Trekking around Chiang Mai

Trekking:

Day 1 -
Drive by minibus to the market to pick up supplies and then a bit of a drive to stop for some lunch before hopping on the elephants for a 1 hour ride. Okay, maybe hopping isn't quite the right word. Climbing up a ladder to a platform and then stretching out to first step on the elephants big head (sorry guy) and onto a wooden seat strapped behind it's neck. The skin was so thick and the black hair very course. This was definitely an experience riding on top of such a huge animal that traveled pretty slowly for most of the time with a few quick moments. You can only imagine what it would be like if the animal was actually running. A few times ours seemed like he wanted to go down the steep hillside instead of staying on the path but it always turned around. And the sight of a bunch of elephants traveling in a caravan gave you just a hint of what it must have been like years ago. Getting off the elephant was even crazier because we weren't expecting it to get down on it's haunches so we could slide off so gracefully (hmmm, okay maybe not the right word).

After the ride we started the walking with our own two feet, a group of 13 plus our guide John (not his Thai name obviously). This hike was about 3 hours or so and VERY steep. Yikes! But our group was very cool and interesting. We were so happy to arrive at the first hill tribe village. Great big room with pallets for us to all share the space. Our group bonded pretty quickly:
3 Kiwis - Adam, Andrew, John
1 England - Martin
2 England - Sarah, Kathy
1 Canada - Mike
1 America - Mike
1 Dutch - Michiel
2 America - Sarah & Chris (married traveling for awhile)
2 America - US!

The view was gorgeous from our stilted hut, which included kitchen, sleeping, dining, and bar areas! A misty mountain view of the village and surrounding mountains. Our dinner of rice and two types of dishes (one for the veggies) was eaten by candlelight along with a number of Chang (Thai) beers and some Thai whisky by some of the guys. Turns out our authentic hill tribe was also to include a Thai rockband singing at the community hall outside to raise money for a school. Not exactly what we expected but fun and made for some laughs among our crazy crew.

There was even a bit of guitar playing by Martin and Adam, although I admit I couldn't last them. The beds and blankets were actually pretty comfy but the sun woke me up fairly early in the morning.

Day 2 -
Ah, our first breakfast of hard boiled egg and toast with pineapple marmalade and butter. I walked with Carrie, she wasn't feel so energetic and wanted some morale support. Probably good for me too, it had been awhile since we had done some hiking. Not quite as tough as the first day because it wasn't as long, except there were still steep parts. Had a nice noodle lunch at a village after seeing two discreetly dressed police escorting (by handcuff) two Thai guys, later our guide said they were caught for Opium. We arrived at the waterfall where we were to camp out that night. Beautiful sight to see the water and then later feel the chill and the pounding down my back. We all chilled out on the rocks in the sun for a bit, doing some more group bonding I think. :) Another good dinner and some Chang beers, I also broke out our Oreo's and peanut butter crackers to share. The Dutchie had never even had an Oreo! A few cute little kids again at this camp and some tiny puppies too, lots of fun.

So, all was good until we went to sleep in our shared room with not enough blankets and too much of a chill. Wow, it was freakin freezing this night. A bunch of us were just scrunching up together as much as possible to stay warm. Not our best night sleep but made for a bit of laughing that night.

Day 3 -
yes, more hard boiled eggs and toast. Yumm. The walk today was short and sweet but Carrie and I both fell in the water trying to cross the stream on a rope swing (well actually a vine). Then we had to wait around a bit for the white water rafting (only level 2, maybe a 3 spot) to happen. We had all Americans in our boat except we did let Martin (a Brit, oh my!) join us. Mike almost fell in the water when we were messing around with another of our rafts but we pulled him back. Our guide kept saying "Oh my god!" in this falsetto voice. I think that was his only English, I mean it's not like we were in rapids. Then we boarding these bamboo rafts with half our buts sunk in the water. Not exciting, but relaxing for certain. Ah, now it's time again for a late lunch and then back to Chiang Mai.

Back to Lanna's Guest House to freshen up and then head out as a group to Riverside restaurant where we ate (yes on the river) and danced to a Thai band. They were great until the power went out on us. This is when our group split and I went back to hang at Lanna's for a bit. Incredible times for certain. More on Chiang Mai in next post.