Trekking near Chiang Mai

The past three days went by quite quickly. We were elephant riding, hiking, and bamboo rafting northeast of Chiang Mai. This is the second trek we have participated in during our travels and we have definitely enjoyed the different perspective that they bring and the different mix of people that we meet. The usual bar crowd of backpackers isn't usually interested in walking through countrysides and learning about peoples and histories.

This trek had twelve of us, which is a large group. There were two pleasant German university students, a thirty something Polish couple with no awareness of cultural sensitivity, three very upperclass English people who had just finished university, two really awesome Scottish fellows, an opium seeking creepy German, and us. It was a very diverse group and while there was some tension between participants here and there it was overall a very pleasant group of people.

Our guide's name was La. He guides for four months of the year and lives in a village of one hundred and fifty people for the rest of the year. He has a wife and a child. Five years ago when he started guiding he did not speak any English. Since then he has learned and continues to learn from the tourists that he guides. He is short, around five feet or a little less, he is usually found smiling, and he is very keen on sharing his life with others. Throughout our hikes he would stop to show us plants that he uses for food, medicines, weapons, and building materials. He also carved from bamboo a set of chop sticks and a fork and knife for each member of our group to take with us. He could be heard stating things such as "never try, never know" and, when alarmed about something, "oh my Buddha".

The first day saw us riding elephants. I don't have much to say about the elephants. They were large, we sat on top of them, and they walked us around a big loop. After the elephants we drove to the trailhead. We were out of city limits and therefor allowed to ride on top of the taxi truck which was a blessing because before there were twelve of us herded in with our bags. Along the hike La showed us a pine tree wood chip candle, a heart medicine plant, ants that tasted like lemon sour patch kids, and many uses of bamboo. We bathed in a waterfall and slept in a lodge made from the woods around.

The second day we hiked seven hours through the woods and into La's village. La cooked for us and made us to-go lunches wrapped in leaves and tied with stems. We found ourselves walking through tiered rice patties being prepared for the wet season, pasture land, and farmlands. La brought us to see a traditional home inhabited by a 95 year old woman. She prayed a blessing for us. We stayed at La's father in law's house. After dinner La told us the story of the people groups around the hills. The Karen and the Hmong and seven other people groups immigrated due to wars throughout the years into this region to start new lives.

Day three saw the group in the back of a pick-up truck. The German students had to catch a train to Bangkok and so instead of hiking we drove to our destinations. The highlight of the day (and one of the trip as well) was floating down the river on traditional bamboo rafts steered by poles. The raftsmen were very skilled even though there were a few sketchy incidents. We were a little skeptical at first thinking it may be another impersonal elephant riding session but the raftsmen were interactive. They joked and splashed us and even allowed some people to steer. We even did a little cliff jumping though it was nothing like the forty foot drop I experienced this past summer but it was really nice to get in the water and play.

In the end we had a good experience. Not even the creepy German guy ruined the fun with his creepy vibe, excessive drinking, and opium seeking. Today we were supposed to do a cooking course but we bumped it until tomorrow and that finds us sitting pleasantly in the "Sweet Love Coffee Shop" writing out our adventures and laughing over the good times and planning what is next.

Tune in next time to here the story of Mr. Smiles, the musket, and the barbecue.