Temples, tipples and trekking
Well where do I start? We have just got into Sydney after an absolutely amazing time in Thailand.
Our first day in Bangkok was a pleasant surprise as it was not as bad as we expected although to be honest I dont really know what we expected to find. We met up with our tour group consistiong of 8 Aussies, 1 Yank and 3 fat Brits (us) and went out for a meal. A Thai green curry and 2 pints of Chang beer (6.4%!!) and I got my bill. The meal was 40 baht and the beers came to 150 baht.... all in for for about 3 quid in a posh restaurant!! Then we preceeded to get really messy in Khaosan road with Groover suggesting we buy a bottle of tequila...we went to a club...can't really remember much else.
The next day we got up at 8am and it was already well over 34deg C and really humid...and getting hotter! We took a long tailed boat along the river for a couple of hours, saw some temples, fish etc, then went to Wat PO and saw the reclining Buddha and more temples, then went to the the grand palace and yep you guessed it ... a few more temples!! I did not realize how seriousely they take their religion. eg. Every male has to be a monk for at least 1 month of their lives. You can see the monks everywhere wearing the orange robes. People give them food, they get free transport and stuff, it's pretty cool. At the end of that day we were pretty much templed out as there is only so many Buddha images you can take in one day. In the evening we took the over night sleeper train to Chang mai in the north, it took 14 hours but really was not that bad. We drank quite a bit on the train as it makes it easier to sleep. The next day I woke up at around 6:30am to the most amazing scenery. Jungle covered mountains rivers, rice fields etc, much more of what I was wanting to see of Thailand.
We arrived in Chang Mai at around 11:30am. It was so much nicer than Bangkok, much less smelly for a start!! We checked into our hotel (which had a pool...bonus!!) and we were given a hour before we went to have lunch so the first thing we did was jump in the pool. Swimming never felt so good. We had lunch then went to have a look at some local factories, not really what everyone wanted to do after a 14hr train ride but they do it to try to boost the economy so no-one really minded, plus they where all air conditioned!! We went to a jewel factory, silk, and a laquer factory. Then we all met up in the night markets. My bargaining skills are now finely honed after all the Thai markets!!!
The next day we set off
early to start our Hill Tribe trekking through the jungle we stopped for lunch
and were told that there was a nice waterfall a short walk away from where we
were eating and that the guides could take us there while our trekking tour
guide cooked us lunch. By the time I had got to that water fall I felt like
I had been walking up mountains for days. My shirt was wet through from sweat
as it was so hot and so steep. We got a great group photo at the top though
so it was all worth it. It was here when I got the fear about the rest of the
trek. This was a 10 minute stroll as it was described by our guides, after lunch
we had a 3 1/2 hour hard trek and
the next day a 4 1/2 hard trek!!!!!
So we had lunch cooked by Sin Sous who was our hill tribe guide. He was actually from one of the tribes that we visited although we did not visit his village. But what a charactor! A very funny man and full of knowlege about the jungle. I really felt we were in safe hands! We set off on our treck and I was doing fine for the first 1/2 hour (downhill) this jungle was not what I expected at all. We could have almost been in a forrest in the UK except for all of the bamboo, mountains and heat!
We must have climbed 4 or 5 mountains by the time we got to the first village, but the scenery was absolutely fantastic. Sin explained to me that alot of the hillsides were bare of trees due to the fact that the tribes used to grow Opium and transported it to the Burmese border 50KM north of where we were, but that all ended 25 years ago.
The Le seux village was a bit of a culture shock, we were staying in a hut just big enough for all 12 of us to sleep in. We were told that we could wonder into the village in small groups and have a look around. Although the village huts were very basic and the surroundings quite dirty they still had 4x4 trucks and sattellite TV!
We had dinner, again cooked by Sin, and then the locals showed us their traditional dances, and we all joined in much to their amusement!! A few more beers and some Karaoke then we all went to bed exausted!
The next day we trecked to a Karan Village. The trek was longer but easier than the previous day but when we arrived at the elephant station we were all exausted and had a power nap before lunch. When our elephants turned up I was excited at the prospect of effortless travel as all the trekking had pretty much taken it out of everyone. Sat on top of the elephant it was quite a fair way up. I could not believe that these massive animals where using the same narrow trails that we were walking along, they just did not seem big enough! I did have some hairy moments when I thought I was going to fall off the elephant and over the 100ft cliff and into the river, but i managed to survive!
1 1/2 hours later we arrived at the Karan village, an ideal setting in a nice valley with a very inviting river in the middle. Priority 1 for everyone was to go for a swim!! Although there was a very strong current just being in the water was enough to cool off and relax. That night Sin told us about his tribe and this village and then presented us with 2 bottles of moonshine. This is a whisky that the locals make from rice. It is about 60% ABV and tasted a little like Tequila ... and not strictly legal. We ended up playing drinking games and getting very drunk, but what the hell I think we all deserved it!
The next morning as we woke up, some of the locals were building bamboo rafts for us to travel down the river. We went down the river for about 3 hours, 5 to a raft that barely floated, through rocks and rapids and more amazing jungle scenery - just how I imagined the jungle to be, this was a great experience. At the end of the rafting we had dinner again cooked by Sin, then travelled by truck back to the hotel.
When we got back to the hotel we had an hour to have a swim/shower/change before we all went to have a 1 hour Thai massage. The best four pounds I have ever spent!!!
1 more night in Chang Mai and we all went for a meal at a riverside restaurant with live bands a few more drinks then off to bed. The next day we could do what ever we wanted, Simon did a Thai cookary course which started at 8am in the morning, he was very brave as I would not want to go to any of the food markets with the sort of hangover he had, the smells at the food markets can be extreme to say the least!!!
Adam and I on the other hand took it very easy, we had a bit of a lie in, went for a swim had lunch then did some shopping.
In the evening it was time to get on the train to Bangkok. None of us wanted to go back there after being in the north. In the morning I could smell Bangkok about an hour before we even reached the suburbs, I was a bit of a downer to be back there and to loose half of our group who had only signed up to do the northern tour. That day we went back to bed for a while then went out in the evening as there was nothing else we really wanted to see in Bangkok. The next day we went to the Teak mansion which was a royal resedancy in the early 20th century. And that was it for the northern tour. just the jungle and beaches to look forward to!!
This has taken me ages to write so I will tell you about the southern tour in a day or two!!!
Monster Nial