Trekking in Chiang Mai

We booked a 3day / 2 Night trek in the mountains and got collected at the hotel and wisked off to the travel office ready to start our day. We met Eddee, Diana and Demi from Australia and Jamie & Emily from England as they joined us in the back of the van and we all headed off to our destination. It was great to meet new people again and everyone had a lot to say and got on really well. It made the trip all the better!.

We eventually arrived at our starting point after short stops for the market and lunch and headed out to the great unknown. It was very warm and dry. As it turned out the trek wasn't massively taxing but it did at least get the lungs working, especially on me. We trekked for a couple of hours and arrived at a small community with 3 huts and sat for a while, drinking and observing the women working whilst the men sat on there arses, as it should be! (JOKE!!!!!)

As we sat, an Elephant arrived in the trees and we all watched in amazement at this 'wild' animal eating and crushing whatever stood in it's way. It was a wonderful sight to behold. It was a great moment.

We moved on a trekked for a few hours more, chatting and listening to everyones tails of travel and life. We arrived at another village community where we were told we were staying the night. It was very rustic and quaint and the locals all hounded us with things to buy that they had made by hand. Eventually they left us to relax and enjoy our Chang (Elephant) Beer and other beverages and await our home cooked food.

It was a lovely warm night and we spent the next 2 hours sitting around the dinner bench exchanging views on life and listening to different conspiracey theories on historical events such as the death of Princess Diana etc. Eventually, and innevitably we have found, the conversation ends up being about Poo and it is rather amusing the different stories about s*** that people have!

While we exchange poo stories, Gor and Youran been helping out in the 'kitchen' and our dinner arrived. It was a wonderful meal too. Homemade Masiman Chicken curry, Galrlic steamed veg and rice. It was stunning! We devoured most of it and then continued our conversations throughout.

I took an opotunity to sneak off and secure our sleeping positions in the 'hotel' and then came back to encourage a now chilling group of friends to join me around the now raging camp fire. Youran broke out the rice whiskey and Jamie and I endeavoured to down a few shots to ward off the cold that was to come in the night. After several drinks, the chill came and we all headed off to 'bed' for the night.

Now, in these little villages, there are many dogs, chickens and roosters. Now, being woken up by a rooster on a farm is rather a pleasent thing, especially at the reasonable hour of say 0730hrs. Now, here it was different, as we were to find out. The first Rooster call that i heard was at 0400hrs but I was to find out later that Jamie had suffered a 0200hr wake up call. Now, if it was one rooster and one time then fine, but when one started, the other 7 or so all saw this is an invitation join in so at 0400hrs we had many roosters all Cock-a-doodle-doo'ing in this new tag team event and they never really let up.

Needless to say, our sleep was very broken and it was very cold, despite the jumpers and sleeping bags. At about 0700hrs I ventured out into the sunlight and crancked up the fire to get the Tea and Coffee instigated. It didn't take long as the embers were still burning well, much to the delight of the village dogs who had now taken up residence in the ashes to keep warm.

We got the fire going again and the Tea and Coffee turned up too reawaken our limbs. I awoke Amanda from her frozen state and, along with everyone else, eventually joined me once again around the fire. Breakfast was served and we then headed off towards the Elephant Riding camp.

Seeing these animals in the wild, rather than the zoo, is so much more rewarding, even if they are still relatively 'captive' to the camp for tourism. We fed the elephants before getting on to them and then we all headed like Jungle Book for a couple of hours and it was a wonderful experience.

After we arrived at our destination we embarked on another trek to the top of the mountain where we rested and parted ways with the group. Amanda and I had booked for the 2 night trek but everyone else had only booked a 1 night trek so they were heading off to the Bamboo Rafting whilst Amanda and I headed off to the Waterfall Camp for our second nights stay in the jungle. We said our goodbyes, exchange contact details and ventured onwards.

With Youran guiding just Amanda and Me, we got a detailed tour and had a build up a good exchange of dialogue with Youran, whose english was surprisingly good. Many tourists and exposure to the language was a good thing for him. We trekked up and down the mountain and came upon our camp for the evening. It was a very nice area at the base of a waterfall and as we were the only ones there for the night, we had the 'hotel' to ourselves.

Youran went off for his kitchen duty position and Amanda and I indulged in the local baths for our daily wash and freshen up. To say the bath was cold would be an understatement, bearing in mind the 'bath' was the pool at the base of the waterfall and it was icy. We imursed ourselves, briefly, and got washed for dinner.

As it was just us, it was very quiet and tranquil and excellent for reading and relaxing, with just the sound of crashing water to break the silence. We had our dinner and then stoked up a fire to sit by but we were so tired we only lasted a short while before retiring to our beds at the unbelieveable time of only 1830hrs.

We didn't sleep too well tough and needed several toilet breaks, not the most dignified of episodes here in the jungle, but eventually got off and slept through till dawn.

We bathed and ate and then chilled for a while, reading and drinking coffee from around the fire, before heading off to the Bamboo Rafting. After a while, Youron spent 15 minutes trying to entice a large Scorpion out of its hole with little success and then we headed off to the first stop of the day. A small grouping area where we met up with other trekkers and joined Youran and friend in a game of 'Thai Volley Ball' and then headed off to lunch.

The food out here, in these remote areas, is very nice and just as good as any restaurant. Looking forward to learning to cook here. We headed over to the Bamboo place in the back of the truck and did our best Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sayer impressions, floating down the river, getting very wet but loving every minute of it. As we navigated small white waters we arrived at the end ready and very willing to go home to our hotel rooms.

We climbed into the truck and spent the next hour dozing until we arrived, back at the haven of the Sheraton and a hot bath. It was a very rewarding 3 days and meeting Eddee, Diana, Demi, Jamie, Emily, Gor and Youran made it all the more memorable. Thanks Guys!

Safe Travels!