Hopefully future entries will be more descriptive than these, excuse me for rushing to get them done before they were totally erased from my memory.
Here are the two diary entries that I had time to write in whilst being away:
26/12/09
This day I slept in to about 9am. I woke up to an awesome breakfast! I had sautéed vegetables and chicken thai style. Beautiful food. I won’t write too much about the food here because I have actually been noting it down in the diary. After having a nice breakfast I decided that I wanted to hit the streets and do some shopping. Yes I was on my own. Yes, I’m sorry for not listening. But actually, I’ve felt more safe here than I do when I finish work after 6pm at Fairfield. There is actually not a very threatening atmosphere. After enquiring at the hotel reception about the best place for shopping I was directed to the ‘weekend’ markets. This was a really good way to introduce myself to the culture. The markets are HUGE. I couldn’t believe how long it was taking me to reach what I thought would be the other end of the market but then I realized that in fact, the markets kept going. I bought some nice leather bags here and some wooden vases. I’m hoping I will be able to take them into Australia after declaring them at customs. I checked the wood for any sort of unfinished of not very nice looking marks but couldn’t find any. So, I’m hoping it will be like the wooden frame and box I brought home from South America. At the markets I saw many buskers and tried my first bit of street food. I felt totally at home in an odd way. Perhaps it is because I hang around cabramatta a lot. Seriously, that isn’t meant to be a joke. After having hung around the markets until my feet were sore and I had done enough shopping, I headed back to the hotel. The taxi ride back to the hotel was horrible because the taxi driver didn’t know where he was going (he seriously didn’t, it took us forever to get back but he still didn’t charge me more because we had agreed to a certain price first – the trip wasn’t so bad as I convinced myself that being lost was a good way to see the city and actually, the next day I was quite happy that I recognized most places about Bangkok due to being lost). Once I got back to the hotel I found my room mate was already in the room. To my happy surprise my room mate is a she. Her name is Nicola. She is a 19 year old Australian (Canberra, grew up in Darwin), she has just completed her first year of nursing and is a swimming instructor. Coincidence much? She is traveling with her parents, both of whom I was later to meet. She’s a lovely room mate who is happy to share her things and loves to talk. It makes me really feel quite happy to have someone that I can relate to very easily. Speaking of which, I currently have the keys so hopefully she isn’t back from dinner yet….(I just dropped the keys off at reception). We then had our first group meeting at the foyer of the hotel. There is a group of 16 of us. 2 are south African, 4 are American and the rest of us are Australian. Yay for us!. Our group then decided to go out for dinner. We went to china town (every country seems to have a china town). This was a completely different side to Thailand. I love it, it is so funny. ‘ping pong’ shows are abundant, everyone advertising that they have the strongest cock tails, lady boys everywhere, places advertising “ we do not check ID” on signs outside. I wasn’t THAT adventurous. But I did try something pretty awesome. After dinner I had a ‘fish massage’. This is basically that thing where you put your feet into a tank full of little fish that come and eat the dead skin of your feet. It was the strangest and in the end quite relaxing sensation that I had felt to date. I had a video recording of this to bring back with me. Also, I’ve had thread and beads put through my hair. I love them!! I look like such a hippie. Especially because I bought hippie pants. They’re very popular here which is not surprising seeing as they are so comfortable and light. After shopping until 1am I headed back to the hotel with my room mate to go to bed.
Thailand
27/12/09
Today we had to be ready by 8am to depart to the royal temple and palace. During the morning we visited the most beautiful temples. How did we get there? Tuk tuk of course! Tuk tuk is the most awesome fun! At first you feel that if you sit near the edges you will fall of and die or be seriously injured, but it was the most fun! And the drivers actually quite enjoy making you laugh and cheer them on when they speed up. The people here are lovely. The architecture and attention to detail was AMAZING. I’ve taken plenty of photos of this place and hope that they’ll do the places some justice. We saw many monks today at the temples and even had the chance to give our own donation to the Buddha. We had to pay 20 baht (less than 1 aussie dollar) for three incense sticks, a small yellow candle, a flower and gold leafing. We had to firstly light the candle, and then allow it to drip hot wax onto a metal stage so that we could then stand the candle up in it. After this we had to burn our three incense sticks. With the incense sticks alight, we then placed our flower into a bucket with others like it. The incense sticks were pushed upright into what looked like an ornate flower pot filled with ash. After this we were then able to proceed to place our small piece of gold leafing onto the Buddha. It was very serene and a beautiful ritual to take part in. Around the temples and the palace there are many different paintings and statues, each with their own stories which I will have to relate back to you once I’m home as it would be easier to show you pictures. What seems to be very ‘big’ in Thailand is massage. There were entire murals dedicated to the art of massage as well as many statues demonstrating yoga type massage positions (yes I have pictures! – I took so many photos today that I will need to remember to charge my camera). Side note: I had to borrow a sarong because my three-quarter pants were too short to be visiting some of the temples and palace. After an exhausting day in the sun and tones