Chiangmai trek
It was January 4th when we settled in our hotel in Chiangmai, Thailand and the next day our first trek was one on elephants. We were taken to a forest about an hour’s drive from the hotel and from a wooden platform all of us in pairs seated ourselves atop elephants with their guides. The elephant trek took us up hills among trees and streams and occasionally you wonder how the big elephant manage to negotiate some tight turns and steep slopes, but managed it did.
The mountains near Thailand’s highest peak, Doi Inthanon are covered with deciduous forests and dry rice fields, and in the dry season, you can see leaves in varied hues of golden, red, orange, green and yellow. The views and tropical feel is different from other mountains and it was a refreshing change.
The temperature is cool in the morning but by afternoon it heats up. We crossed streams, harvested dry rice field terraces, forest slopes, on sandy and dried paths. Every now and then we rested and drank water, lots of water.
When evening fell and it became dark pretty early we were near to the hill tribe village and we took our baths and settled for an evening meal cooked by the guides. We sang, danced, talk about the tribal culture and found out that the Thai people were very happy withThaksin their prime minister as he made health available to the agricultural poor at very low rates.
We retired for the night sleeping in a wooden hut on stilts, with huge openings that allowed in the cool night air. Like sardines in two rows, ladies on the opposite side, we endured the
cold, the unfamiliar crows of the cock and the barks of dogs, and the snoring of tired trekkers asleep next to us. When dawn came it was so cold one by one we awoke and went out to the compound where the guides have started a fire. OOhhh, how nice and warm to just keep close to the fire. Then it was breakfast of boiled eggs, bread with jam and hot, hot coffee.
On the way out of the village we passed by a school and saw the school assembly and one of the classrooms. Poor but contented.Very basic, very basic.
We continued our trek to a location where we would then be bamboo rafting all the way down a shallow river to another point where the transport would wait for us. It was a pleasant, cool, scenic and smooth ride which the ladies enjoyed.
There was quite a bit of travelling on the mountain roads and it was very dusty particularly when the trucks that carried us had openings in the front and at the back. Our faces, clothes would all have a layer of dirt on us. And we got off our bamboo rafts and went into those trucks we noticed that all of them were super clean because while we were going down river the guides had already washed the trucks thoroughly by the river.
We also tried roadstall food and survived to tell the tale. Just make sure it was served hot and soupy.
Then it was back to civilization, back to Chiangmai, back to Lanna Palace, a three star hotel next to the night bazaar, where we ate, got massaged, and shopped till we dropped.
From left to right: Ruth, Kenny, Rahim, Jenny, Wei Li, Ron, Linda, Nellie, Eric, Tan, Chris, Susan, Jeffrey, and Joyce.
Add comment January 15th, 2005
