North of Thailand

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Well finally found some time to sit down and get my blog on.

I flew into london to spend some time with a buddy at LSE...i blew a weeks living budget on the cab ride from the airport to his dorm. besides being pricey it was a lot of fun and a nice transition for my travels.

From london I had a hefty layover in Qatar, finally arriving in Bangkok on over 2 days no sleep. Needless to say I crashed hard in bangkok.

I left for chang mai in northern thailand and met an Irish carpenter on the 12 hour bus ride. he looked like a leprauchan, was incredibly loud and I could only understand half of what he was saying...he was going to become my jungle trekking partner.

Once in chang mai we began a 3 day trek with 3 americans and 4 local guides. we trekked 6 hours a day with little stops in villages for water breaks. Our first night we settled in a small village in the mountains and spent the night playing music with the local children. our guides were fantastic and caught and prepared all of our food. One guide named Buffalo Bill didnt speak any english, and looked as if he had some sort of retardation...he was our primary guide and I was curious as to what was wrong with him. I learned that a couple years earlier he was in the jungle and decided to eat a batch of mushrooms growing out of buffalo dung. He went on a 10 day magic mushroom trip which ended with him sick for about a month, and in the state we saw him now...once again, this was our guide.

that night we spent in a remote village where our guides caught chickens, picked fruit, and fished small crabs from a river. every part of the chicken was eaten, heart, liver you name it.

in the morning i ate with the local men, on the floor of a hut we dined on guavas and cabbage dipped in chili, and i was fortunate enough to try a local dish in the shape of a small brown patty. it was awful, but when in Rome...It was a mix of ground peanuts, chilis and buffalo dung...needless to say I didnt return for seconds.

the trek ended with bamboo rafts taking us down the river, and once in chang mai again we gave donations of pens/paper and cash to the local schools.

I am now in Pai, which is a small hippie village further north. I will update the blog in a few weeks.

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Comments

[sam Reisman]

come home
mom and i miss you!! you look great considering your recent diet. love the blog keep it coming.

[sam Reisman]

update
I'd love to hear from you more often. thanksgiving last night with the extended family was wonderful. your mother's catered meal was outstanding! my brothers presence made boobie particularly happy. you were very much missed. business still sucks but were beginning to see some closure on some major issues. Pinewood appears to be coming on board but there are still risks with them. we'll see. some other developement's but i"m not much of a typist. here from you soon -stay safe