of walking around we proceeded to a restaurant. But me being me didn’t want to eat in the beautifully air-con restaurant, I jumped into the streets outside in search for street food and my favourite milk tea. For lunch today I had thai styled fried rice with Chinese sausage, dried shrimp (very salty but nice), sweet pork, omelette, mango, onion and green bean. This cost me 40 baht which is equivalent to less than $2 (28 baht = $1). Milk tea costs me 20 baht. In the restaurant you will end up paying about 100baht for a meal. Either way it is cheap food but I much rather spend the time amongst the people. Besides, street food here is awesome! I love the fact that eating thai back home has made me more fearless than my other tour people. It’s a little novelty but I’m happy. After lunch we headed off to take a ‘long boat’. The long boat is a long boat with a motor (I took pictures). This was another major highlight. It was wonderful to be traveling through the rivers and cannels and seeing how the people lived alongside the river. Whilst we were traveling along the water all of the local people were very happy to wave and greet us with ‘su-wari-ka’! We also fed what appeared to be giant catfish in the river, which was absolutely insane! The fish were crazy for the bread. After our awesome boat ride we went for another major highlight: the pamper chapter of our day. We had a thai massage that lasted an hour. It is very interesting as the masseurs used the bodies in yoga like positions with ours to massage us and crack our backs and necks. I was really relaxing. I think that I’m going to have a foot massage tomorrow. After this I had an hour facial. But this wasn’t just any ordinary facial, this was the works. It was the most painful thing in my life that I’ve sat through willingly. They use a small loop on a stick to extract your black heads and clear your pores. My eyes were watering so much I thought I was going to bleed. Whilst I had a mask on my face I was very surprised to feel the lady jump up on the bed and start giving my whole legs massages. I also got a neck and back massage whilst I was being treated. This cost me 500 baht = about $17. After this we headed out to the streets again to try our hand at haggling. Me and a few of my friends here on the tour have become quite good at it and learnt many little tricks to reduce the prices. I’ve bought a few nice dresses and a couple of bags. I’ve never gone so crazy buying things before. The most interesting thing to report today that I tried was eating a cricket. I wasn’t game enough to try the cockroach, but tomorrow is a new day and I feel many more little critters coming on to the menu. After having dinner we headed back to the hotel. I was hoping on going for a swim but the pool had already closed. That is why I am here writing to you now. Tomorrow morning we have to leave early so I can’t stay up too late tonight and I need to pack. I think I got a little sun burnt on my face today too, so I’m currently hunting down a good hat and sunnies. Is it possible for your eye balls to get sun burnt?? Final note for today: I know I’m writing very positively but the poverty here is also incredible. That is all to report for today.
This has been written after everything from notes that I took whilst I was away so let’s just see how we go:28/12/09
Today ended up being a bit topsy turvy because of changing plans and uncertainty of what to do. Truth be told, I think that I was just having one of my odd days.
First on the agenda was to visit the Coconut Sugar Market. Whilst we were here we had the opportunity to see how they use a variety of methods to create different coconut produce. And of course, we did get to try the coconut sugar juice, coconut biscuits, caramel sweets and coconut flesh. Now, anyone that knows me would know that I have a pretty huge sweet tooth. But even I felt sick after eating some of their warm coconut sweets. Foolishly, I bought a bag of them we ended up lasting me the rest of the trip. It was far too sickly and is probably the thing that kept my weight up the entire trip despite long days of trekking. If you get a chance to look through the photos, this was the day that we were all trying on the coconut hats in some of the photos. They were pretty cool and I was tempted to get one but I really couldn’t see myself using it again as I sat on Cronulla beach =). Then again, the next time that I go on holidays I will definitely be sure to not be afraid of spending a little more to take advantage of the full experience.
So after the coconut farm we drove a short distance to our next stage of the day. Again we were on long boats, but this time through much more narrow and winding channels that thread there way through riverside houses heading towards the floating markets. The channels were like a maze and without any signage I thought of it as a wonder that the drivers could easily find their way as well as all the shortcuts. Then again, I’m sure they’re driven those parts many times before. The floating markets here were quite touristy, and asides from that little downside they were an extremely interesting experience. There were both shops on the waters edge as well as little canoes full of colourful fruits, vegetables and local crafts. We even got stuck in river traffic! The trouble with this though is that you’ve got the exhaust of the boat in front right on your face the whole time. Nevertheless we just pulled our scarves over our mouths and noses as the locals pulled out their masks. It was here that after making a little pit stop, I found my safari hat which was to stick by me the rest of the trip. Also, this was one of the first times that the locals hassling us to purchase things really got a bit persistent. It wasn’t too bad but they will throw clothes on to your back, rings on to your fingers and food into your mouth to get you to pay for something. Whilst we did ignore most of the local enthusiasm about spending, we did end up buying a lot of different fruits and shared them amongst the group. It was a good chance to try a lot of different things with the guidance of our tour guide.
