt, it's more of a hill tribe and adventure trek. I will find the real jungle during the next 6 months im sure!! Anyway, it's beautiful and a real experience in the rain too. So, we saw a couple of waterfalls and another Karen family - a young couple that live on their own in a wooden hut / house growing bananas and vegetables and some rice. They had 3 young children and we visited them and then carried on. The trek today is much more hard core, proper walking and the terrain became more difficult going and steep in some places and very very slippery, we all fell over and i broke my stick (we have walking sticks like ghandi! you really need them) and grazed my forearm. The trail took us up some right steep banks with huge bloody drops through trees and over waterfalls and river. The path became none existent in a few places and you really just clung to the side of the hill and tried not to fall, it was so slippy and pretty dangerous really. We had to cross some rickety bridges over the river, one was a just a few sticks of bamboo with a flimsy bit of bamboo to the side as a rail but was wobbling all over the shop and held up by bits of twine. One was over a strong looking current followed shortly after by a waterfall. I wondered if i fell in - if my heavy pack would drag me down then i would fall over the waterfall - what a way to go. anyway - by the grace of something we all got over these dodgy bridges although Sheena did slip on one place, there was a bit of bamboo as a rail, and then just a huge drop into the river - certain death i reckon! It was a part you had to sort of jump/scramble over and Book was helping her across, lucky he had her hand, he grabbed her arm as she slipped and dangled over the precipice! and pulled her up. Happily carrying on while the rest of us had to do it on our own, gulp. I was shaking quite a bit in some places - adventure trek indeed! when i was scared, i thought of being in an office, and strangely enough - the scary death defying trail seemed a better option. We saw some fab thick forest and this is my favourite thing to do - so - result.

We eventually came at about 4pm to the Meo Village where we were to stay the night. This time it had some "plivate looms" (Book translation of private rooms) where for a couple of hundred baahts, (around 3 quid between you) you could have your own hut with big bed, shower and loo. We did as by this time - we were minging. Sweat, mud and rain for 2 days had taken its toll. the other guys had swam at the waterfall but we hadnt - so i kept catching this awful smell and screwing up my face, then realising it was me! gross burger indeed. So we showered and it was fantastic - we had really walked hard - up and down hill and fell over and all sorts so we were pooped. this was sorted out easily by a thai massage - this place was not so poor and had a massage hut (open air room again, up some stairs with roof and 3 walls), also tables again under shelter and our looms with a balcony and seat looking out over the forest - just beautiful. There were also stalls with all sorts of bags, jewellery and all sorts, but no hard sell. you just went there to look and nobody hassled you. some great stuff, i bought a bag. no surprise there, i have a bag fetish, but can feed it when they only cost a couple of quid! anyway, its a necessity so shut up.

Miriam and Marco and Ben had left us this morning as they had only overnight due to catching their flight. was really sad to see them go, they wanted to stay on and miriam took my email, and said to contact her if ever in Belgium - i would defo like to visit them.

So - by now -it had miraculously stopped raining and the weather just got better and better. Book had told us that it was the last day of rain as he had checked the forecast and it was now gonna be sunny. I didnt believe him.

The other group was there, some lads and lasses - pretty young group and we all got together and fun was had. Again - many beers, chatting, and all the guides got really really drunk while us tourists held our beer well! the other group's guide, James (or Jimbo) was really really bad, puked up by the table then drank more beer! they are mentalists. Book apologised the next day for being so drunk and told us that he did not have satan in him!

Oh yeah, they served us the most tasty dinner yet, some really nice sort of curry/stew, with rice, and a tasty (but not hot) pumpkin dish that was bloody lovely. After dinner we all took in turns to have a thai massage, 3 at a time, in the massage hut. it was 180 baat for an hour. that's like roughly 2 quid! it was brill. they did everything (except pectorals kit - wot a relief! those nepalis are just pervs i reckon). when she was doing my quadriceps/thighs, i got ridiculously ticklish and kept laughing which seemed to amuse the masseuses (all ladies). anyhoo - it was fantastic, then i felt like jelly after so had to drink lots of beer.

