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05.27.2005 -- CHIANG MAI - THAILAND --
Thai Waterfalls and Trekking...
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Sorry for the lack of journal entries. Since our last entry, we have been to Chaing Mai, Thailand which we thoroughly enjoyed. We went on a 2 night 3 day trekking trip put on by a guest house and tour operator called Eagle Guest House. We spent the night in 2 different hill tribe villages. Our guide was from the tribe but a different village. When he was 7, he came to Chaing Mai to box and study. Boxing is basically a cultural experience in Thailand. The only Olympic champion from Thailand in 2000 was a boxer.
Back to the trek - On day one, we drove about 3 hours, played in a waterfall for an hour or so then hiked about 90 minutes (leaches included) before we arrived at the first village. The view into the village as we approached was "magical"... like when you are a kid and you get excited about your first bike. The homes are on stilts or poles and the rice fields were terraced up the valley walls. Everyone in the village seemed to have at least one pig and a rooster if not more. The roosters made for an early rise. They also have motor bikes (125 cc mopeds for getting to and from other villages and town). Some also had solar panels, but nobody was on the grid (no electric, gas, water or sewage).
We "showered" in the stream under a make shift bamboo aquifer that actually worked quite well. It is probably the same stream the villagers up stream use for sewage, but let's not talk about that.
We stayed in a hut near the stream that had a kitchen that smoked out the cooks periodically. They were cooking inside using a wood burning stove that did not have proper venting. Whenever the breeze blew the wrong way, the cooks ran for fresh air. Our beds were relative good actually. We had a thin mattress with a blanket and mosquito netting. There were 12 of us on the trip and the room was plenty big enough for all of us.
Regarding mosquitoes: We also lathered up in deet as mosquitoes tend to carry some rather nasty diseases in SE Asia. We have also been taking vitamin B which is supposed to help keep mosquitoes at bay. It seems to work actually. Todd is usually a mosquito magnet and he has had less than a half dozen bites since the beginning of the trip.
One day 2 of the trek, we hiked about 4 hours in the morning, picked up an elephant taxi and then made our way to the second village. The elephant taxi was truly an elephant trek through the jungle. We only rode the elephants for about an hour, and it was enough. Maggie rode on the elephants neck while Todd rode with another gal (Katherine) in the seat.
When we arrived in the second village, we went swimming in the river with about 30 village kids. While we had a blast, this was probably not the smartest thing as our research indicated that fresh water in SE Asia should be avoided if possible. Fresh water is where you find other nasty diseases... standing fresh water is worse so we took our chances as it was refreshing. In addition, there was a deep spot and a nice 3 - 4 meter tall rock to jump off. All the kids were pumped as a couple of us were throwing them up in the air. Picture this... 30 Thai village kids (half of them naked) swimming in the river with a dozen westerners. While we were swimming, a local guy was loading up a couple bamboo rafts with Ice blocks, cases of beer and soda and other items to raft them down stream to other villages. After swimming for about an hour, we went back and strolled through the village. We felt like we were intruding as the road is very narrow and the homes are right on the road. We made it to the school which services all nearby villages and found a soccer game which Maggie played. Todd is still nursing his Achilles tendon and would prefer to avoid another career ending injury. Maggie represented Colorado and the USA quite well.
We returned to the place we stayed for dinner and our guide pulled out a bottle of local rum. We all chipped in to defray the cost of it (total cost $5). We also purchased plenty of beers. The villagers make money by providing the trekkers a "concession" stand more or less. After the Rum was gone, out came a bottle of rice "wine"... a more appropriate name might be bathtub, rice whisky. By the end of the night, everyone was singing like rock-stars and keeping the entire village awake. Bon and Mr. Bean both play the guitar. We finally made it to bed after midnight at some point (similar sleeping arrangements).