After this, we headed over to the wood carving factory. I’ve never had the privilege of seeing such artistry up close before. I took plenty of photos and recordings but now as I look back, there is no way that they even gave the artists an ounce of the justice they deserve. Detailed scenes of monkeys climbing over trees, small fruits and flowers, elephants, birds…everything as it would be in real life.
This is where the topsy turvyness began, we stopped by at the war museum near the bridge over river kwai. However, there was a large group that wanted to go to the tiger monastery. However once we got there we ended up having to pay extra for so many things that in the end, myself and another lady ended up just waiting for everyone else whilst they went in. The stories that came back were both wonderful and saddening. Despite the fact that they all had fun and were able to get up close with the tigers, they said that they definitely appeared sedated and not very healthy.
After a hot and sticky day, we were lucky enough to head straight back to our home for the night – the felix river resort. This resort was beautiful. Trees everywhere, small ponds and rivers throughout, bridges leading you over winding pathways and a few very nice pools. The rooms were also wonderful and in terms of comfort this has to be one of the nicest places that I’ve been to. I would love to go there again.
29/12/10
The bridge over river kwai and hellfire pass.
This will give you a bit of history:
“Then we set off for Kanchanaburi and a visit to the world famous Bridge over the River Kwai. Kanchanaburi is a provincial capital city set in a lush landscape framed with limestone hills set on the banks of this river, which is so rich in 20th century history. During the Second World War Kanchanaburi was the site of a massive prison camp, run by the Japanese. Allied prisoners were forced to build a railway over the River Kwai and into Burma.”
The Hellfire Pass Museum was humbling and nostalgic, especially for all of the Australians in the group. It is a place worth visiting for the quality of information and keep sakes that it has in place in remembrance of those prisoners of war that worked on building the railway through that location. And then of course, you get to walk the same trail.
After this we did one of my favourite activities of the whole trip. We drove up to Ayutthaya (passing traders selling fried rats and live snakes on the side of the road) and embarked on a cycling tour of the city and its many ruins. I loved walking amongst the ruins and just being impressed by the architectural detail. Cycling also gave us a good chance to take in the surroundings and meet more of the local people than we would have, had we been in a taxi. Then to tuned down the evening, we had dinner on the rice barge and proceeded to our overnight train up to Chaing Mai.
The overnight train in itself was another great experience and I strongly recommend travel in this way. Before going on the trip I was sceptical about catching a train rather than a short flight, but in the I found that:
1. when you catch a train you feel like a local
2. means of transport are experiences in themselves
3. being rocked to sleep on the train is actually quite relaxing.
This will give you a bit of history:
“Then we set off for Kanchanaburi and a visit to the world famous Bridge over the River Kwai. Kanchanaburi is a provincial capital city set in a lush landscape framed with limestone hills set on the banks of this river, which is so rich in 20th century history. During the Second World War Kanchanaburi was the site of a massive prison camp, run by the Japanese. Allied prisoners were forced to build a railway over the River Kwai and into Burma.”
The Hellfire Pass Museum was humbling and nostalgic, especially for all of the Australians in the group. It is a place worth visiting for the quality of information and keep sakes that it has in place in remembrance of those prisoners of war that worked on building the railway through that location. And then of course, you get to walk the same trail.
After this we did one of my favourite activities of the whole trip. We drove up to Ayutthaya (passing traders selling fried rats and live snakes on the side of the road) and embarked on a cycling tour of the city and its many ruins. I loved walking amongst the ruins and just being impressed by the architectural detail. Cycling also gave us a good chance to take in the surroundings and meet more of the local people than we would have, had we been in a taxi. Then to tuned down the evening, we had dinner on the rice barge and proceeded to our overnight train up to Chaing Mai.
The overnight train in itself was another great experience and I strongly recommend travel in this way. Before going on the trip I was sceptical about catching a train rather than a short flight, but in the I found that:1. when you catch a train you feel like a local
2. means of transport are experiences in themselves
3. being rocked to sleep on the train is actually quite relaxing.
Bridge over river Kwai
30/12/09
We arrived in Chaing Mai (Elephant City) early in the morning. We took a songthaew (type of local taxi) to our guest house. The guest house was overrun with beautiful plants and trees and many large birdcages filled with talking birds hidden amongst it all. It feels as though you’ve entered the Secret Garden of Thailand.
Today we headed off for the Doi Suthep temple. In retrospect this was another one of my favourite moments. Despite some pretty awful motion sickness during the drive up the mountain.
The drive up the mountain followed a windy path of dramatically steep inclinations. The closer we got to the top of the mountain, the more cars and people would appear. On the way we even saw some determined cyclists pushing through the heaviness of Thai humidty. Eventually we broke through the narrow winding roads bordered by towering trees to a wider area of road. Here, there was a sea of colour along the side of the road; stand upon stand selling all sorts of goods from salted strawberries to scarves, pencil cases and bells. Here the road is no longer for the cars as there was a mass bank up of vehicles attempting to weave through the crowds of people. It was here that we jumped out of our little van and began the next part on foot. And the steps began. This was the greatest thigh and butt work out ever – stair master eat your heart out!. The first set of stairs should have acted as warning signs but as we were all overexcited with the vibrance of the market stands we dashed up the first flight of stairs – only to find that they were near never ending. It was in these markets that I bought all the colourful scarves that I brought home with me. The climb and burn of lactic acid were worth it though as we eventually reached the beautiful temple and an amazing view of Chaing Mai. I won’t soon forget the view of a large tree with bright fuschia flowers against the golden temple and blue sky.