We had a great evening again, and then off to our loom to kip (excuse me). woke up to the gorgeous jungle view, sigh. its a hard life. so we had a late breakfast then off to the dam in the river, for a swim. there are these fab dogs in the village, me and sheena of course fed them loads. the 3 irish lasses are vets by the way! so we chatted to them loads about our voluntary work and we made very astute observations about the dogs in camp. there was one pup that had a massive but clean wound on its back end, he had been run over, but was healing amazingly with no surgery and the wound was clean and we were assured by the vets that it would heal fine. the other dogs were licking it and keeping it clean. they were all really sweet dogs and they followed us to the dam where we were to cross the strong current bit by clinging onto a pole that Book held out across it to the shallow safe bit in the middle. it wasnt deep but the current would sweep you off, i shat it and sat out initially, then was persuaded to give it a go, which i eventually did, hanging onto the bamboo pole for dear life, it really wasnt too bad but im not a strong swimmer so i crapped myself. the dogs waited for us, and we all walked back to camp again after, for a quick change back into our walking gear to leave. By the way, the sun is indeed out and very strong today! as Book had promised, i was amazed. On with the sun cream and away with the ponchos. So we walked half an hour or so and came back into civilisation for lunch at a street cafe and then on to our bamboo rafting shenanigans.

This consisted of 2 boats, 4 of us on each. i went with the 2 chillian girls and 1 chillian lad, Carmen, Carmen and Patsomethingorother. I think it's patrissio or something. Sheen with the 3 irish gals, Trassa, Ruth and Jenny. The rafts were punted by a couple of thai mentalists that were not happy til we were splashed and almost capsized every 5 minutes. i did have a face on cus i am a scaredy cat in water, but its fun for most people! i did enjoy it tho! this was the Maewang River, very picturesque, after we were soaked through, it was then time for our elephant ride.

I am not very keen on this, as i dont like the concept of a wild animal being used for tourist titillation, and there are some very abused elephants in this industry. these ones did seem to be well looked after, no nasty sores on their heads (where they are beaten to a pulp to 'train' them) and they seemed healthy, but i still dont like it. i took part however, and decided that this would be the last time. i know my views are strong and everyone else does not seem to agree, but thats me.

anyway, this ended our 3 day adventure and we had a truck ride of an hour back to the hotel, where we were checked in again. We were meant to meet a restaurant that sheena and i couldnt find that evening, and also nobody else found! sheena and i went for a pizza! was very nice, and walked around the streets for a bit. bars and shops. Chiang Mai is pretty big, we havent really seen much of it.

We find the town's not really the place we want to be, we both prefer the country side.

so that brings us to today - Tues 9 Oct.

We saw the chillians at breakfast and decided we will all go together later at 3.30 to the Doi Suthep Temle, which is on a big hill and is apparently a very big, and important temple with amazing views and various stuff. Its about an hour away and we have booked a mini bus from the hotel, 500 baats each with admission. We are going later so that we see the monks chanting. i hope we do as things dont always go to plan we have found!

We're having a chill out now, and a blog catch up! Its still a bit weird but we've only been here a week so still learning lots. We have fallen for a couple of scams already, the tuk tuk being one, and the bus we booked which i havent written about, which was a con, then we went to the TAT office and now learn it was a fake. Anyway, it turned out ok, and we did have a good trek, although it was not a safe one to be picky, only one guide along very dangerous tracks in the forest, no life vest on the raft, all typical asian stuff, par for the course really. everything is fake and trust noone! ha ha.

will sign off now, we have loads of photos, which we have to get burnt onto cd before we can upload onto here. apols, im dying to put them on so you can all see what im talking about - hoping to do that this afternoon, will try asap. you'll get an update when we have put em on!

miss me sis.

later alligater

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Photos

Khao San Road
by night

Comments

[Sam]

fan bloody tastic
Loving hearing all about your adventures. I like the way beer/whiskey, meths anything going.... is playing a major part of your day! somethings never change. Some of the pictures are just 'wow look at that' Keep up the good work, swabing and wiping, i'm sure the animals are grateful and wont hold it against you. Keep the stories coming. luv Sam x