Bye bye boots

• Shaggers's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Chiang Mai

Trip Start Apr 12, 2005 Previous
Entry Trip End ??? ??, 2006 Next
Entry

  Chiang Mai, Thailand
Sunday, May 22, 2005

Well the trek was interesting...first of all we went elephant-riding, me and Eric managed to get the naughtiest, greediest elephant in the world - one word from the driver and she did exactly what she wanted i.e. go in the opposite direction and eat grass. It was great fun though, if a little jerky, don't think she'd quite mastered the technique for giving us a smooth ride. After this we had lunch and were dropped off for our two-hour trek to the Karen hill tribe where we were to spend the night. It didn't take long for us to realise that any timescale given by our guide Pol was to be taken with a pinch of salt - two hours was nearer three and a half. We stayed in a hut above the village and didn't really have much interaction with the villagers which was a pity - some of the lads went down to play football and bathe in the river but climbing the steep hill back up the once was enough for the rest of us. After supper Luke spent hours talking to two Karen women, learning the words for various body parts, the moon, dog, beer, etc

Fish-clobbering

. We thought it strange that many words started with 'ina' till Spiderman (the other guide)explained that it meant 'this is' - oh how we laughed.

Day two was gruelling to say the least - in the morning we climbed really steep hills in the dusty heat, using various methods to keep us plodding on - you'll not be surprised to learn that mine was moaning, particularly because my feet were covered in bites that were rubbing against my boots. Then, after a really cool lunch of fried rice served in individual leaf packages, we set off ever upwards, to be caught in a torrential hailstone downpour that drenched us within minutes - I had visions of sliding down the mountain Indiana Jones-stylee in a mudslide. We'd kind of hoped for rain as it was so hot so I guess it serves us right, be careful what you wish for and all that. At camp that night we all hung our stuff out to dry and some of us washed ourselves and our clothing in the stream, which was really refreshing. At dinner we somehow decided we were on a reality TV show with cameramen in the bushes and monsoons sent to test us, we laughed so much that one person had beer coming out of her nose (mentioning no names Aoife). Such fun was had by all.

Day three dawned with my boots still sodden so I decided to leave them behind and walk in my sandals, it was only 30 minutes to where the bamboo rafts were awaiting us, which was a real luxury after all we'd endured the day before

Lunch in the jungle

. Well it was for the passengers, no such much for the oarsmen (hats off to our 'Waterboy' Peter who loved the river so much he kept jumping in for the hell of it. There were a few crashes, bruises, bamboo attacks and cut knees sustained but overall it was really chilled and calming.

After lunch we walked a little while to where the truck was picking us up, it took us to two modern pagodas built for the King and Queen on the side of Doi Inthanon, supposedly the highest peak in Thailand at 2565m but there were at least two higher ones we could see in the vicinity - who are we to quibble? After that there was a stop at Vacharatharn Falls to cool off again, then homeward bound. We celebrated well that night, dinner at the Irish Pub then beer and pool at a reggae bar till 2am-ish - nice.

Yesterday I went nowhere at all as I did a Thai cookery course at the guest-house - we cooked and ate so much food we thought we'd burst - curries, stir-fries, soup, fish, spring-rolls, sticky rice with mango....it was all sooo good and I have a recipe book so I can cook up a feast when I get home - don't all shout at once! The one thing I won't be revisiting is the trip to the market where we chose our fish and it was killed in front of us with a few good clobbers to the head - now that's what I call fresh

Me, Eric and the naughty elephant

! Not sure Morrisons do it like that....Last night we all watched the Cup Final at the Irish bar, good excuse for a beer if nothing else.

Yesterday I sent off for my visa for Cambodia, it'll take a few days so I have plenty of time to book in for a Thai massage to give my aching thighs a good going-over before I put them under the strain of exploring Angkor Wat. Last night I went to the Sunday market - these Thais love shopping more than I do, there were so many stalls over so many streets that I lost my bearings and came out further down the road than where I started! We'd also been to the Night Bazaar a few days ago which had as many stalls but more variety - I may go back tonight as I need to buy some trainers to replace my boots, otherwise all I have is flip-flops.

This morning I went to have a shower but left the bathroom straightaway as there was an army of ants trying to carry a dead cockroach up the wall, don't know where it came from and wasn't staying to find out. This is all quite normal here, it's almost a rite of passage - I'd already killed a cockroach in the last place except I didn't know what it was till I explained it to someone else. That one was a shocker as it appeared on the sink whilst I was on the loo so I was running round naked with a 100% DEET spray trying to kill the f***er - I'd tried drowning it but they swim really well and they move like greased lightning. Anyway the DEET works, in case you ever need to know....

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Pagoda detail	Queen's Pagoda, Doi Inthanon	The best spring rolls in the world - ever!	The gang at the waterfall, post-trek
Trekking with bovine spectators

Slideshow Print this entry Share Chiang Mai hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry