Tales From a Female Traveller

I was moaning cause I was moaning

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Well, I still can't post any pictures to this site and we can't work out why. It seems to be impossible to find an internet connection that is faster than watching grass grow.

Anyhoo, I thought since I have a bit of time blog about our Trek into the jungle. It started off pretty great with a ride to the local markets for supplies, where I had to buy a pack for about $10AU because the ex-army pack I was given for the Trek broke before we had even left the city of Chiang Mai. After the market we headed off through the urban area and into the National Park where we were off loaded out little ute and where we were to begin our Trek.

In total, there was 11 of us to begin with, 3 guides; Mr. Ken, Mr. T and another guide (who disappeared about halfway through the first day) and 8 Trekkers. Byron and me, two Canadians MG and Erik, two Danes Lotta and Camilla and two whingeing poms James and Tom. Tom started moaning about the trek about 5 minutes into it after we had to wade through some shin deep water and mud and James had about a zillion injuries he was worried about making worse. James it turns out has THE worst luck of anyone I've ever met. In his lifetime, he's been taken to court when he was a security guard for GBH, his face had been mauled by a dog as a kid, his knees are shot from playing rugby and on the first night at our first stay with the hilltop tribe name Ka-ren he was stung by a scorpian!! Makes for some great entertainment... not to mention he got practically eaten alive by mozzies (but we pretty much all did).

So anyhoo, the first day was pretty hard going and Mr. Ken took us to a "Thai Restaraunt"which was actually just some fried rice we ate along the creek side. Our accomodation was pretty much million star though, bamboo huts with roofs made from banana leaves with some mozzie nets and pillows the size of a back cushion for a bed. I practically died getting there, the pack got heavier and heavier and by the time we made it to the waterfall I could no longer carry it because we were practically going vertical to get to the hilltribe camp. When we finally made it we all rushed for something to drink because we had run out of fluids a couple of hours previous and I was craving coke like an inmate craves a woman. During the night we all got to know each other more and sat around this communal table and ate dinner which consisted of something I can't remember with a whole lot of pineapple.

In the morning breakfast was served and we headed out again at about 11am after farwelling our hosts (after we all bought hand made gifts) and got to walk through a seemingly empty village. All the children travel to another village and go to school there during the week and come back home to their own village on the weekends to work in the rice fields with their families. The tribe we stayed with on the first night was relatively small and was home to 7 families in total. The oldest member we were told, was about 75 years old which is amazingly old considering the standards of living. It's basic but not putrid. They have pit toilets which you squat over (making number 2's bloody difficult) and cold showers which are made of pvc piping and a pump system with a tap for a shower head and a bit of tarp for modesty. I think it was a bit of a shell shock for all of us at this point because until then we had been staying in fully equipped backpacker places. So with this all on our minds we began our trek again which was vertical for the first 20 minutes or so. Now, don't get me wrong, 20 minutes doesn't seem like a very long time does it? Well... try telling yourself that when you've had only a few hours sleep and had walked all day through the mountains with a pack that feels like a second person on your back.. you won't be saying that for very long.. after that.. 20 minutes is a lifetime of exhaustion.

It did get a little easier there for a while though and because we were pretty high up you could see other tribes perched on the mountaintops... but the air was thin and even though it was a shorter trek than the day before it was much harder. I found it increasingly difficult and fell behind most of the time, but it's not such a big deal because there is always a guide in front and a guide behind. By lunch time I was having a really hard slog of it and the rest of the group had trooped off ahead leaving me with Mr. Ken. I can honestly say that it was the hardest physical exertion I have ever experienced and as we walked.. or should I say.. as Mr. Ken walked and as I dragged my feet... LITERALLY... I could feel my emotions swelling inside me and my legs were turning to jelly... when I could see no one could see back at us I dropped to the ground and had a good old cry as my body shaked with sheer exhaustion.
"please, let me take your bag."" Mr. Ken offered to me...
But if I let him take my bag for me that would have been the easy way out and I knew that I would, in a sense, lose face amongst everyone else if I was seen without my pack, because no one else seemed to be having the same problem I was. The Danes were incredibly athletic and headed the group almost every part of the way and as all this went through my mind, not caring that I was sitting in mud or that my hair was greasy and my skin and clothes covered in sweat... I knew I had to get myself and carry onto where everyone else was already stopping for lunch. It was a huge effort though, and when it came time to cross the creek I had to ask for help from Mr. Ken to cross as my body just wouldn't let me go any further without someone steadying me. When I finally made it to the lunch camp, I dropped to the ground and fell asleep.