Day three was bamboo rafting down the river. Note that these rafts are about 30 feet long and about 3.5 feet wide. They build a tripod to hang your bags on to keep your stuff dry. There are no paddles just long bamboo rods for pushing the raft in the direction you want to go. Hopefully we will get some pictures online soon to show you.
The lead guide (goes by "Bon") had two helpers. One was a friend of his who went by "Mr. Bean" and the other was his brother who had a holiday from his boxing and training routine. He went by "Dee Dee".
Bon was very good. We were never concerned about where we were or where we were going. He had an excellent since of humor. He also provided some great information on hill tribe life including dating and daily life. He did a fantastic job overall.
Mr. Bean was full of grandpa like information. For example, he made jungle hats out of leaves and cut bamboo for walking sticks for anyone that wanted one. He also found mushrooms to cook with and other cooking items while we were hiking. At one point, he pulled a leave off a tree and started blowing bubbles with it.
Dee dee was pretty quiet. Apparently, he is a pretty good boxer as he will be participating in a big event in Bangkok which will be televised on June 21st in Thailand.
We don't know who did most of the cooking, but it was great. You figure camp food is going to be marginal at best, but these guys were getting fresh veggies from the villagers for every meal and cooking them up with some excellent sauces. Thai food overall is excellent. Breakfast usually was western with eggs, toast and fruit and it was always very good.
There were other good things about the trek that we could go into - the other people on the trek were fun, the company is eco friendly and does a great job by supporting village programs, etc.
However, there is some stuff that we have to mention about Chaing Mai. For example, we got traditional Thai Massages. This is where they push and pull and stretch and massage and some people come out feeling worse after than before. Well, we didn't. We had these tiny little Thai women trying to push and pull and stretch Maggie and me. At various times, they just started laughing because it was nearly impossible for them to do some of the stretches due to the fact that they were probably less than 5 foot tall. We got photos with the ladies and hope to get them on line as well. They did a great job regardless. The 2 hour massage cost us under 400 Baht. The exchange rate was 38.8 to 1 dollar ... in other words, the total for both of us was less than $10 - including tip.
Our primary mode of transportation in Chaing Mai has been motorbike. Todd driving and Maggie hanging on for her life. First Thailand drives on the left so strike one. Also, it is at times a crazy pack of motorbikes buzzing around the cars finding a crack to squeeze between while risking life and limb. We never saw an accident. We took the motorbike up to one of the famous temples as well as the King's summer home which was rather nice. Royalty is very important in Thailand. At 6:00 pm, the royal song comes on and everyone stops what they are doing stands until it is over.
We also did some shopping in Chaing Mai as the silk is supposed to be among the best in the world. While it seemed expensive to us, the cost in the US is triple or more for the same quality silk. Also in Chaing Mai, we treated ourselves for a couple days. The Eagle Guest house was decent (for the price < $8 a night) but is due for a few renovations so we found a notch up place called Top North. It is no 5 star hotel, but it is clean and brightly appointed and at less than $17 per night, it had a pool... yahoooooo. Even though Chaing Mai is in Northern Thailand, it is still HOT!!!. Todd breaks a sweat if he blinks his eyes. So we spent the mornings and evenings exploring and the afternoons lounging by the pool. Another good reason we enjoyed Chaing Mai.
One of Maggie's friends, Dave (and Cindy) mentioned getting iced coffee everywhere when they were in Thailand. We were a bit leery of getting anything with ice due to water issues. However, we have gotten over that fear and understand now why Dave was a big fan of their ice coffee. It is excellent.
By now, you might have picked up on the fact that we are money misers. Another great way to save money (sometimes) is to take the night train with sleeper. The cost to get to Chaing Mai via night sleeper was around 700 Baht or less than $18 each. So we got to Chaing Mai and had a night's lodging budget rolled into one. In addition, we did not waste a day (since it was a night train).
The trekking tour was also cost effective. The total cost for 2 nights, activities and meals was 1700 baht or less than $45 per person.
-- Todd & Maggie
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