This night we ventured out into the night markets. Note: the shopping here is much better than in Bangkok. Not that Bangkok was bad, Chaing Mai is just awesome. Dinner was really nice as street chef was very friendly and we lined up with the locals to try some popular desert (we decided it was ‘popular’ judging by the line and long wait). We ate this food huddled up in the back of a tuk tuk on the way back to our guest house.
31/12/09
Today we set off further north. All we had with us was whatever we could pack into our daypacks – and knowing that we had long trekking ahead – believe me, it was much. To break up our 2.5hour drive up north we stopped over at a waterfall for a swim and stretch. It was a very touristy stop and very refreshing to just sit on the rocks about the waterfall and feel the soft spray caress our faces.
After some happy snaps, we hopped back onto our trucks and continued our journey. Driving down roads between touring mountains and jungle, it was a pleasant surprise to see sporadic huts and wooden buildings dispersed about the area. Eventually, to my happy surprise we pulled over to one of these eventually for a toilet break and lunch. I love eating with the locals – the tinsel of westernised first rate restaurants can be pleasantly left to someone else.
After re-energising with lunch, we continued up the mountains to an area of hot springs. This was to be the beginning of our trek. The path was not a path at all, but rather seemed as though our tour guide had spun around, counted to ten and decided to walk in the direction in which he fell. A bed of leaves under our feet and vines and branches hanging around our faces. We shared our water and pushed each other through the heat for a 2 hour walk. Over rivers and along narrow banks and mountain faces. I had to keep reminding myself to look about and take everything in without dropping my guard and losing my footing.
Suddenly amongst the sound of our foot steps and heaving breaths we could hear distant bells. The closer we got towards the bells, the faster they seemed to ring. Eventually between the trees we saw a heard of cattle retreating from us and our path. Some of the cattle just stood there however as if to stare us down or as though they thought that we couldn’t see them from between the trees.
A few power bars, rickety bridges and termite mounds later we arrived at our little village.
Here is some information:
“Our destination this first day is a Karen Village. The Karen or Kariang are thought to have originated in Tibet, and have lived in Burma for hundreds of years. They have been in Thailand since the 18thCentury. Today there are some 4 million Karen in Burma, and 280,000 in the mountain areas all along the Thai side of the Burmese border.
The Karen people believe a white “younger brother” will come from over the waters bringing with him knowledge of writing that had been lost long ago. As a result, many embraced Christianity easily upon meeting the foreign missionaries.
The Karen have a special relationship with elephants, and the Karen trainers are the best in Asia.
Our base for the night is a traditional White Karen house, made of wood and on stilts, basic but clean. Mattresses will be provided as well as a sheet, blanket and mosquito net. Although there will be plenty of water for washing, facilities will be basic. Electricity will depend on the village, so it is recommended to take a torch. Dinner will be cooked for you after your day’s exertions. Breakfast/lunch/dinner.”
This part of the trip gave me a real sense of longing to make something more of myself, to see more of the world and to cherish every moment with each person that I meet. It was so humbling and I’m sure that nothing I write will ever bring justice to my experience here.
After washing ourselves with wet wipes – (river water was too cold and it was too dark for us of faint heart). We were treated to a delicious dinner. All of this was made by our tour guides and the locals from the village. After dinner, we followed an unlit trail through the village to the glow of a small camp fire. The camp fire was outside of what looked like a small school hall. From the inside of the wooden hall we could hear the low hum of people singing in prayer. I think some of the people on the tour had a bit of surprise as even though they were more than ready to celebrate our new years (with alcohol and streamers), it was in fact a Christmas celebration for the village. We sat around to watch the locals as varying groups in the community: girls, boys, young women, and older people in the village each took turns to perform dances, or songs or acts. There was an amazingly strong sense of community and looking back, I wonder if in our westernisation if we will ever have something close to this. The setting was so surreal. I remember looking up at the night sky and seeing the stars so clearly. I needed to remind myself that I was far from home in the depths of a northern Thailand jungle with cattle sleeping behind me, the fire keeping me warm and in the lives and homes of strangers whom we felt we had known for years.
After the villagers did their performance, the ‘MC’ eagerly encouraged someone from the tour group to do a performance back. And of course, in good humour a group of one singer and four back up singers/dancers jumped on to the stage and performed random lines from jinglebells, deck the halls and any other ditties that came to mind (I wasn’t one of them fyi ).
We went to bed later than the locals, but not as late as one would have back in Sydney. We were knackered and knew that another trek awaited us the next day.
