Chang Mai tribe trek
We got back late from the ladyboy show but we still had to pack and make sure everything was ready for the early start the next morning.
My cadet training was kicking in again so I had packed as little as possible to survive the 3 days in the bush, some people had massive bags and I just can't understand why!
The first stop of the day was to the tourist police station where we had to give them passport copies and a map of where we planned to walk just in case we got into trouble. Some people still needed some shoes and we all needed water before we started our trek so we went to a small town market for a quick shopping trip.
I managed to find some chicken feet and chicken heads which were being deep fried in oil. Shi suggested we tried them and although most people were reluctant to try a chicken foot I felt I had to!! I love these kind of experiences. The foot was really bony as you would expect and the only thing you could really eat off I was the crispy skin and a small amount of meat at the top of the leg.
It was tasty but I do think it's a bit of a waste of effort for the sake of some skin... But it's another experience I can "tick off" the list!
On the way up the mountain we stopped at a waterfall for a swim! The water was so fresh and cold and made a great stop to cool off before the trek started!
We arrived at the start of the trek around 3pm so luckily it was starting to cool off. The path was twisting and turning up and down the sides of the valleys. I have never seen a group of people look so hot and sweet after 30 minutes of walking! Occasionally we would stop and our guide would tell us about something he had seen, such as a bug or maybe some fruit.
Eventually we cleared the jungle and made out way onto a dirt road that led us to the village we were going to be staying in for the night. We had a really good laugh on the road to the village and even saw 2 very large tarantulas and we made hats out of banana leaves!
The village was of course very basic but the area around it was stunning. The village was surrounded by hills covered in rice fields and a beautiful river running along the the bottom.
As soon as I had put my bag down I had to have a wash off in the river!
The village had made a natural shower by extending a bamboo tube above the waterfall so you had a natural shower. the water was freezing as it was straight out the mountains but it was clean and refreshing and exactly what we needed! Dean and myself splashed about for awhile whilst the others watched and then it was time for dinner and a few games! Our guide had to welcome us to the village so before we could touch the amazing food in front of us we all had to take turns holding the head and legs of the chicken used to make the dinner whilst he said a pray and tied another string band around my wrist.
The next morning everyone woke early to the noise of the cockerels welcoming the sun. I didn't sleep to bad at all, maybe a little stiff from the "mattress" as it was really only a thick blanket.
We had a nice breakfast and left by 7.30. The plan was to leave early and try to avoid the midday sun as we crossed the rice paddy fields.
The morning walk wasn't too strenuous at all, the temperature gets to you but apart from that it's been a really nice relaxing walk and well paced. Most of the morning we spent walking under the jungle canopy so the temperature was bearable but when we made it to the rice paddies around 11 there was no shade at all and the sun really took it's toll on us, by the time we crossed them and made the next village where we stopped for lunch, all of us were sweaty hot messes.
The village where we stopped had a river as well so once again I had to strip off and jump in!!
That afternoon after lunch around half the group had decided they didn't want to walk any further and luckily Shi the group leader didn't fancy it much either. The rafts we would use the next morning would be made in this village and then sent down the stream ready for us the next day, so they all voted to travel on them whilst the rest of us walked the final few Kms to the next village.
We beat the rafters there and we even stopped for a swim in the river to cool off again. This new village was even more beautiful the jungle canopy covered nearly everything above us, the river was glowing from the setting sun and the noise of cockerels and the river was all that could be heard.
Chris and I headed down to the river before we had dinner, there were no showers in this village so we had to "wash" in the river. As soon as we jumped in we had 3 young children from the village join us! They really wanted to play with us and they wouldn't leave us alone until we did, we were throwing then up in the air they were climbing on our shoulders shouting "elephant, elephant, play" eventually they worn us out so we quickly ran away before they could drag us back in again! Really one of them experiences you can't pay for!
That night we enjoyed another amazing dinner and a few drinks whilst playing all sorts of different games.
Just before we went to bed everyone was cleaning there teeth and washing when we heard a scream! One of the girls was closing the toilet door when they saw a spider the size of my hand just hanging behind the door!
The next morning we were up early, one reason was because we had to raft down to the finish line and the other was because of them dam cockerels once again! I had a morning swim in the river to wake up and have a wash before we packed up and jumped on the rafts.
The rafts are made of only bamboo tided together with banana leaves. The rafts were about 8 meters long and had 3 bamboo posts together one the back end to hang our bags on. I had taken the front of the boat with a poll and the guide had taken the back on the raft. the best way to describe bamboo rafting would be to think of Venice boats where they get pushed along but then in a jungle with rapids and shallow rocks all over the place. I was certainly not the best at steering the raft, so after a few crashes we turned the boat around and the guide to the front to try and guide us through the rocks.
The rapids were really hard to navigate through and when we hit a rock we would all fall forward and land in the water or on someone else! Dean fell off his raft when he was trying to navigate the rapids, luckily he had on a life jacket so only had a few bruised rips.
When we made it to the bottom I had 2 massive blisters on my hand where I had been holding the pole!
We had another great meal before heading off to the elephant trek!
I really love elephants and this time I was aloud to ride on it's neck. I had the 2 Canadians or barbies as we called them riding in the seat behind me. We were led down this really steep incline and into the river then up the other side where our elephant decided to cool off by spraying mud all over us.
Chris who had been traveling with his girlfriend decided to propose to her on the elephant as they were crossing the river which was a really nice end to the trek!
We made the long drive back to Chang Mai, everyone was very tired and in need of the hotel showers and even more than that the hotel swimming pool!
We had a day free in Chang Mai before our night train back to Bangkok so most of us decided to relax by the pool and have a few beers!
This G adventure tour had been really amazing and I would recommend it to anyone! I have met some really amazing people and I am very sad to be saying goodby in the morning!