Chiang Dao Trek

Took the 2-day trek as planned. Our first stop was to the Karen village, which was nothing like I had been led to believe. There was a group of women and children selling trinkets to tourists and that was about it. They are refugees from Myanmar (Burma) and as such don't have Thai citizenship or status. They don't have a great lot in life, but it was difficult to feel much empathy given that we met them in yet another tourist trap making a money-grab. I had taken some toilettries with me to leave with them for which they appeared gratefu (they are unable to go into towns to shop as they will get stopped and asked for proof of citizenship). Fortunately it was a short stop, and yes, I did take some pictures of them, distasteful as it was. (These are the people referred to around here as "long-necks" as the women wear an increasing number of rings around their neck which stretches them.)

We then proceeded to have lunch and go for an elephant ride. I'm becoming rather old hat at this now, but it was still fun. I was glad it didn't go on any longer than it did - the scenery doesn't exactly rush by from the back of an elephant.

We split off into our respective groups and headed out. I was grouped with a wonderful couple from Germany in their late 30's. They were awesome company. We also had a 23-year old Israeli man, who thought he was the best company in the world. Our trek through the jungle lasted about 2.5 hours. This was really nice as I finally got to do some real exercise. The trail was actually pretty tough and I would have been a lot better equipped with hiking boots than running shoes. Given it was about 35 and very humid, we worked up a good sweat. We came to a small waterfall that we had to cross, so we all changed into our bathing suits and jumped in. The water was surprisingly cold but amazingly refreshing. Shortly thereafter we arrived at the village where we spent the night. (Sorry, I don't have the name of the tribe on the tip of my tongue - will look it up and add it later.)

The people were very hospitable and cooked us a wonderful dinner. Their homes are made entirely of bamboo from the frame to the wall and floor material. They make "sheets" of bamboo for the floors and walls. They take a dried bamboo pole (round and hollow) and then flatten it. Once broken, they "unroll" it and flatten it some more. (In Bhutan this do it by laying it on the highway and letting the cars drive over it.) The result is a bunch of slats that are about 1/2 inch wide and 1/4 inch thick and all connected to each other in random places. So if the bamboo pole they began with was 10 feet long with a circumference of 8 inches, they end up with a sheet which measures 10 feet by 8 inches. (Is this making any sense?) For the floor, they lay these sheets across the beams, which are whole bamboo poles spaced about 6-8 inches apart. The entire house is built on stilts, presumably to stay dry and to provide housing for the animals which live underneath. I was amazed that we never put our foot through the bamboo flooring between the beams. We slept on straw mats on the floor.

Up until a couple of months ago they had no electicity, but the government recently provided them with a few solar panels. They now have a communal TV and radio. I didn't really see any other use for the electicity except for one light on the front of a hut. They still cook on fires and use candles for light. I'm not sure if this was the government's intention or not.

After dinner, we sat around and showed each other card tricks and other tricks that they could do with a string. They also had a couple of guitars so we had some music. It was really a lovely evening.

Sleep was another story. My hips hurt from the hard floor so I tossed and turned alot. Roosters started crowing at about 3 AM and dogs barked on and off all night. The village woke and cranked up the one radio by about 6:30 AM so there was no sleeping after that.

After breakfast we trekked for another 2.5 hours or so. We saw a very cool cave filled with bats. We had lunch and then proceeded to the river. We took a short but very fun white-water rafting run. The guides were really fabulous and clearly really knew the river well. I felt very safe in their care. (It would have likely been lest frustrating for me if the Israeli guy didn't think that he knew better than the guides and chose not to follow their instructions.) These weren't exactly class 5 rapids, but we got a good ride with some great splashes and bouncing around.

Following that, we hopped onto some traditional Thai bamboo rafts for a more leisurely ride on the current. This was relaxing and fun but not nearly as much so as the white water - I would gladly have gone back for another round of that.
After that it was back to Chiang Mai to find a shower and soft bed.

I'm off for dinner now and leave for Laos very early tomorrow morning. I'll travel by bus to the border and then a slow boat down the Mekong river to reach Luang Prabang. This is a 2-day journey and I'll spend the night tomorrow in a small Laotian town called Pak Beng.

I'll be in touch again once I'm settled in Luang Prabang.