01/01/10
Firstly We had to trek to the next village where we would have lunch and board our elephants to our ultimate destination – The Muser (Lahu) Village. Along the way our tour guide demonstrated how we could make hats out of big leaves, and find foods in the jungle. Nevertheless I still will claim absolutely no expertise. Once arriving in the village we had the opportunity to purchase some souvenirs made by the locals during lunch time. A few of us went on a small walk to explore the village after lunch and ended up at the near by river. It was here that we were lucky enough to see the elephant trainers playing with and bathing the elephants in the river. The bond between the trainers and elephants was clearly evident as they did not use any force what so ever to get them to bend down, roll over and then leave the river once all the washing was done.
After having a quick group meeting we then had to taken turns climbing up a platform so that we could board our elephants. There was a two seater ‘chair’ on the elephants back in which we shared with someone from the group. It is the strangest sensation to know that every shock you feel through your body, every dip and curve is coming from this giant living breathing creature beneath you. In good nature the local elephant trainers which were riding the elephant’s head jumped off into the river and let us take a turn of riding on the elephant’s head. My hands can still feel their rough stone/leather like skin and the prickles of the hairs through my pants into my legs. At one point the elephant tossed its trunk back and sprayed us with a gush of air and dust.
The elephant that we were riding was the mother of the young elephant in the group (what do you call a group of elephants?). The smallest elephant was particular affectionate with one of the elephant trainers. It would run up behind him and nudge him gently with his trunk. Like a small child he would then shy away as though he had done nothing at all.
We stayed on elephant back for about an hour, at the end of the trek, we then got to feed our elephants with bananas. It was quite the comical act to find yourself surrounded by curious trunks seeking to snatch bananas from you when you weren’t looking.
After another leg of the journey on foot we finally ended up in the Muser Village. I had been walking up ahead of the group and once we arrived I was greeted a little girl who using an excited wave of the hand encouraged me to follow her. With a glance back at the group to see that they weren’t too far back, I picked up the pace and followed the little girl. We crossed a small stream on a bamboo pole, jumped over a path of rocks, ran under a small building and then eventually she brought me to a house on stilts. It was much newer than the place that we had been last and was very pretty. There was a large raised veranda which held a bonfire pit in the middle of it. Once again we had a large shared room and quickly jumped onto the most comfortable looking mattress. By this stage we were all exhausted and after collapsing onto the mattress I instantly fell asleep for about an hour. Others around me were either eating, ‘showering’ (wet wipes style or buckets from the river), having massages or purchasing souvenirs.
As the sun began to set, we sat in the cool stillness of the jungle around us and simply shared stories with the locals and amongst ourselves. At one point we could hear the distinct crack of bamboo being chopped down near by followed by the meek bark of a small dog. As the sun began to set, one of our tour guides – Chai (the one with the feather in his hat from the photos) – brought over long pieces of bamboo. He had chopped them down earlier and would prepare traditional sticky rice for us as a desert. So after another tasty dinner we all sat around the fire to watch the sticky rice cook. Into the tubes of bamboo he had put coconut juice, sugar and sticky rice. One of the local women assisted him and another tour guide ‘Max’ as the rice was left to cook. We knew the rice was ready as at first, ‘juices’ could be noted seeping out from between small cracks in the bamboo, and then the rice rose EXTREMELY fast in a tube shape from the top. The local woman was quick to her feet to catch the rice and remove the rest from the fire. The bamboo tubes were then cut open and the mildly sweet sticky rice was passed around for the whole group to try. It was a beautifully subtle taste and I would love to learn how to make something like this one day (yes, I know – I’d probably need to do it in a more conventional way but I don’t think it would ever taste the same). This night, just like the other in the jungle was absolutely freezing. I hadn’t brought any winter clothes with me and was surviving the cold by layering on t-shirts. Even others in the group were huddling up to people they’d only met on the trip. Since it was so cold I stayed out by the fire as long as possible. Whilst all of the other group members went to bed, it was just Chai and I who stayed up by the fire talking. He taught me about the culture and about himself. He was very easy to talk to and a very genuine and tender person. He spoke about his time as a monk and about Chaing Mai. He also offered me some ‘moonshine’ whisky. He drank it with coca cola. It had an extremely strong smell, almost like the ‘mystery alcohol’ we were offered one Christmas whilst in the hills of Peru. Once the fire died, I crept into bed next to the fellow group member with which I was sharing and tried hard to pretend the cold was all in my head.
Information about the village:
“There are some 60,000 Lahu in Thailand. They started to arrive at the beginning of the 20th Century, and there are several different clans distinguished by their dress. Although many Muser have now adopted Christianity, their own belief is in a Supreme being, and many spirits remain strong. The Muser long for the blessings of this life and the next, for things that are good and pleasant, and, in accordance with the message of an old legend, men are particularly caring of their partners.”
