Chiang Mai To Laos
Trip Start
Feb 07, 2005
1
5
43
Trip End
Aug 24, 2005
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Monday, February 14, 2005
We met a Thai student who helped us with directions of landmarks. Food, like all of Asia, was cheap and very good. We found a strip of bars, all offering free pool, one in particular was Marin Bar, owned by an American. We spent some time talking with him about the perks of living and working in Thailand before making our way to the Sunday market. This place was massive!! A long stretch of road with stalls lined either side selling clothes, toys, food and other souvenirs. Rob, Dave and I all bought a wicker cowboy hat to wear on our trek - just for the craic!! We look like idiots but it's all good! Later that day, we had a meeting regarding our trek commencing the following day. Our guide is called 'Tarzan' as no-one can pronounce his real name - Eakachai Pechochaikaiwan Weesapoldamsong Ammoosuk...
Bath Time
.DAY 1
The next morning we are up early and after a quick breakfast are in the back of the jeep ready for the off. We stop at a hotel to pick up a guy called Damien from Colchester. We stopped on the way up to the hills at a market to stock up for the next 3 days. After 20mins walking we stopped for lunch. After egg rice, watermelon and bananas we were fueled up for the afternoon. The heat was intense and the sweat was pouring off us. Any running water was a good enough reason for us to styop and refresh. Fires were burning along the path side and sometimes we needed to run through the embers. We walked through rice terraces and saw an elderly couple who owned and ran one of the fields. Further up were several waterfalls, the last of which we stopped at and showered - a much needed shower too!! We spent that night at a tribal village, we met the family and learned some of the local greetings. We were all very hungry by now and Tarzan didnt let us down. A Thai green curry was the order of the day and it hit the spot!! With little to do with no electricity and knackered from the days walking, we retired to bed early to recharge the batteries for the following day.
Hill Tribe Info:
Name: White Karen
Origins: Burma and Mongolia
Elephant Trekking
. They lived on the Thai/Burma border and moved when the two countries went to war with each other. Dress Code: Single women wear white dress and married wear coloured.
Marriage: Women ask the men to marry them when they are between 14-20yrs old.
Economy: They grow and trade cabbages, fruits, rice in the rainy season and lillies in the dry. It is all tax free due to the nations need for rice.
Population: 35 people per village with one Spiritman in each.
Religion: Predominantly Buddhist but a lot are changing to Christianity as Christians can study for free in the city.
DAY 2
Was woken early after a lengthy sleep to the sound of pigs outside!! Damien was already up and about but everyone else was still asleep. Tarzan woke the rest up after he had prepared breakfast. We soon were o our way again, climbing higher still until we were able to see Doi Suphet (a temple) on the hill on the horizon. We were now 1075m asl and at the summit. We walked along the ridge until descending upon a football pitch.
Home Sweet Home
We found a flat football and had a game for half an hour, England versus Ireland and Thailand. The heat was, once again, intense so we were sweating buckets again but we managed to pull off a draw nonetheless. We reached a small village further down and before lunch, we showered in the water pump and Rob managed to fall through the drain!! Still descending, we came across another waterfall where we stopped to wash our clothes and sunbathe before trekking on past more rice terraces and following a river until we came across a much bigger waterfall. By now we were in need of yet another shower and relished the sensation of the water pounding off our backs whilst standing right beneath the fall. That night we ate a Thai yellow curry followed by Thai Tea which sent us off into cuckoo land so I'm not sure whether or not those leaves were actually tea or whether we had gone crazy through heat-exhaustion. Tarzan was threatening to kill the vilaage dog Bo-Bo and cook him on the fire!! At the point we headed off to our huts to get some sleep.
Day 3
After a poor nights sleep, I was woken by Dave and Rob. Everyone had been up for 45mins and Damien even longer. We ate breakfast facing the waterfall, nobody dared to shower in it again as last night had been too cold
Tarzan and the Crew
. We set on our merry way again, again through rice fields, the hills are coated with them. Bo-Bo ran along with us for a while and it was a relief to see Tarzan hadn't cooked him for sandwiches!! He started attacking a leaf and when I kicked the leaf, a snake shot off into the undergrowth. He had just killed a lizard and was in the process of digesting it. Tarzan came back and whacked it over the head with his stick so it wouldn't do anyone else any harm as it was extremely poisonous with a i99% mortality rate!! We then hitched a lift on a truck into a nearby town where we were to go elephant riding. Rob and I drew the short straw in getting a midget of a thing called Noi Noi. We trakked around over barren fields for about 45 mins to an hour. The elephants all wash themselves down after the walk using their trunks but ours didnt bother, she just headed off to eat. Later that day we went bamboo-rafting down a very empty river but there were still a couple of small rapids to be navigated as I steered Mel and Dave along. Afterwards, we jumped into the back of the jeep and headed back to town to recover. All in all, an awesome few days were had by all!! 
