We signed up to do a trek from Chiang Mai a few weeks ago, and weren’t really sure what we were getting ourselves into. Day one of our trek, we still weren’t really sure, but at least we had a great group of people to be unsure with! Countless people have told us that the trekking guide and fellow trekkers make or break the trip, and we really couldn’t have asked for a better group. Jay Jay, our guide, grew up in one of the villages that we visited, so he knew the mountains like the back of his hand. And even though his English wasn’t perfect, Jay Jay was hilarious! He has some of the best one liners and he keeps everyone happy and motivated with his teasing and joking. Every stray dog or cat we saw (and there were a lot) were called “bar-b-que” and when asked about his non-trekking life he would always say, “No money no honey, no baby no problem” and leave it at that. JP earned the nickname “Lady Boy” for his choice not to drink “like the Irish should” according to Jay Jay. If you ever go trekking, you have to go with Jay Jay and you will definitely have a great time!
Aside from our guide, our group was all about the same age, we all spoke English, and we were all down for anything. Alex had that brilliant British humor that you have to be paying attention to understand, and his wit provided lots of entertainment. Debbie and Mandy are self proclaimed “low maintenance girly girls” and their bug paranoia and funny stories were far from boring. JP inspired the girls to make it up the mountains with a mix of cynical realism and genuine brotherly encouragement, all the while telling us stories from their eight months of traveling thus far. It couldn’t have been better!
Day 1
The first stop in our glorified pick up truck was the tourist police station. We gave copies of our passports to a German man who gave us the following advice: “You take mountain drugs, that’s okay. You bring mountain drugs to the city, five years in big Thai hotel. No aircon. No family visits. Okay?” We all got a good laugh out of this before deciding to stay away from the mountain drugs.
After about an hour of driving we stopped at a local market south of Chiang Mai for any last minute supplies. We bought some water and a kilo of mangosteins, our new favorite snack that looks like a tough plum with sweet white fruit somewhat resembling garlic cloves on this inside. We started our trek about 45 minutes later when we got unceremoniously dropped off on the side of the road. We walked through a cornfield and along a trail for a bit before noticing that the sky was turning a very angry dark grey color. We weren’t that worried because Jay Jay had convinced us that we didn’t need rain jackets. Ten minutes later the skies opened and started pelting us with huge raindrops. We stopped, soaking wet, five minutes later in a hut near the creek, amazed at how drenched you can get in five minutes. We ate lunch under the hut and watched the river turn muddier and faster for about half an hour before the storm cleared up as quickly as it had started. We hiked for another hour or so on a very muddy trail to a waterfall where we rang out our clothes and splashed around in the water.
All fresh and clean, we settled into our hut, bug sprayed up, and enjoyed a few Changs and rounds of Switch before dinner. The matriarch of the family had her wares out for sale, and after Jay Jay told us that the money she earn helps her put her kids through grammar school, we bought a few things. Dinner was a fantastic mix of hand picked rice, homegrown spices, and vegetables. Jay Jay told us funny stories about his time in Bangkok and drinking in Chiang Mai, and the ridiculous things that some trekkers do.
The family we stayed with had run out of drinking water, so we had to walk the five minutes into the village proper in the dark with the occasional lightning strike for light. Upton our return, the Irish were in bed and Alex was reading, and an older Thai man was playing an odd instrument. Justin tried it out and decided that it was something worth having so bought it from the man for a dollar. He has been playing the gway ever since!
We went to bed in our mosquito net on our bamboo mats and were quickly asleep. A few hours later we woke up and listened to the rain hammer down on our dried leaf roof and the thunder claps louder than most we’ve ever heard. It was a nice nighttime lullaby to send us back to sleep.
Day 2
It turned out that Justin and I were the only ones who had gotten a good night’s sleep. Everyone else loaded up on instant coffee while we enjoyed delicious homegrown tea. We started hiking through the village we had seen in the dark and observed the people sorting rice, hand weaving blankets, tending to gardens all in bamboo huts with the odd motorbike here and there. Apparently there is a motorbike trail so they can go into town to trade and sell things, but most of the older generation has never been to town. Although the village was mostly empty because the majority of people were out working the rice paddies or watching the cows and buffalo, we were told not to stay long because we were a strange distraction. So we moved on and hiked up a never ending hill to the top of a ridge. It was hot and humid, but this was the most exercise we had gotten in weeks and we were loving it. I can’t say the same for everyone, but we all made it and everyone was much more talkative on the downhill side.
