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Published: April 3rd 2006
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The Jungle
Our home for the next three days 20th March
We awake on the sleeper in Chang Mai looking out the window of the train and notice that the scenery is very different. There are a lot of hills and wooden huts, this is a welcome brake from the bustling metropolis of Bangkok. We were picked up by our trekking guide Joshua and shipped over to out guesthouse in the back of an open pick up truck, stopping for coffee and some of the tastiest bananas we have ever eaten. The bananas are so good here!
We decide to have a go at washing our own clothes in the sink in our bathroom. Disgusted when the water turns brown instantly. Not good! We go out for dinner and a bit of a recon at a small bar down the road. Pete is in heaven when this tiny bar in a side alley in Chang Mai pumps out Led Zepplin, Neil Young and the Rolling Stones! We head into Chang Mai. It's very different to Bangkok. Much more relaxed and easily navigated. We meet up at the guesthouse with the other people on our trek and Joshua. Here we meet Wolfgang from Austria (Extreme!) and a huge German
Joshua
"HOLIDAAAAAY"!! called Elmar who turns out to have actually been Germany's Joe Millionaire (that crap program on channel 4). Go into Chang Mai for a quiet beer with Wolfgang, the evening mutates and we sink several Beer Changs and finish a bottle of Sam Song rum in a blues bar! Sudden realisation of trekking tomorrow morning! Head to bed.
21st March
Early start for the trek. Picked up by Joshua at nine feeling a little special. Out of ten people in the back of the pick up truck we seem to be the only people talking. We stop at a "local peoples market" on the way to the jungle. This is a lie. Everything here has added "farang tax". (farang being the Thai word for foreigner). Nevertheless we purchase much needed H2O and head off to our drop off point.
We apply essential sun screen and bug spray. It's damn hot and head out to trek for about two hours. During the walk we start talking to the two guys and a girl who turn out to be Ozzies. We immediately hit it off. Cheeky buggers told us they kept quiet during the road trip as they were
Chang Mai
Not Bangkok sussing us out! Stop for lunch. Awesome local, freshly made Thai food but a rather interesting toilet.
We trek then for the rest of the day, stopping to eat various weird plants and fruits that Joshua points out and reciting at the top of our voices trekking catchphrases like "Holiday" "Same Same but Different" (which seems to be anybodies way of describing anything and nothing) and "Nooooooo Problem" all in dodgyThai accents. The giggles begin and we communicate and laugh with each other in these three phrases for the next three days.
We then stop at a waterfall which is a welcomed cooling down experience. Elmar slips over but as he is so massive breaks the rock and gets a minor cut on his leg in the process. We then trek on to the first hill tribe village, which is our home for the evening.
We have both been drinking way to much Beer Chang in Bangkok and were looking forward to three days beer free in the hills. To our horror at the hill tribe village they had a massive chest full of Beer Chang which they sell to us for a very reasonable price. The
The Group
Check out Katie - She's not happy! night progresses and we all get to know each other really well, especially the Ozzies (Gonzo, Josh and Katie (pronounced Kaady)) who we really clicked with. We sleep on the floor of an open wooden hut under a mosquito net which was the best nights sleep we've had so far.
22nd March
We start trekking again at 11am the hottest part of the day but the scenery is indescribably beautiful. Trekking is a bit more dangerous today. We visit two waterfalls the first one was cool but was dwarfed by the monsterous second which was our camp for the evening. More beer Chang and the giggles continued, the group has become really close.
23rd March
Wake up with best and most power full shower ever. You really can't beat a giant waterfall shower in the morning! We trek to our pick up point to go elephant riding, something we thought we would enjoy but really didn't. It felt cruel and just a bit wrong and we both swore to ourselves that we would never do it again. On the other hand bamboo rafting was awesome and a great way to finish the three days. We went
The Hut
Home Sweet Home cruising down a slow river on giant bamboo rafts. Lots of children line the side of the river and we have huge water fights with them. We stop at a swimming area to jump off this massive cliff into the pool. Elmar Millionaire is crazy and does a back flip!
After the rafting we were dropped of at our guesthouses but arranged to meet up for a meal later to conclude the trek and celebrate Elmar's birthday. Many Beer Changs and Tequila Slammers are consumed. Gonzo nearly hooks up with a lady boy and we are still going for it at 10am the next morning with the Ozzie guys. Eventually they have to go and catch the flight and yet again there is a real tough good bye. There is talk of them coming to Laos but it doesn't happen and we feel quite gutted, but the bundy rum makes it better. We both agree not to drink anything else until we get to Luang Prabang in Laos.
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neesh(bob)
non-member comment
sweeeeeeet!!!
dudes! so far all lookin super sweet!!! keep the photos comin, some gorgeous scenery by the look of it. i got my visa so im all good for goin too! bring on june 16th!!! bob- you should try the sweat back look more often, suites you! love u brothers x x x