Hilltribe Trek
Trip Start
Oct 04, 2006
1
68
75
Trip End
Mar 06, 2007
Somewhere in Northern Thailand, Thailand
Sunday, February 18, 2007
The specifications on the hike are day one, very steep uphill and 14km. Day 2, rolling hills and 6 km. Day 3, mostly downhill and steep, 10km. Dust, smoke, clay, dirt, extreme heat and sunlight a definite.
Well, we visited lots of village people. The people were accomodating and friendly. They had good food, although it was a bit too similar to everything else we have been eating lately. Each place had some entertainment in the form of trance-like dancing around either a tree or a wood plank. This had to do with Chinese New Year's celebrations. The tree circling with mutiple loops of hand-holding people doing a three-step was fun and interesting
A beautiful sunset.
. However, the music was very, very monotonous and low volume. I can't believe that they do this for hours and hours and days and days. It is no wonder that they grow opium in this area. Actually, the people were very friendly and open to us foreigners.At the third night, we were given a large bamboo poll to smack down on a wooden plank in time with the main drum smacker. It was sort of fun, except that the plank was laid upon the dusty, clay dirt. Our snot was already black and red enough. Oh well, it was still good fun.
The only unfortunate parts of the trip, beside the major smoke (due to crop burning) and major dust (due to the rainy season, and apparently, the King of Thailand (who was born in Switzerland) who has his own weather making machine but won't use it quite at this time) was that a lot of us got very sick. I think that it is Ebola-Thailand. I (Paul) and another member of the group got it first. Actualy, we got it after the guide gave it to us. It involved extreme weakness, stomach aches, diarrhea (I haven't had to spell that too often), headache and general crappiness. Also, before this, there were generally three different camps that people fit into. The Constipated Camp (me and half the group), the Anti-Constipated Camp and the Lisa camp. Lisa must have a near perfect metabolism. She can eat just about anything. However, she did end up picking some other bug up and joined camp 2 for a while.
Also, the toilets were abysmal, but when you have to go, you have little choice. As of now (Feb. 24), I am feeling a lot better because I have finally been eating a bit for the last 24 hours. However, I don't think that I will be passing wind out of controlled circumstances for at least a few more days. It is better to be on the safe side.
