Trekking
So I've been back for a few hours now -- The four days of hiking/trekking through the neorth western part of Thailand were great, and also very tiring. The first few days of Chiang May and Ayuttayah seem so far away now.
At first we stopped at a rice field were we were taught how to plant rice. Which happens to be pretty darn difficult without a line (planting them in a straight line gives more gains, as far as I can tell.) Being all muddy we then set off for a bit of water relief at the nearest waterfall (a few meters high, amazing to see). We spent the night at a temple, which was quite funny. See, you can't drink alcohol inside the area of the temple, or in the temple itself, but outside of the temple area, it's no problem. So we had a bit of a party right at the bordering wall (It's like the smoking pohibition in cafe's/restaurants in Holland now). After a somewhat difficult sleep, we headed into the local market of the village where we stayed, had some coffee and gave some food to two monks, who in turn blessed us.
Then we really drove off to the jungle to actually start trekking. This is somewhat different from what I've been used to in Europe. Hiking paths here tend to have quite a difference in altutide (15-25% in Thailand, 6-10% in Europe I'd guess). Of course at the start I didn't know this yet, so I ended up walking a bit too fast at first, for which I payed later in the afternoon. We tayed at a decent house, and I slept like a baby.
The next day we had to walk longer, so I started more slowly, which worked out quite well. But it was much longer, and therefore also much harder. We didn't really see animals other than Buffalo's and Pigs during the walks, but now we ended up at an elephant camp, where we rode one for 1-2 hours. This was a really great and funny experience, even though I'm scared of heights (I stopped noticing after a couple of minutes). The elephant I rode on (called Noi) was in the beginning a bit naughty, as he sometimes too sidetracks from the paths to eat some leaves. The guides had to set him back on track after that. Also, he was feeling quite hot, so every few minutes he would roll up his trunk over his head a blow, and also wiping his head with some leaves. At several times he filled up his trunk with water, but the guides were quick enough to make him stop doing that :)
When we disengaged from the elephants it had started to rain a bit, which make the path really slippery. But we arrived at our guest house safely, and slept there (which was quite hard because of thin mattresses and animals making loud sounds).
Today we went rafting on bamboo rafts, which was awesomely cool. And we even saw a venomous snake! That was the end though, and we drove back to the hotel, where we are now. Boy, it feels good to have a good toilet and a real shower again! Also, pretty much all my clothes I have with me are at the landry now :P
More later!
At first we stopped at a rice field were we were taught how to plant rice. Which happens to be pretty darn difficult without a line (planting them in a straight line gives more gains, as far as I can tell.) Being all muddy we then set off for a bit of water relief at the nearest waterfall (a few meters high, amazing to see). We spent the night at a temple, which was quite funny. See, you can't drink alcohol inside the area of the temple, or in the temple itself, but outside of the temple area, it's no problem. So we had a bit of a party right at the bordering wall (It's like the smoking pohibition in cafe's/restaurants in Holland now). After a somewhat difficult sleep, we headed into the local market of the village where we stayed, had some coffee and gave some food to two monks, who in turn blessed us.
Then we really drove off to the jungle to actually start trekking. This is somewhat different from what I've been used to in Europe. Hiking paths here tend to have quite a difference in altutide (15-25% in Thailand, 6-10% in Europe I'd guess). Of course at the start I didn't know this yet, so I ended up walking a bit too fast at first, for which I payed later in the afternoon. We tayed at a decent house, and I slept like a baby.
The next day we had to walk longer, so I started more slowly, which worked out quite well. But it was much longer, and therefore also much harder. We didn't really see animals other than Buffalo's and Pigs during the walks, but now we ended up at an elephant camp, where we rode one for 1-2 hours. This was a really great and funny experience, even though I'm scared of heights (I stopped noticing after a couple of minutes). The elephant I rode on (called Noi) was in the beginning a bit naughty, as he sometimes too sidetracks from the paths to eat some leaves. The guides had to set him back on track after that. Also, he was feeling quite hot, so every few minutes he would roll up his trunk over his head a blow, and also wiping his head with some leaves. At several times he filled up his trunk with water, but the guides were quick enough to make him stop doing that :)
When we disengaged from the elephants it had started to rain a bit, which make the path really slippery. But we arrived at our guest house safely, and slept there (which was quite hard because of thin mattresses and animals making loud sounds).
Today we went rafting on bamboo rafts, which was awesomely cool. And we even saw a venomous snake! That was the end though, and we drove back to the hotel, where we are now. Boy, it feels good to have a good toilet and a real shower again! Also, pretty much all my clothes I have with me are at the landry now :P
More later!