Incredibly, this was all worth it because after lunch we headed into the largest Ka-ren village in all of North Thailand and we got to visit a school. The kids are just so beautiful and so shy all at the same time. When they saw themselves played back on the camera's LCD those smiles they wear all the time just got so much bigger and I found myself overwhelmed with happiness. That.. by far.. was the best part of the whole trek and completely worth every bit of physical and mental exhaustion I endured a few hours before. The school is not a conventional school, the children work. They make gardens and pick plants to make herbal medicine and dig holes to cement into place a swing set. They play soccer and sweep the ground and the toddlers play games with teachers. The school is actually a product of Christian missionaries who donate churches and pay for schooling if they convert to Christianity... and in a nation where Buddism is the main religion.. I do not fully agree with this seemingly peaceful blackmail. It's good they are able to be schooled, but I do not believe anyone should convert to anything in order to get it.

After the school, which was hard to leave, we trekked a short while more to where we would stay for our second night.. into Burma. Our hotel was another million star rating with the bonus of a huge waterfall!! Instead of sleeping 8 to a room this time it was a more private 2 to a hut and after we set up our "rooms"we all gathered around for dinner and some DRINKING GAMES. We had so many rules going that it was hard to remember to keep them all and Mr. Ken brought in his own rules. The main game was Fuzzy Duck, mixed in with a bit of Bottles, with side rules of not being able to use the hand you write with for ANYTHING, not being able to point, having to say "eat" instead of "drink" and having to tap your glass before taking a swig. If you broke any of these you not only had to "eat" but you also had to suffer "Mr. Ken's rules" which was made up of having some charcol rubbed on your face in any manner and style Mr. Ken chose. The last one's up were me and Byron and the whingeing poms and we laughed about every single thing there was to laugh about.... including how the poms were "moaning because I was moaning" about everything. All in all, it was a really great night.

The morning was a little quiter, the poms had hangovers, Mr. T and Mr. Ken were probably a little bit tipsy still and Mr. Ken never ate breakfast due to his hangover... the Canadians and Danes had gone to bed early and Byron and I.. as usual, came out hangover free!! So after a night of Chiang Beer and Sang Sem whiskey we started our trek agian, and this time people seemed to have more go.. the trekking was easier and mostly flat going and we had the expereince of an elephant ride and a bamboo raft ride to look forward to.

The elephants were first. It was about an hour long and you rode on them in two's with a driver. It was completely awesome and I recommend it to anyone... especially because I got to actually sit on the elephant's head and drive it myself.. his name was Oompai and he was THE naughtiest elephant out of all of them, refused to do what he was told and constantly wandered off into the jungle to grab whatever foliage he would get his trunk on. I almost fell off though when he bent down his head.... so gently yet so dangerous too. Just as we arrived back at the elephant camp it started to pour with rain and these are the conditions we had to do our bamboo rafting in. At first I didn't want to go but I got over myself and decided to go.. which was a good decision because it was really fun. Small rapids and easy going currents.... makes for a very nice float through the Wang River. (I will post photo's when I can work out how, I can't wait for you all to see them!!)... This... was the end of the line.... what an incredible experience. I have never been on a jungle trek before but the things you get to see and do I would not swap for anything. And I guess all those bloody bushwalks my Dad forced me to go on as a kid actually helped me make it through without dying.. although I DID want to on that second day.

When we arrived back at the BMP there was a small disaster of not being able to find our air tickets back to Bangkok, but we eventually did.. said goodbye to everyone and left Chiang Mai with the greatest sense of accomplishment and a bit of sadness that we had to go back to grubby Bangkok... what a day we were in for....

posted by Lucyspeak @ 10:50 pm