Advertisement
Published: June 17th 2008
So we arrived in Chiang Mai on the overnight train. The train was amazing. It was so comfortable and safe (not like the overnight trains I have used traveling round Europe which were rubbish!) and a very nice lady came round and made our beds for us. Pure luxury!
We have been staying at a guesthouse called Eagle House which is amazing. It's run by an Irish woman and her Thai husband. We spent the first day exploring Chiang Mai which is very nice. I have never seen so many monks in my life - all of which speak to Ian but ignore me! I know they aren't supposed to speak to women but as one Monk started chatting on his mobile two seconds after talking to Ian I am getting the impression they aren't really as strict as they used to be! We also went to the night market which was much better than the one in Bangkok.
Chiang Mai is much more laid back than Bangkok so am def preferring it here - although we have only been here about a day cause we have just returned from our trek.
Our trek was really good - although much harder then I thought it would be. My legs are killing me and I feel like a really old lady as I can't walk anymore!! The first day we did the typical elephant ride followed by a long drive into the mountain. We then went on what was described by our Thai tour guide as an 'easy' walk for 3 hours. It was the hardest walk ever! Not helped by the fact it has been raining constantly (stupid rainy season!!). The tour guide clearly thought we were all professional walkers as he was walking so quickly in his flip flops whereby I was about 10 minutes behind in all my walking gear, slipping over in the mud and just generally being lame!
We finally made it to camp in about 4 hours. We stayed with the Karen Tribe in typical accommodation which means the floor, mosquito nets and some blankets. It was actually pretty comfortable.
The next day we did about 6 hours of walking through the jungle and rice fields. It was really difficult again not helped this time by the attack of leaches that seem to be happening to everyone! We both have a few bites and some little scratches. Not very nice but our legs are pretty battered from the mosquitoes and scratches now anyway!
Luckily on this walk we had a porter with us (oh yeah we had to carry our own bags which I was not happy with! I thought that I would be able to pay someone to do things like that for me!!) who stayed at the back to help me walk (it's amazing but I never realised how little balance I have as I would fall over for no real reason!). He also made me a walking stick which was very useful until I had to give it up as one girl fell over really badly and hurt her shoulder (it wasn't just me being lame!). Luckily she was ok and hero Ian stepped in to carry her bag as she couldn't lift it.
After finally crossing a deadly bridge (not really but I could hardly stand by this point as my legs were shaking so much that I really thought I would fall into the river!) we arrived in a different camp. It was ok but not as nice as the first one as the blankets we got were damp and musky (stupid rainy season!).
Then today we got up and went bamboo rifting which was really good fun. It's pretty amazing how strong bamboo is. Then we drove a nasty drive back to Chiang Mai via some waterfall (was feeling far too car sick to enjoy that though!) where Ian had a swim.
We are now about to go and meet the rest of our group for some drinks, although really want to go to bed as two nights sleeping on the floor has made me pretty tired. Plan after that is to do a Thai cooking course tomorrow and have a massage. Then we will leave for Laos.
We have been in Thailand for a week now although it seems much longer. I am def becoming a master at the old squat and drop toilet! Not loving it but it has to be done unfortunately!
Am loving the comments people have made so far. Keep it up!
Vicky facebook has crashed on me so I haven't seen your new hair yet.
Hope everyones exams went well too x
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0452s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Karen
non-member comment
Memories...
Ah... all the memories have come flooding back. Trekking through mud in torrential rain, losing your guide because him and flip flops are a mile ahead of you, slipping over int he mud, falling into rivers, balancing on precipices, thinking you actually might die.... happy days. Congrats on the squatting... you've got a lot of it to go yet. Wow you know i was probably where you are exactly a year ago! xx