02/01/10
In the morning I arose with great expectations for the bamboo rafting. For breakfast we once again indulged in cold toast and pineapple marmalade. Kind of miss the stuff now that I’m back. I was super excited about boarding our rickety rafts that were half submerged in the water already – truly felt like an adventurer. Our raft was the leading raft and so we got to experience all of the bumps and water swells first hand to pass on to everyone else in the group. There were two people who were to steer, one at the front and one at the back. The rest of us had to stand equally apart throughout the rest. The water was extremely rough in some patches and we inevitably got wet. With the cool water, and icy morning air we quickly began to hail any moment the sun burst through the thick jungle onto our little raft. The men who were steering the raft only used one long rod of bamboo to do so. On our raft we carried 4 spares. Excessive? No. Not enough. At one point during the journey down river we had to pull over and wait for another raft to pass us one of their rods. Coinciding with the loss of our steering rods was my famous breath stopping moment – literally. With a sudden loss of control from the back we rammed straight into a large rock. As we hit the rock everyone on the raft went flying forwards. My hands hit the base of the raft and slid from under me (it was really wet as you can imagine). Unfortunately for me I landed on my neck. When I opened my eyes I was surprised to find myself sprawled on the raft. I cannot emphasise the relief to you when I first took in a deep breath and realised that I could in fact still breathe. The pain was immense and I felt like there was the hugest lump in my throat. Still despite having to pull over and be checked over by our resident group nurse we soldiered on and I was still able to remind myself to take in the view.
Once we got to the end we had a chance to change our clothes and grab a little lunch box of food to take onto the back of our ute as we travelled onwards back to our trucks which would take us to the guesthouses that we originally stayed at in Chaing Mai. Much to my relief we were able to have a shower for the first time in three days. Without much further ado we were shipped back onto our overnight train and returning to Bangkok.
The train ride wasn’t boring – trust me. Firstly, I had the chance to make friends with some other Australians, had dinner with my tour guide and then the train broke down for 5 hours during the night. During this time we all got absolutely slaughtered by mosquitoes!. (we had chosen to sleep in the fan carriages as there were limited spaces in the air-con).
It’s funny how in 10 days you can become so close to people – united by the common passion of travel, adventure and wet wipes.
We arrived in Chaing Mai (Elephant City) early in the morning. We took a songthaew (type of local taxi) to our guest house. The guest house was overrun with beautiful plants and trees and many large birdcages filled with talking birds hidden amongst it all. It feels as though you’ve entered the Secret Garden of Thailand.
Today we headed off for the Doi Suthep temple. In retrospect this was another one of my favourite moments. Despite some pretty awful motion sickness during the drive up the mountain.
The drive up the mountain followed a windy path of dramatically steep inclinations. The closer we got to the top of the mountain, the more cars and people would appear. On the way we even saw some determined cyclists pushing through the heaviness of Thai humidty. Eventually we broke through the narrow winding roads bordered by towering trees to a wider area of road. Here, there was a sea of colour along the side of the road; stand upon stand selling all sorts of goods from salted strawberries to scarves, pencil cases and bells. Here the road is no longer for the cars as there was a mass bank up of vehicles attempting to weave through the crowds of people. It was here that we jumped out of our little van and began the next part on foot. And the steps began. This was the greatest thigh and butt work out ever – stair master eat your heart out!. The first set of stairs should have acted as warning signs but as we were all overexcited with the vibrance of the market stands we dashed up the first flight of stairs – only to find that they were near never ending. It was in these markets that I bought all the colourful scarves that I brought home with me. The climb and burn of lactic acid were worth it though as we eventually reached the beautiful temple and an amazing view of Chaing Mai. I won’t soon forget the view of a large tree with bright fuschia flowers against the golden temple and blue sky.
This night we ventured out into the night markets. Note: the shopping here is much better than in Bangkok. Not that Bangkok was bad, Chaing Mai is just awesome. Dinner was really nice as street chef was very friendly and we lined up with the locals to try some popular desert (we decided it was ‘popular’ judging by the line and long wait). We ate this food huddled up in the back of a tuk tuk on the way back to our guest house.
31/12/09
Today we set off further north. All we had with us was whatever we could pack into our daypacks – and knowing that we had long trekking ahead – believe me, it was much. To break up our 2.5hour drive up north we stopped over at a waterfall for a swim and stretch. It was a very touristy stop and very refreshing to just sit on the rocks about the waterfall and feel the soft spray caress our faces.
After some happy snaps, we hopped back onto our trucks and continued our journey. Driving down roads between touring mountains and jungle, it was a pleasant surprise to see sporadic huts and wooden buildings dispersed about the area. Eventually, to my happy surprise we pulled over to one of these eventually for a toilet break and lunch. I love eating with the locals – the tinsel of westernised first rate restaurants can be pleasantly left to someone else.After re-energising with lunch, we continued up the mountains to an area of hot springs. This was to be the beginning of our trek. The path was not a path at all, but rather seemed as though our tour guide had spun around, counted to ten and decided to walk in the direction in which he fell. A bed of leaves under our feet and vines and branches hanging around our faces. We shared our water and pushed each other through the heat for a 2 hour walk. Over rivers and along narrow banks and mountain faces. I had to keep reminding myself to look about and take everything in without dropping my guard and losing my footing.
