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Published: October 11th 2006
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Hello! (would be nice to hear some news btw). Well lots has happened since my last Blog. Firstly We've been on a trek into the forest about an hours drive from Chaing Mai. It was a fantastic weekend and far supassed all my expextations.
To begin with we droped off our big bags (we could only take a tiny one for three days) and were picked up by our guide. She is a very cool thai woman called May who looked after us and cooked for us. There were 8 people in total on the trek and all of them were great. I would have expected at least one irritating prat in a group that size but not one person got on my nerves once the whole time........which is really saying something considering my nerves are easily trodden on.
So there was me and Sam, an aussie called Terry who is a practical outdroors man but also very thoughfull, Meryl form amsterdam who also went to a Stiener School, Steph a massageist (i know thats probaly not a word) from America, Juan form spain who was hillarious form begining to end, and Marcus and Katiya (farther and duaghter) from
switzerland, and of course May our guide.
On the first day we went to the market where May bought all our food. Then we headed to a waterfall after having lunch. After that it was a truck ride to an old temple that had amazing views of the surounding hills. Then we started walking. The first day we only walked for about an hour or so but it was really hard up hill in the afternoon heat along muddy paths. However we did get to try fruit along the way fresh from the trees. We tried guava and passion fruit, both of which are very sharp and nothing like the drinks you get at home. We also looked at citrenella and some other herds that were growing in the forest. It was a beautiful walk past lush paddy fields and through woods. In these hills you quite often come across lovley luch little sheltered vallys. The village we stayed in was in such a vally. It was a Karen tribe village. They are one on many tribes in thailand who are enthicaly and culturally seperate from thais. In each village we went to we were mobbed by childern selling
beads and women selling scarves and handicrafts. So we all did some shopping and came back with rather heavier bag!
I found the tribes are really interesting. I thought that people would be all dressed up making a show of traditional clothing etc just to impress tourists but it wasn't like that at all. There was no sense that people were performing for us, they were all just gettin gon with thier lives. It also wasn't like we were intruding overly as the first village we stayed in only gets about one party a week. By being there we were actually fueling some economy for these people that they wouldn't normaly have. They make money out of selling thier crafts and drinks and snacks. They are poor on the whole but the whole village works together. Any money they make goes straight into the village pot which they all share. They also all work in the fields communally to feed the whole village. By village I mean a collection of about 5 to 10 houses that sleep about four people. I was impressed that one village had solar panels outside every house so they can get some power.
Back to were we stayed the first night. It have no power... just candles. It's amazing how I hardly noticed that we had no power, I supose we didn't really need it. our accomidation was a bamboo hut with raised areas for sleeping. There were mats to sleep on but no padding so we all got pretty sore backs. It was also quite cold at night so we had sleeping bags and blankets. It was refeshing to be somewhere a bit cooler. We entertained ourselves by chatting most of the time which was how we got to know eachother. Also on the first night a 'magic man' came from the village to show us his magic tricks. He was really funny and had us entertained for hours. I think he does it becuase he enjoys it and he gets loads for beer bourght for him, which in turn makes more money for the village... so everyones happy! The funniest thing was was that after each magic trick he showed us how to do it. He tried to get us to work them out first but then he tuaght us how to do them. His english was very basic but we
Sam going over the river...
...not the time we had to wade. still had conversations with him which was good.
On the second day we did lots of walking.... and boy did we hurt afterwards. You see it's hard to just walk in the forest, rahter you have to climb, scramble, jump and slide which makes it ten times harder. It had also been raining so more than one of us ended up on our bums in the mud. On the way we stopped and eat lunch (which was wrapped in a leaf) at a waterfall. We also visited another village and bourght more handicarfts. Then we went to a great waterfall were we all swam. It was wonderfully refreshing (read f******* cold) and great fun. There was a bit of a sand bar that we could sit on and we ended up rubbing sand on ourselves to exfoliate, Meryls idea I think. It was a grea idea but try walking for two hours with sand in your pants!
Just when we were all getting tierd we discovered that the path we were going to go on was currently under water so we had another hours to go. To get across the river we had to walk across a a
The Gang
L-R Marcus, May, Juan, Meryl, Sam, Terry, Stephanie, Katiya and Me log with water up to our knees. The current was strong so it was interesting. towards the end of the walk it got really hard beacuse it was all ups and downs and rocks and tree roots. Just when my legs had decided to pack up and go home we got to our overnight village and as luck wuld have it they do thai massarges there. So we all showered and got pullsed and pumelled for an hour. Bliss. Then again we stayed up late chatting and telling jokes.
The next day there was only 30 mins walking whic was a relief as I think most of us were incapable. We then went on an elephant ride which I didn't enjoy at all. I was unsure about it ethically anyway but it was also bloody scary. You sit in a chair thing and had to cling on as the elephant goes up and down narrow muddy paths. It did make me appriciate more what beautiful and graceful creatuers elephants are though. Did you know that they are hairy?
Next up was bamboo rafting which I loved. You get four to a raft and end up sitting in water most of the time. The river was rough due to rain so it was clinging on again. We only crashed twice! The first time Katiya and Marcus fell off and the second time we all did. I have to admit that was the most fun part.
Then it was back to Chaing Mai, but the story doesn't end there. We all got on so well that we met up for dinner and cocktails that night. We had a great time and ended up dancing the night away. It's not often that you find a buntch of people that all just get up and dance and have a great time together. I think it was a rare bonding experience and now a very fond memory forever. We all parted with offers of 'if your ever in my country my home is yours' type thing, and i know I really meant it.
So my motto from this trip is something that Meryl said 'strangers are just friends we haven't met yet'.
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helen
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Great to read the blog ansd see the pics. I think walking is always a good way to make friends and see the country of course. Although I enjoyed being on the elephant in India, but we were bareback and we didn't really go anywhere. they are beautiful though Love to you both