Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Sa wa di kah from Chiang Mai!!!! (Hello in Thai!)
First things first, the train journey on the Saturday night from Bangkok was an experience to say the least. We prepared ourselves beforehand with a little feast, books, etc. but this was one time the good old guide moto failed me. (I would say it was pretty much the worst journey imagineable that was until the bus back down but you'll have to wait for that little tale).
I was on the top bunk and simon on the bottom. For any person who plans to take the sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai always - I shall repeat - ALWAYS baggsy the bottom bunk. The top was about a foot wide, held up with 2 thin leather straps, and within arms reach of a very large and very bright fluorescent light. The bottom however, was rather rooomy with a very efficient curtain which makes it nice and dark. We did swap half way though thanks to simon's gentlemanly nature but I think mostly my whiney voice.
We arrived in Chiang Mai on Sunday morning and explored the local market. The Sunday market was in full swing. It was enormous and very varied: you could buy anything from fruit and veg, to musical instruments, to a puppy!!!!!
Unfortunatley Chiang Mai is even more polluted than the south. Apparently this year has been the worst it has ever been as the rice fields are being burnt which is mixing with the fumes and causing terrible smog, also the smoke from neighbouring Laos and Burma is being blown into the north too. Its quite awful to be honest but hey-ho.
On Monday we visited the silver district - a road of houses in which the families make the silver in the back and sell it in the front! The North is famous for its silver apparently but it is rather expensive as its real (I resorted to some nice cheap knock offs at the market). We booked our trek and then went to the Night Bazaar which Chiang Mai is most famous for.
Tuesday was the advent of our trek. We got picked up by the guide at 10 and headed for the hills! There were 6 in total in our group and our guide was to be Sammy - he was lovely and turned out to be a proper Jungle Jim. We stopped off at a local market for supplies and then a 30 minute drive took us to the elephants!!!!!
Simon and I, with a bag of bananas in hand, got on the elephant. Straight away it was shoving its trunk in our face to try and get some of the grub - it was very greedy too and would stop walking until you fed it! The guy who was in charge of our elephant was a little too relaxed for my liking and decided that Simon should sit on its head! He later made us stop so he could roll up a cigarette made from a banana leaf! Half way along the path there was a little shop in the tree for drinks (and more bananas!) and at the end of ride we waded through the river which was brilliant until one of the bananas dropped into the water and started floating off and the elephant tried to chase it! (Hop 2, 3, 4 Keep it up 2, 3, 4, Oh the aim of our patrol....)
We said bye to the heffalumps and then walked a short distance to a lovely waterfall where we had a swim and a bag of rice for lunch, prepared by Sammy. Then we set off in the baking heat to trek up through the forest to the village where we were to stay.
We were having a lovely trundel through the forest, Sammy was showing us all the different plants, the ant and termite mounds, and pretty flowers, until all of a sudden he darted off into the wood and shot something with his catapult and then starting wacking the ground and shouting 'Oh my Buddha!' - it was a snake!!!! Ha ha ha. He proceeded to put it in a carrier bag and say that it was our dinner! No joke. (When we finished the walk he told us he had seen 5 cobras along the way. I know)
We walked through the jungle which was being burnt by the locals to prevent bush fires (we even had to run at one point because the fire was too hot and too close) we passed some men chopping down bamboo, and a strange man who had a big bucket of ants?!?! And even stopped for a little firework display as Sammy had shot down some sap from a tree and made a powder from it which exploded when set on fire - cool.
We reached the village at about 4 and were welcomed by the tribe. Our hut was perched on the side of the valley overlooking the rice terraces and we even had an en suite - a hole and a tap in a tin shed! Sammy prepared a lovely dinner: thai green curry, rice, stir fried vegetables and tofu and....snake soup! When they were skinning the snape a little bit of snake blood went on my sandals - nice. You will be pleased to hear we tried the snake - ahhhh!! Its full of bones strangely. Later the children of the village came to sing us some songs and then we had to sing them some (!) - I am the Music Man (with the dam busters verse!) and If You're Happy and You Know It. Great fun.
The bloomin cockerel woke us up at 4, and then a man on a mega phone shouting up the valley at about 6 - this we guessed is their alarm clock! Toast and a boiled egg for breakfast and then a trek down the hill to the river for bamboo rafting!! This was enormous fun, and very sedate until we went down what we believed to be Grade 4 rapids on what was in reality only some bits of wood tied together! Oh my Buddha! Health and Safety my eye.
All in all it was a great adventure.
PS. Thailand is a bizarre place, cajun chicken comes with a complementary side of pork, coffee with a lovely shot of tea on the side, what appear to be doughnuts have curried rice inside, and strawberrys are sprinkled with salt?! Every meal is a surprise.
- comments