Suddenly amongst the sound of our foot steps and heaving breaths we could hear distant bells. The closer we got towards the bells, the faster they seemed to ring. Eventually between the trees we saw a heard of cattle retreating from us and our path. Some of the cattle just stood there however as if to stare us down or as though they thought that we couldn’t see them from between the trees.A few power bars, rickety bridges and termite mounds later we arrived at our little village.
Here is some information:
“Our destination this first day is a Karen Village. The Karen or Kariang are thought to have originated in Tibet, and have lived in Burma for hundreds of years. They have been in Thailand since the 18thCentury. Today there are some 4 million Karen in Burma, and 280,000 in the mountain areas all along the Thai side of the Burmese border.
The Karen people believe a white “younger brother” will come from over the waters bringing with him knowledge of writing that had been lost long ago. As a result, many embraced Christianity easily upon meeting the foreign missionaries.
The Karen have a special relationship with elephants, and the Karen trainers are the best in Asia.
Our base for the night is a traditional White Karen house, made of wood and on stilts, basic but clean. Mattresses will be provided as well as a sheet, blanket and mosquito net. Although there will be plenty of water for washing, facilities will be basic. Electricity will depend on the village, so it is recommended to take a torch. Dinner will be cooked for you after your day’s exertions. Breakfast/lunch/dinner.”
This part of the trip gave me a real sense of longing to make something more of myself, to see more of the world and to cherish every moment with each person that I meet. It was so humbling and I’m sure that nothing I write will ever bring justice to my experience here.
After washing ourselves with wet wipes – (river water was too cold and it was too dark for us of faint heart). We were treated to a delicious dinner. All of this was made by our tour guides and the locals from the village. After dinner, we followed an unlit trail through the village to the glow of a small camp fire. The camp fire was outside of what looked like a small school hall. From the inside of the wooden hall we could hear the low hum of people singing in prayer. I think some of the people on the tour had a bit of surprise as even though they were more than ready to celebrate our new years (with alcohol and streamers), it was in fact a Christmas celebration for the village. We sat around to watch the locals as varying groups in the community: girls, boys, young women, and older people in the village each took turns to perform dances, or songs or acts. There was an amazingly strong sense of community and looking back, I wonder if in our westernisation if we will ever have something close to this. The setting was so surreal. I remember looking up at the night sky and seeing the stars so clearly. I needed to remind myself that I was far from home in the depths of a northern Thailand jungle with cattle sleeping behind me, the fire keeping me warm and in the lives and homes of strangers whom we felt we had known for years.
After the villagers did their performance, the ‘MC’ eagerly encouraged someone from the tour group to do a performance back. And of course, in good humour a group of one singer and four back up singers/dancers jumped on to the stage and performed random lines from jinglebells, deck the halls and any other ditties that came to mind (I wasn’t one of them fyi ).
We went to bed later than the locals, but not as late as one would have back in Sydney. We were knackered and knew that another trek awaited us the next day.
01/01/10Firstly We had to trek to the next village where we would have lunch and board our elephants to our ultimate destination – The Muser (Lahu) Village. Along the way our tour guide demonstrated how we could make hats out of big leaves, and find foods in the jungle. Nevertheless I still will claim absolutely no expertise. Once arriving in the village we had the opportunity to purchase some souvenirs made by the locals during lunch time. A few of us went on a small walk to explore the village after lunch and ended up at the near by river. It was here that we were lucky enough to see the elephant trainers playing with and bathing the elephants in the river. The bond between the trainers and elephants was clearly evident as they did not use any force what so ever to get them to bend down, roll over and then leave the river once all the washing was done.
After having a quick group meeting we then had to taken turns climbing up a platform so that we could board our elephants. There was a two seater ‘chair’ on the elephants back in which we shared with someone from the group. It is the strangest sensation to know that every shock you feel through your body, every dip and curve is coming from this giant living breathing creature beneath you. In good nature the local elephant trainers which were riding the elephant’s head jumped off into the river and let us take a turn of riding on the elephant’s head. My hands can still feel their rough stone/leather like skin and the prickles of the hairs through my pants into my legs. At one point the elephant tossed its trunk back and sprayed us with a gush of air and dust.The elephant that we were riding was the mother of the young elephant in the group (what do you call a group of elephants?). The smallest elephant was particular affectionate with one of the elephant trainers. It would run up behind him and nudge him gently with his trunk. Like a small child he would then shy away as though he had done nothing at all.
We stayed on elephant back for about an hour, at the end of the trek, we then got to feed our elephants with bananas. It was quite the comical act to find yourself surrounded by curious trunks seeking to snatch bananas from you when you weren’t looking.
