Chiang Mai: Markets, Mai Thais, Mozzies, Magic Mushrooms, and Mud!

Hi everyone! So where was I...? It's so hard to find good internet these days...

So I met the group for the Tap Into Thailand tour, and after a night out and some temple-ing, we jumped on an overnight train to Chiang Mai for the hilltribe trek part of the trip. The trains were so much better than I expected! Everyone gets their own bed, blankets, pillow, all the good stuff. I still haven't had to use my swanky new sleeping bag yet! Only problem is the rocking - it's great to get you to sleep, but it also means almost being rolled off the top bunk every time the train stops during the night! Combined with the fluoro lights staying on all night, it's not exactly conducive to a good night's sleep! So we arrived in Chiang Mai looking a little frazzled...

Once our bags were checked in, a few of us headed off to learn how to cook all the yummy food we've been eating for the last few days. For about 20 aussie dollars, we learned how to cook pad thai, tom yum soup, green curry chicken, and sticky rice with mango - we also got to eat it all afterwards, and were sent home with a cookbook (complete with dodgy English spelling - "sicky rice"). They also took us to the market beforehand to shop for the ingredients - not exactly Woolies! Slightly more exotic ingredients, and we actually saw them making coconut milk (plus drank coconut juice straight from the coconut - not that nice). I've also found new favourite fruits (yes, I'm actually eating fruit here - there's a serious chocolate shortage). Once we rolled home from the cooking class, falling asleep in the back of the hotel bus (whether from exhaustion or just full bellies, not sure), a few of us went off in search of the elusive swimming pool - our hotel doesn't have one, but one of their partner hotels does, and we were told by their reception staff that it's "not far" (need to get used to Thailand version of "not far"). We did eventually find it, and arrived hot and sweaty and with just enough time to jump in, jump out, and catch a tuk tuk back to our real hotel for a group meeting to discuss the upcoming trek. We also had a new recruit - another Aussie!

Once we'd been to the trek shop and hired our bits and pieces (a sarong for bathing - interesting), we headed off to the night market. All kinds of dodgy knockoff clothes, DVDs, etc, cheese cloth hippy clothes (I did buy a top), and other bits and pieces. After lots and lots of wandering (my fellow Aussie Sarah can shop till we all drop) we found a bar out the back and consumed a few dignified beverages. Well, Sarah and Alex and Max and I did. Sam, my roommate, is not allowed to drink during the school year (R.E teacher at a very strict private school), and as a result it didn't take too many Mai Thais (two) before she was giggly and unco and telling us all her dodgiest secrets. Very funny... Next up was a taxi (aka: ute with two bench seats in the back) ride back where we all took turns hanging off the back as we'd seen Pun Pun do earlier - probably a bit dangerous, considering the scary driving here!

Next morning we were all up bright and early to start the hilltribe bit of the trip. We drove for about an hour out of Chiang Mai, and immediately started to notice the temperature drop - so good... After a quick 7Eleven stop and use of the lovely squat toilet (the first of many) we headed up into the hills to visit a very cool waterfall. After lots of slipping and sliding along muddy paths we got there, stripped off, and jumped in. So good to cool off... Once we'd taken the token touristy photos, we shivered and slipped and slid our way back to the taxi/ute, and were on to a rest stop where our porters (yes, porters) Wit and Ute cooked us an awesome Thai lunch (we're so not roughing it). While getting changed, I also realised that I'd forgotten to pack a bra - yay, I would be wearing a wet halterneck bikini top for three days! Nice...

After changing (sort of), another hour or so of driving, and hanging on for grim death as the driver decided which lane to stick with on the bendy roads, we jumped out at what seemed like a random spot, and after a couple of people (not including me!) threw up from carsickness, we were good to go.

Turns out Pun Pun's a bit of an outdoorsy type, who knew? With his trusty machete he chopped off bits of the tree they use to make tiger balm (very handy for mozzie bites), killed a wasp nest and made walking sticks for us all. Very handy, considering the amount of slippery mud. A couple of people were lucky enough to have little black bloodsucking passengers on their shoes, but I managed to avoid the leeches... We also saw a green tree snake (very poisonous) and a baby lizard, which were both very conveniently found at a clearing we used as a rest stop. I sense a bit of a Steve Irwin-style setup...

After lots of "slowly, slowly, slippery" from Pun Pun, and plenty of downhill mud, we finally caught a glimpse of the rice paddies belonging to the village we'd be staying. I was feeling pretty chuffed that I hadn't stacked it once, when I slipped on some mud and ended up flat on my arse with a big stick digging into my side. Nice. That one was followed not long after with another fall, but then Alex the kiwi stacked it twice (his first ones too) so I felt a little better...

After a tour of the village, and lots of National Geographic style photos, we made like villagers and had a wash in the river (upstream of where the water buffalo were crapping while crossing!) to get rid of the mud and sweat, then dinner of more yummy Thai food from Wit and Ute. They didn't stay to eat with us though, preferring to sit with the other village people and sing and play guitar really really really badly. They love Bob Marley over here... Early night, followed by early morning.

Next day, more walking, including traipsing through a rice paddy and trying not to fall in - I actually succeeded in not disturbing the frogs - so proud, considering my motor skills (or lack thereof). We'd already done the "mummy hill" without too many problems, so were feeling pretty smug, and then came the "daddy hill". Ergh, we know how much I love exercise. Coated in sweat, breathing like asthmatics (helped a bit by the tiger balm they gave us to put under our noses) and slipping and sliding up the slope, we got to the top and stopped for a break and a drink then kept going, but the worst uphill bit was over. My bloody soon-to-be-Everest-climbing roommate and Alex the personal trainer barely even broke a sweat. We hate them...