We walked through another village almost identical to the first, but even more of a ghost town. We bought homegrown, homemade rice cakes that were to die for! Just as the skies started to darken and we spotted rain in the distance, we saw our lunch stop: a small hut with large, covered outdoor picnic table overlooking massive rice paddies that tiered down to the valley floor below. We sat admiring the view and watched the rain come across the valley. Over noodle soup, we continued our discussion on international health care policies, pop culture, and the upcoming World Cup. This whole scene reminded me of afternoon storms spend huddling under picnic tables with my cousins in Tahoe, counting the second between lightning and thunder. I couldn’t help but smile, and just like yesterday, it rained for about an hour before stopping.
When we started walking again, we were all a bit apprehensive when our guide walked straight down a steep, muddy single track trail through the rice fields. There were a few slip and slides and one great tumble stopped by a tree stump, courtesy of Justin. The afternoon’s hike was a bit treacherous considering the mud and the Indiana Jones type trail. We crested the top of a ridge and looked across the mountain and valleys to see the tallest mountain in Thailand veiled by clouds. We could hear the river below and fifteen minutes later arrived at camp: a collection of huts fifty feet from the river. The river tumbles down around granite boulders with slabs of granite lining either side, somewhat resembling a mountain stream in California, other than the dirty water color from the previous rainstorms.
Our first order of business was a bath in the creek, clothes and all to get rid of the mud. Then the cards and the beers came out, and that night was quite similar to the previous. However, we were able to convince all the boys to shotgun a beer as a bonding experience and the Thai man we were staying with offered us some of us incredibly strong homemade rice wine. Needless to say we had a blast sitting around our campfire trying to avoid the bugs and sharing stories and laughter.
Day 3
This morning we only walked about an hour before emerging onto a paved road. We crossed a few bamboo bridges and passed Thai basil farms that smelled like heaven on our walk. We stopped for lunch before getting into a pickup truck and driving to the elephants and bamboo rafting that were to be the afternoon entertainment and the wrap up of our trek.
Justin and I ended up riding the big beastly male elephant, a good four feet taller than the other female elephants. They are just spectacular animals, and being that close to them and knowing that they are actually treating quite well was a treat for us. We have heard lots of horror stories about elephants “camps” and we were lucky to have two great experiences! Shortly after the start, our elephant and the elephant that JP and Alex were on left the third elephant with Debbie and Mandy in the dust. We didn’t think too much about it because we figured the handlers were all competent and their elephant was probably just hungry like ours in Kanchanaburi. We rode for a little less than an hour through the jungle before hopping off and given the chance to hand feed our elephants. The four of us jumped at that opportunity. We had bunches of green bananas and the elephants reached out with their trunks and swooped them into their smiling mouths. It was really neat!
About ten minutes after feeding the elephants, Debbie and Mandy walk up with a mix of sheer terror and fury on their faces. We had absolutely no idea what the problem was, and after they regained their composure they told us that their elephant had gone berserk! She had refused to walk and then all of a sudden starting quivering and shaking her head violently. The worst part was that the handler just jumped off and watched the whole scene, not offering any advice or help to the girls. They had had to jump off, and miraculously hadn’t been hurt. It was one of the worst possible experiences in contrast to our great experience. It was crazy, but it just goes to show that you have to be careful, and realistically elephants in captivity probably aren’t the smartest idea.
After our equally amazing and disastrous elephant experience, we floated down the river on bamboo rafts while our guide pointed out “snakes” and “crocodiles” and tried to hit them with his paddle, getting us soaked. The river was pretty shallow, but our humorous guide told us that in a month it would be four meters higher and then everyone rafting would have to wear life jackets. Good thing we could just sit back and relax! We floated through a few picnic areas and watched the Thai kids splash around in the water. Our trip back to Chiang Mai was uneventful, and after naps at BMP we were able to convince Jay Jay to come to dinner with us and out on the town.
We went to Jay Jay’s favorite restaurant in the city, Oriental Garden, and then out to a few bars. It was the eve of Debbie’s 21st birthday, so we made sure to sing to her in the middle of the street at midnight. Justin and Alex bought a bag of bugs from a street vender, and I think they actually enjoyed eating them. They even paid a little Thai boy ten baht to eat one! The kid then followed us around, fascinated by my camera, trying to sell us “good luck flowers”. Because we forced him to eat a bug and he was just so cute, we bought all his flowers and wore them around our necks. We all got pretty drunk, and Jay Jay bailed on us before the night was over, but this is the best part: we crammed all six of us into one tuk tuk! Probably one of the worst ideas we have ever had, considering we popped a wheelie on our way home and had to pay the driver extra to keep driving us home. The boys all stood on the back bumper and held on for dear life while the girls laughed the whole time on the small bench seat. Anyone who has been in a tuk tuk knows how ridiculous we must have looked!
