Local guide lying on his back on the elephant as it drinks water
I came back on Monday and it feels like a world away. I thought when I was travelling I would be blogging every couple of days and telling you about my trip, but you get so busy and want to do so much, you kinda neglect the blog. Well back, with a vengenance.
Chiangmai continued
The last time I updated my blog was during my first day in Chiangmai. Chiangmai was really cool. One of my favourite places on the trip. it's got this real hippy vibe to it - think of Bob Marley hairdo's, weed, hill tribe villages, and just a chilled out environment.
Highlights of Chiangmai would be the two day trek that we did in the jungle/mountains. We rode a elephant and my guide was off his nut - he was high! Smoking a joint. This guy is controlling a 3 tonne elephant and he actually fell off the elephant and rolled down this hill for about 5 metres. He was bleeding slightly but wasn't fazed and hopped back on the elephant. I'm thinking *&%^ - what kind of guide have I got? Turned out to be pretty cool experience.
Tim riding the beast
Then we trekked for 3 hours to the top of this mountain. It wasn't particularly difficult, just a lot of up hill walking, crossing over lakes and little man made bridges, around rocks. We had a pitstop at this waterfall, and I thought what the hell - I'll jump in for a quick shower - it was freezing! But refreshing.
At the top of the mountain was the Lahu village tribes people. There were dogs and chickens running riot all through this village. Really outback stuff - I had another cold shower and next door was grunting pig. A very unique experience - you know your alive when that water hits you. It was such a cool experience sitting on top of a village, getting back to basics and sleeping in a bamboo hut.
Our trekking guide was a legend - he would break out into these random laughs "ahahaha" and made the whole trip so enjoyable. He even made me a slingshot which the Australian customs people confiscated (nazi's!). We stayed up and just talked into the night and the hill tribe people played some traditional folk songs and then broke into Bob Marley "no woman no cry" and some contempoary tracks.
Left to right - young trek guide, main trek guideNext day, we trekked for a couple more hours and then stopped for another quick dip in another waterfall. that was even more freezing! Then we went white water rafting and that was pretty cool. Our boat got caught in the rocks on a lil drop and water just kept flooding in. It was unreal experience white water rafting along the rapids of Chiangmai.
After that we hopped on some rafts made up of bamboo. Hollow logs of bamboo that were tied together! Somehow they managed to stay afloat and I actually got up and rowed/guided the boat for a bit.
If you are ever in Thailand, I highly recommend you check out Chiangmai. It was my favourite place in Thailand - better than Bangkok and Phuket. The two day trek was perfect. Average fitness is required for the trek. Get away from the heat and craziness of Bangkok, all the tourists and dirty old men in Phuket.
Julie's guesthouse - funky, cheap and excellent people. Best guesthouse in Chiangmai!
Oh, and i forgot to mention on our last night there, Tim and I went all out and feasted at this restaurant. We ordered like 5 or 6 dishes and couple of beers, attempting to spend up big in this restaurant, yet the bill only got to like 400 baht - which is $13 AUD. Ridiculous how cheap Chiangmai and Thailand is. Our accomodation at Julie's guesthouse was $2AUD a night in a dorm! Cheap as bro. We upgraded to our own room with hot showers and spent big - $3AUD a night! I've already
The only sad this about Chiangmai is that the people in the tribal village are not allowed to enter the city. If they do go to the city they will get arrested. They must remain in the village as they are nomadic people who have orginally come over the border from countries like Burma. Children under the age of 15 are allowed to have a Thai passport and can go to schools and get regular jobs.
Tourism has changed the tribal villages. They have ipods, mobiles, solar panels providing power and beer! I was initially a bit reluctant to visit them, as tourism changes their ways. Snapping pictures, pointing at them, invading their space. But on the flipside, tourism brings in money for these people and allows them to sustain a decent lifestyle and pay for things like schooling for their children. Its hard to find that balance between being a tourist and respecting their ways and letting them be. The more exposure they have to tourism and the outside world, the more their ways will change.
Oh, I love Chiangmai!
Sunrise at the top of the Lahu village
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