After another leg of the journey on foot we finally ended up in the Muser Village. I had been walking up ahead of the group and once we arrived I was greeted a little girl who using an excited wave of the hand encouraged me to follow her. With a glance back at the group to see that they weren’t too far back, I picked up the pace and followed the little girl. We crossed a small stream on a bamboo pole, jumped over a path of rocks, ran under a small building and then eventually she brought me to a house on stilts. It was much newer than the place that we had been last and was very pretty. There was a large raised veranda which held a bonfire pit in the middle of it. Once again we had a large shared room and quickly jumped onto the most comfortable looking mattress. By this stage we were all exhausted and after collapsing onto the mattress I instantly fell asleep for about an hour. Others around me were either eating, ‘showering’ (wet wipes style or buckets from the river), having massages or purchasing souvenirs.
As the sun began to set, we sat in the cool stillness of the jungle around us and simply shared stories with the locals and amongst ourselves. At one point we could hear the distinct crack of bamboo being chopped down near by followed by the meek bark of a small dog. As the sun began to set, one of our tour guides – Chai (the one with the feather in his hat from the photos) – brought over long pieces of bamboo. He had chopped them down earlier and would prepare traditional sticky rice for us as a desert. So after another tasty dinner we all sat around the fire to watch the sticky rice cook. Into the tubes of bamboo he had put coconut juice, sugar and sticky rice. One of the local women assisted him and another tour guide ‘Max’ as the rice was left to cook. We knew the rice was ready as at first, ‘juices’ could be noted seeping out from between small cracks in the bamboo, and then the rice rose EXTREMELY fast in a tube shape from the top. The local woman was quick to her feet to catch the rice and remove the rest from the fire. The bamboo tubes were then cut open and the mildly sweet sticky rice was passed around for the whole group to try. It was a beautifully subtle taste and I would love to learn how to make something like this one day (yes, I know – I’d probably need to do it in a more conventional way but I don’t think it would ever taste the same). This night, just like the other in the jungle was absolutely freezing. I hadn’t brought any winter clothes with me and was surviving the cold by layering on t-shirts. Even others in the group were huddling up to people they’d only met on the trip. Since it was so cold I stayed out by the fire as long as possible. Whilst all of the other group members went to bed, it was just Chai and I who stayed up by the fire talking. He taught me about the culture and about himself. He was very easy to talk to and a very genuine and tender person. He spoke about his time as a monk and about Chaing Mai. He also offered me some ‘moonshine’ whisky. He drank it with coca cola. It had an extremely strong smell, almost like the ‘mystery alcohol’ we were offered one Christmas whilst in the hills of Peru. Once the fire died, I crept into bed next to the fellow group member with which I was sharing and tried hard to pretend the cold was all in my head.Information about the village:
“There are some 60,000 Lahu in Thailand. They started to arrive at the beginning of the 20th Century, and there are several different clans distinguished by their dress. Although many Muser have now adopted Christianity, their own belief is in a Supreme being, and many spirits remain strong. The Muser long for the blessings of this life and the next, for things that are good and pleasant, and, in accordance with the message of an old legend, men are particularly caring of their partners.”
02/01/10
In the morning I arose with great expectations for the bamboo rafting. For breakfast we once again indulged in cold toast and pineapple marmalade. Kind of miss the stuff now that I’m back. I was super excited about boarding our rickety rafts that were half submerged in the water already – truly felt like an adventurer. Our raft was the leading raft and so we got to experience all of the bumps and water swells first hand to pass on to everyone else in the group. There were two people who were to steer, one at the front and one at the back. The rest of us had to stand equally apart throughout the rest. The water was extremely rough in some patches and we inevitably got wet. With the cool water, and icy morning air we quickly began to hail any moment the sun burst through the thick jungle onto our little raft. The men who were steering the raft only used one long rod of bamboo to do so. On our raft we carried 4 spares. Excessive? No. Not enough. At one point during the journey down river we had to pull over and wait for another raft to pass us one of their rods. Coinciding with the loss of our steering rods was my famous breath stopping moment – literally. With a sudden loss of control from the back we rammed straight into a large rock. As we hit the rock everyone on the raft went flying forwards. My hands hit the base of the raft and slid from under me (it was really wet as you can imagine). Unfortunately for me I landed on my neck. When I opened my eyes I was surprised to find myself sprawled on the raft. I cannot emphasise the relief to you when I first took in a deep breath and realised that I could in fact still breathe. The pain was immense and I felt like there was the hugest lump in my throat. Still despite having to pull over and be checked over by our resident group nurse we soldiered on and I was still able to remind myself to take in the view.
Once we got to the end we had a chance to change our clothes and grab a little lunch box of food to take onto the back of our ute as we travelled onwards back to our trucks which would take us to the guesthouses that we originally stayed at in Chaing Mai. Much to my relief we were able to have a shower for the first time in three days. Without much further ado we were shipped back onto our overnight train and returning to Bangkok.
The train ride wasn’t boring – trust me. Firstly, I had the chance to make friends with some other Australians, had dinner with my tour guide and then the train broke down for 5 hours during the night. During this time we all got absolutely slaughtered by mosquitoes!. (we had chosen to sleep in the fan carriages as there were limited spaces in the air-con).
It’s funny how in 10 days you can become so close to people – united by the common passion of travel, adventure and wet wipes.
