After I left you guys in Lop Buri there was an almighty thunder storm, the rain came lashing down and the the lightning was crazy and the streets flooded. It lasted a good couple of hours which apparently is unusual as its a bit early in the season of that.
Anyway we had to wade our way back to the train station to get the sleeper train to Chiang Mai, Thailands second city.
I think I must have arrived to the sound of a huge dinner gong- all the mosquitoes in the area made a bee line (mozy line!) for me and I got eaten alive.
We were staying by the Tha Phae Gate area so spent the afternoon of the day we arrived having a look around the old city. As usual the main attractions are Temples. these are a bit different to the ones have seen so far in that they have lots of dragons and strange beings as decorations and a lot are simply carved wood and not the gaudy sparklers of Bangkok.
The main attraction in Chiang Mai is the trekking and the hill tribes, so obviously this is something we booked to do- a 3 day (2 night) trek in the mountainous area that surrounds Chiang Mai, meeting and staying with various tribes along the way.
we were told time and again that its not like real trekking its more like walking... Ha!
So anyways the morning of the trek I wake up with a stinking cold- no doubt thanks to the down pour at Lop Buri, but not to worry its only like walking anyway- right?
We did a couple of touristy things first, our guides (DK and Sac from the Karen Tribe) first took us to a butterfly farm and an orchid farm which were both very nice. we were then deposited at the end of a dirt track in the middle of nowhere.
The five hour trek in the pouring rain was absolutely nothing like walking at all, except maybe in small parts. We had a quick break with the Karen Tribe and a cup of tea. They live in bamboo huts on stilts, we only met one young girl who made us a drink she was 14 and had been married a year. Her husband in his 20's went out to work (Farming?) and she looked after the home.
The views across the valleys were amazing though and dotted throughout the jungle were odd little patches of cleared earth that the local tribe would be using as farm land until they had exhausted it. it would be then left to return to jungle and another patch cleared.
As we trekked DK was very proud to point out various plants and their medicinal purpose to the tribe, he also pointed out various fruit baring trees such as lychee and found a cashew nut tree. apparently with the cashew nut each nut grows covered in a skin that is toxic to human skin so each one has to be picked and peeled carefully - might explain why they are so expensive!!
He also pointed out the 'Cobra House' and told us what to look for, and should we see anything that looked like the cobra house stay away just in case- basically a mound of earth with many entrances and exits. thankfully this cobra was sleeping!!
That night we stayed with the Padaung Tribe. They are more commonly known in Thailand as the 'Long Necks' as the women wear brass neck coils that stretch the neck (and crush the collar bone and squash the lungs) This is a Burmese tribe who have moved into Thailand to avoid persecution. Visiting with this tribe was like going to a freak show it was incredibly uncomfortable they didn't want to interact with us in anyway, they were there so we could look, point take a few pics and hopefully buy a few knick knaks, it was not nice. To round it off the beds they provided us with in a bamboo hut were infested!! Great night!!
So yes the next day i woke feeling a fell of a lot worse than i have done in a long time, the humidity and the rain have really helped my cold along- its now a cough too!!! i so wanted to come home on that day!!
A couple of hours more trekking and we arrive at the Elephant Camp. They really are fantastic animals, riding one though is not easy. We sat on a small bench strapped to the beasts back which rocks from side to side as he lumbers along, this is fine its going down the steep bank into the river that was scary- with only the bench to hold onto and nowhere to but my feet (digging my feet into his back seemed rude!) I was totally convinced I was going to go diving head first into the muddy waters- and then get trampled!!! Coming out the river the other side was not as bad. Our crazy elephant then decided it had itchy legs, so it backed up to a tree lifted one leg high and proceeded to rub it against the tree quite vigorously- this is also not good on a little bench and me and Andrea had to cling on for dear life!! To round it off once it had finished and we thought we were safe it decided to do the other leg!!
Once the elephant ride was over there was another 3 hours trekking ahead to the next tribe. Wweeellll given that I didn't feel great and was most uncomfortable with the Padaung I decided it was time to cut it short and head back to Chiang Mai. It was a shame but I could feel the benefits of being out of that humidity within minutes of being back in the city. Apparently the next tribe were much nicer and did some traditional dances for their guests which would have been nice to see, and maybe I would have contemplated it if I could have been dropped in by helicopter!
So back in Chiang Mai I went to see Doi Suthep which is a temple on the top of a mountain. The story goes that some relics of Buddha cloned themselves before the eyes of the king and not knowing what to do with them he put them in a shrine on the back of a sacred white elephant (as you do) and set it free- where it eventually dropped down dead is where he built the temple- on top of Suthep Mountain. It has some amazing views of the city.
Another attraction has to be the giant pandas at the local zoo- they were worth seeing.
after another few days of doing odd bits and pieces like going to see the silversmiths in action and another market I decided that I was ready to call it a day here. Andrea had already left a couple of days earlier after she got back from the trek, she wanted to spend her last week by the beach and so got a flight down to Ko Samui I will meet her back in Bangkok in a few days.
