Chiang Mai Trekking

Briefed and equipped, we left our backpackers residence, set for the jungles of the north. Ahead of us lay new sights, smells, sounds and tastes, all brilliantly vivid, none easy to forget. One and a half hours out of Chiang Mai we began our trek, gently at first and then deeper into the land of the Karen Tribe. Humidity was high but the sun was forgiving and we made good progress.

We couldn’t have had a better group of ten – our personalities splashed together like kiddie poster paint. Our guides, Pun and Ken, were easy to trust and knew this land. Over and over they proved themselves – Sharp eyes, sharp instincts, sharp knives. I saw what was visible and came to me, butterflys, dragonflys, the land, water and path ahead. They saw the invisible – wasp nests, mud frogs, bristled catipillars, termite mounds, spiders and snakes.

By the end of day one we had negotiated our way to the Khun Nasa village of the Karen tribe. They have their own identity and dialect: (phonetically) Omuchipa = Hello, Tabli = Thank you. Around our huts roamed a menagerie of animals – roosters and chickens, boar, dogs and cows. Robi, Steve and I joined the villagers in their game Ta Kraw, volleyball for the feet.

We ate great food throughout the trek and were also offered local village flavours to sample – Like grubs and crickets fried in special sauces. Robi and I delighted in anything that was put in front of us. At night the pack of cards came out, Joanna would have to wait a day to avenge losing ‘Sh*thead’. On my mat bed, lying awake, I listened to the symphony of insects outside.

Day two was more active as we branched on to thinner tracks, leading to a ridge that overlooked some of the regions wispy mountain ranges. Colourful conversations that spanned everything under the sun floated down our line. Our guides earned their salt the day before burning a nest of wasps near the track – the biggist wasps Ive ever seen. This time a snake had moved onto the paths edge. Pun ran at it, drew his knife and threw from a couple of meters, killing it. Later, Pun probed a great black spider from its lair, pinned it’s head and picked it up. Apparantly a juvenile (can’t imagine its mother!), its bite is deadly.

A perfect waterfall was the backdrop for camp on day 2. We jumped in the pool after a days trekking – total refreshment. Again the food was good. I had some snake which was disapointingly thin on meat. Robi and I would have liked some Python. Around a fire we drunk Thai rum and flung our thoughts, ideas and opinions around. Then rotating around the group, adding only one sentance each at a time, we conjured the maddest story ever told. More rum followed and the fire smouldered till morning.

A plunge in the waterfall pool cleared our heads before breakfast. We trekked on foot till lunchtime, on paths through rice paddy fields and across logs posing as bridges.

We were taken to our elephants. Really, truely they are magnificent beasts. They are more agile than I had known. Our riding took us through a section of forest stamped already with their footprints from another day. Our Mahood let me swap with him and ride on the elephants head. Their ears flap (from happiness and to keep them cool). I relaxed as I got used to the rhythm of his shouldblades rising and lowering beneath me. The elephants were well trained and responded to voice commands but amusingly this didnt stop Joanna and Fiona feeling the repeated blasts of elephant snot up their legs, or the Slovenians elephant going off track for a feed. Definitely a highlight. Click here for short movie (800k), or right-click link > “save target as” (thanks to Fredrico)

Our trek finished with bamboo rafting down light rapids. Bamboo rafting in this case meant literally ten pieces of bamboo tied together. Over the three days we had such an awesome time. Jo, Fee, you’re just grand; Robi, Steve, you’re brilliantly mad; Deb, Wendy, Harry, Primo and Barbara you’re cool people to trek with.

***
There’s a lot more to tell about Chiang Mai itself, but this internet cafe is closing.. Its a real bohemian capital of the north and somewhere I’d love to return after Cambodia – maybe to do course in Thai Massage, meditation, painting, Thai cuisine or any number of other things. The night markets and the Sunday market at the Tha Phae Gate are diverse and cheap. Wats (temples) are everwhere. I’ve gone overboard with photos up here so check the photolog (updated).

I’m leaving on a slow boat to Laos tomorrow morning which takes 2 days to Lam Prabang. There the internet is less accessible so my next post might have to wait till I’m in Vietnam. I’m feeling great.

Lastly a puzzel I solved on the trek: Set up 6 sticks as in the photo. By moving only 3 sticks, create 4 triangles the same size as the ones you start with.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 17th, 2004 at 2:21 pm and is filed under Thailand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.