Lots more walking, about five hours worth that day. We lost Pun Pun at one point, then he surfaced carrying a big bag full of mushrooms he'd collected on the way up. That explains the giggling coming from their hut the night before... they assured us they were normal mushrooms, but I dunno... (you guys got worried when you saw "magic mushrooms" written in the title didn't you?). We finally made it to the elephant santuary around lunchtime - very cool place! It's a big clearing, a river, a few huts, and that's about it. Each morning, the Mahouts (elephant trainers) go into the jungle, collect the elephants to feed and wash them and get them doing the tourist thing, then at night they're released back into the jungle to do what they want. No cages, no chains, pretty cool. So after having a go at washing the elephants and eating another yummy lunch (so spoilt) which one elephant decided to come sniff over, we jumped on their backs and spent the next hour riding on them towards the next village. Quite scary actually, every time we went down a hill Sarah and I were convinced we were going to fall off the seat (which was secured by a pretty flimsy rope). One of the elephants in front was constantly eating, which held us all up, and he even managed to pick up and swallow a bottle of hand sanitiser which one of the girls in front had dropped! Oh well, we all know where to stand next time we need to wash our hands...

Off the elephants, back on foot for another 20 minutes, when we arrived at our next village. It p*ssed down with rain, which made the mud pile I slipped into nice and thick and wet. Lovely. My shoes are now in the hotel laundry... Different village, and our hut was far away from the village itself. Probably best. We swam in the very muddy river in just our bathers (shock horror) which is a bit of a no no. With no power, the night was then spent trying to figure out Pun Pun's bambo puzzles (trying to thread bits of bamboo across bits of string without undoing it, that sort of thing) or deciphering the sort of puzzles that you used to find on the back of the Redheads matchboxes. At this point it's probably best that most of the people sleeping nearby didn't understand much English. As boredom set in, the conversation degenerated to a game of "A-Z of Sex" and "I have never". Very dodgy, and with the different phrases used from the US to UK to Australia to NZ, we all learned a whole new vocabulary (does anyone else know what trowelling is? I think not). Very entertaining, and all done without the help of alcomahol! Only problem is, now everyone can still remember everyone else's dodgiest secrets!

Our last day of the hilltribe trek didn't involve much trekking at all - we chose the bamboo raft option, which is exactly what it sounds like - lots of logs of bamboo, all tied together with more strips of bamboo. Think Castaway, but less high-tech. Only problem is, all us fat westerners meant the rafts were sinking once we got on, so they just whipped up another raft right there by the riverside while we waited! So impressed! We spent the next four hours cruising along through jungle, bumping over a few little rapids, and finally finishing up in a touristy little village where we could get changed, eat our last awesome Wit/Ute meal (pad thai - so good), and then be harrassed by the little old ladies selling their handicrafts (I bought a bag for my camera - and that was it!).

Another long taxi/ute ride, then finally back to Chiang Mai and to the Serenity Hotel ("how's the serenity"?). We all dived straight for the showers, and then were outta there - back out for a dinner of western food! Yep, we caved. But we drank Chang and Singha beers (Thai) and Mai Thais too - does that count?

Back to the night markets for a last bit of shopping (very annoying since it meant the alcohol was wearing off), then Wit came with us to the Rooftop Bar (very handy having a local who can speak to the taxi drivers!), an awesome venue where you have to take your shoes off before you go in, and it's ourists and expats sitting around on the floor. They can also roll the roof away or cover you up again, depending on the weather. Had a really good vibe and I was not impressed when they told us at 2am that we had to leave!

Next morning we got to have a bit of a sleep in (a rarity on these trips!), and most of us spent the morning doing absolutely b*****-all, checking email, posting stuff home to save on bag space (mum you should be receiving a big box of crap in the next couple of weeks!) and going in search of food for the train.

Almost done, well done if you've made it this far...

So that afternoon we jumped on the overnight train back to Bangkok for the end of the tour. This train had much smaller seats than the last one, and we spent our time with our big western arses crammed two to a seat so we could still sit and chat. We ended up having quite a late night, I think prolonging the end of the tour. We had such a good group, not happy about saying goodbye to everyone.

Next morning we all said goodbye, some at the train station. Megan left straight away to catch a plane to China to visit family, Alex left in a cab to his next hotel, and the rest of us headed back to the New World Hotel (our first hotel) to drop off and pick up luggage before our next destination (lucky for me I was actually staying there another night - very handy). Very long cab ride in crazy traffic though! It meant we didn't get to see some people again - by the time we arrived at the hotel, Sarah had disappeared to go last-minute shopping, Stu and other Sarah had gone in search of food, then Jen left to go shopping and it was just Sam, Max and I left. Since it was our last day in Bangkok, we decided to make the most of it. Breakfast on Khao San Rd, a ferry ride to the reclining budda and the emerald temple, and some shopping at MBK (basically a big shopping mall, but with some Thai-style markety shops inside as well). Then that was it, time for me to go meet my next group, and say goodbye to Max and Sam - but will see Max in London, and Sam in Cambodia I'm sure.

Sarah my fellow Aussie is on the next trip to Cambodia with me, more details on our first night with the new group later.

It involves buckets and pingpong balls...