Anyway we had to wade our way back to the train station to get the sleeper train to Chiang Mai, Thailands second city.
I think I must have arrived to the sound of a huge dinner gong- all the mosquitoes in the area made a bee line (mozy line!) for me and I got eaten alive.
We were staying by the Tha Phae Gate area so spent the afternoon of the day we arrived having a look around the old city. As usual the main attractions are Temples. these are a bit different to the ones have seen so far in that they have lots of dragons and strange beings as decorations and a lot are simply carved wood and not the gaudy sparklers of Bangkok.
The main attraction in Chiang Mai is the trekking and the hill tribes, so obviously this is something we booked to do- a 3 day (2 night) trek in the mountainous area that surrounds Chiang Mai, meeting and staying with various tribes along the way.
we were told time and again that its not like real trekking its more like walking... Ha!
So anyways the morning of the trek I wake up with a stinking cold- no doubt thanks to the down pour at Lop Buri, but not to worry its only like walking anyway- right?
We did a couple of touristy things first, our guides (DK and Sac from the Karen Tribe) first took us to a butterfly farm and an orchid farm which were both very nice. we were then deposited at the end of a dirt track in the middle of nowhere.
The five hour trek in the pouring rain was absolutely nothing like walking at all, except maybe in small parts. We had a quick break with the Karen Tribe and a cup of tea. They live in bamboo huts on stilts, we only met one young girl who made us a drink she was 14 and had been married a year. Her husband in his 20's went out to work (Farming?) and she looked after the home.
The views across the valleys were amazing though and dotted throughout the jungle were odd little patches of cleared earth that the local tribe would be using as farm land until they had exhausted it. it would be then left to return to jungle and another patch cleared.
As we trekked DK was very proud to point out various plants and their medicinal purpose to the tribe, he also pointed out various fruit baring trees such as lychee and found a cashew nut tree. apparently with the cashew nut each nut grows covered in a skin that is toxic to human skin so each one has to be picked and peeled carefully - might explain why they are so expensive!!
He also pointed out the 'Cobra House' and told us what to look for, and should we see anything that looked like the cobra house stay away just in case- basically a mound of earth with many entrances and exits. thankfully this cobra was sleeping!!
That night we stayed with the Padaung Tribe. They are more commonly known in Thailand as the 'Long Necks' as the women wear brass neck coils that stretch the neck (and crush the collar bone and squash the lungs) This is a Burmese tribe who have moved into Thailand to avoid persecution. Visiting with this tribe was like going to a freak show it was incredibly uncomfortable they didn't want to interact with us in anyway, they were there so we could look, point take a few pics and hopefully buy a few knick knaks, it was not nice. To round it off the beds they provided us with in a bamboo hut were infested!! Great night!!
So yes the next day i woke feeling a fell of a lot worse than i have done in a long time, the humidity and the rain have really helped my cold along- its now a cough too!!! i so wanted to come home on that day!!
A couple of hours more trekking and we arrive at the Elephant Camp. They really are fantastic animals, riding one though is not easy. We sat on a small bench strapped to the beasts back which rocks from side to side as he lumbers along, this is fine its going down the steep bank into the river that was scary- with only the bench to hold onto and nowhere to but my feet (digging my feet into his back seemed rude!) I was totally convinced I was going to go diving head first into the muddy waters- and then get trampled!!! Coming out the river the other side was not as bad. Our crazy elephant then decided it had itchy legs, so it backed up to a tree lifted one leg high and proceeded to rub it against the tree quite vigorously- this is also not good on a little bench and me and Andrea had to cling on for dear life!! To round it off once it had finished and we thought we were safe it decided to do the other leg!!
Once the elephant ride was over there was another 3 hours trekking ahead to the next tribe. Wweeellll given that I didn't feel great and was most uncomfortable with the Padaung I decided it was time to cut it short and head back to Chiang Mai. It was a shame but I could feel the benefits of being out of that humidity within minutes of being back in the city. Apparently the next tribe were much nicer and did some traditional dances for their guests which would have been nice to see, and maybe I would have contemplated it if I could have been dropped in by helicopter!
So back in Chiang Mai I went to see Doi Suthep which is a temple on the top of a mountain. The story goes that some relics of Buddha cloned themselves before the eyes of the king and not knowing what to do with them he put them in a shrine on the back of a sacred white elephant (as you do) and set it free- where it eventually dropped down dead is where he built the temple- on top of Suthep Mountain. It has some amazing views of the city.
Another attraction has to be the giant pandas at the local zoo- they were worth seeing.
after another few days of doing odd bits and pieces like going to see the silversmiths in action and another market I decided that I was ready to call it a day here. Andrea had already left a couple of days earlier after she got back from the trek, she wanted to spend her last week by the beach and so got a flight down to Ko Samui I will meet her back in Bangkok in a few days.
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