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During our first day in Chiang Mai we were so shattered by the overnight coach journey we took it very easy. Went for a Thai massage (no, not a dodgy one!) and it was nice but very painful. They were kneeling on us and pounding us with their elbows! And bending our heads down and elbowing our necks! It was funny, especially as Clout had the bigger more abusive woman. He was grimacing a fair bit. After that, we had a wander round Chiang Mai and then went to a Thai boxing match. I was shocked to see that most of the boxers were barely teenagers, and looked very skinny. They were very agressive and the boxing was fairly brutal but they were obviously trained very well and were proud to be there. We had ringside tickets so a good view, but we left towards the end to get an early night ready for our trek!!
TREK - Day 1
There were 8 of us trekking, an English couple, two Swiss girls and two Canadian girls. We were woken quite early and sat in the back of a jeep thing, which drove us out towards Pai (the area right at the North of Thailand where we were trekking). We stopped at a market for half an hour on the way and we had to take some photos of the things they were selling... deep fried chicken heads. Wax worms in a piece of wood. Live eels slithering round in little plastic bags. Iguana meat, lots of insides of animals and disgusting looking fish. Feeling a bit queasy, we carried on our journey in the jeep and finally arrived at a small village where we were given a bowl of rice for lunch and had a wander round. We were then given a bamboo stick each and we set off walking into the jungle. Within 10 minutes we were walking up a steep mountain, slipping a lot, pushing through thick bushes and plants, with lots of strange insects trying to bite us. It was then that I realised this was not going to be easy!! We had about two hours of walking, over rivers, mountains, tiny mountain paths etc. until we finally reached another village tribe, the Laou tribe (I think that's wahat they were called!) We were sent to a hut with blankets on the floor which was our sleeping area and we attempted to shower in the tiny hut with a hosepipe and hole in the grouns for a toilet. No electricity either, and lots of unwelcome wildlife!! However, as soon as we walked into the village, the children came running over to play with us. It was lovely to be welcomed so much. One villager asked Clout to help him chop the wood, which Clout did quite well but they still laughed at him a bit, and he cut his hand on the axe. We then went into our hut, where they had cooked us Thai green curry on the fire. It was delicious, and we then sat around until late, drinking Chang, playing the guitar and singing, smoking the traditional village pipe. The villagers also came in to dance and sing for us. It was a really amazing night!
Trek - Day 2
Clout and I woke up on the floor of our hut with a Changover and aching bones from the wooden floor. I was shattered because I'd been sleeping next to the wall of the hut (which was made of bamboo) so I could hear every single noise in the jungle, some of them right up next to my head! There had been something sniffing and breathing next to me most of the night (not Clout, it was coming from outside). Anyway, we had our breakfast of omelette and some sort of green tea, and set out walking. It was heavy going, with very steep mountains. I fell over twice and twisted my leg, Clout was getting bitten, we were tired and aching, but the scenery was beautiful and finally we arrived at the next village for lunch. Well, not a village, just one family living in a hut in the middle of the jungle. We went to a nearby waterfall to cool down (which was really beautiful but freezing cold!) and then returned to the village where we were served noodles for lunch. There was a tiny puppy there, which the village man kept kicking and beating with a stick, so I spent most of my time fussing over it and giving it my food! Wethen set of trekking for another couple of hours (by now we really stank) then finally what I'd been waiting for...ELEPHANT RIDE!!! It was really brilliant, Clout and I were on the first elephant, the biggest male, and the others were riding the two females. There was also a small calf tagging along, which was really cute! Our elephants took us through rivers and jungle paths, where we saw the biggest spider EVER. Then we left the elephants and carried on walking (really tired by now), until we reached the last village. Here, we had some sort of red curry for dinner, played cards and had an early night.
Trek - Day 3
We both woke up on Day 3 feeling absolutely TERRIBLE. We were tired, hungry, but most of all I could hardly walk because all my muscles weren't working, and Clout had been bitten all over by mozzies. But there was nothing we could do, so we ate our hard-boiled egg for breakfast and set off trekking for another couple of hours. Just as we were starting to hallucinate from sheer tiredness, we reached the river where our bamboo rafts were waiting or us! They were literally about 6 large pieces of bamboo tied together with dried plant strands. We stood on them and each had a stick of bamboo which we pushed on the floor to keep the raft moving. It was surprisingly difficult to keep balance, but really good fun. After a couple of hours rafting, we finally reached the landing point, sat down and ate our noodle lunch, then got back in the jeep headed for home.
Trekking was very challenging and tiring, but absolutely amazing and a high point of the trip so far. It was wonderful to spend time with tribes and villagers and experience village life with none of the home comforts we are used to! When we arrived back at the hostel I felt unrecognisable, as I hadn't looked in a mirror for 3 days, and hadn't even had a decent shower! But it was definitely worth it and we hope that our photos give an idea of how amaing it all was! Back in Chiang Mai, we were totally shattered. We had a Thai oil massage to help the muscles, and went to bed to recover! On the last day there, we hired a scooter and went exploring. We ended up in Tiger Temple, which is a collection of tigers of various sizes. We paid extra to have some time in a cage with young tiger cubs. Sounds cute eh? Well as we walked into the cage I noticed that the supervisor for the cubs had deep scratches and cuts on his feet. Then I saw one of the cubs acting aggresively and I realised I have a never-discovered-before phobia of tigers. Even cubs. So the next 15mins were somewhat uncomfortable and scary. Clout sat with the cubs and enjoyed it, and finally I was persuaded to crouch near a cub so we could have a decent photo. Good experience though, and we had dinner overlooking three massive tigers who were playfighting in a shallow pool. Surreal!
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