2/2 We arrived in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. Erin and Josh came and picked us up at the airport. How sweet of them to have waited four hours for our delayed plane to arrive! Their place was right next to the waters and overlooked the Grand Palace and other wats. During the course of the evening, you can hear numerous tour boats of different nationals go by. We had dinner at this simple restaurant over the water and had the most delicious Thai cuisine.
 |
 � |
2/3 This morning, we headed over to Khao San Road (the backpacker haven) and thank quietly to ourselves that we are staying with Erin and Josh away from this place. Even though it was disgusting in many ways, there was a real personality to the street � a mix of genuine Thai atmosphere with hippy-wannabee foreigners. The place catered to young westerners that want to grasp some sort of existing reality in this world that happened to be created just because they exist.
Here, Amy and I purchased our overnight bus ticket to Chiang Mai (400baht only!). Then we headed over to Chatuchak Market where simply everything was sold there. From live animals to food, furniture to clothing, you want it, they have got it.
Later, we packed up what we needed for the rest of our non-Bangkok trip and headed to the bus station. How interesting that we thought we were such unique individuals when in reality we were like everyone else. Like in the book The Beach, we all think we are unique in looking for our own adventure when we end up doing what everyone else is doing.
2/4 We arrived in Chiang Mai and of course get hoarded over to this guesthouse called Nice Place. Some of the others with us decide to seek out other accommodations for themselves whereas Amy and I have traveled enough to realized that it is pointless to fight for something that end up costing the same. Things now no longer have to do with principles or being cheated but more about saving time and having the convenience handed over to us. Of course, our room #201 was kind of shitty. One bed with cold water but we didn�t care. Also, the room cost 150baht or something ridiculously low like that.
Right away, we booked our trekking tour, long neck tour, and Golden Triangle tour. Oh yeah, we were ambitious to see it all!
Then we wander off exploring the small city of Chiang Mai. We had lunch at this great falafel place. Sure, we were in Thailand but when one craves a falafel, one must have a falafel. After lunch, we wandered all over the city and looked at numerous Wats. Boy, are there many Wats in Thailand. It is interesting how most of the country is Buddhist. It is quite admirable though because they practice the lifestyle. Thai people are very accepting and open-minded. It is very refreshing to meet such a genuine group of people.
In the evening, we met the group of people we were going on the trek with. Our guide�s name was Fang. His helpers were Dr. O and Nop. In our group was two Israeli girls: Tal and Shelly; 2 Swedish girls: Hanna and Maria; 5 Brit guys: Rob, Rich, Doug, Tony and some other guy; 2 Canadian boys (who Amy at first thought were from California because they were all surfer like): Jodie and Brent; and one Aussie, Aidan.
After the meeting, Amy and I walked out to the night market and stopped at this great little food stand on the corner of one street. There, we had our dinner, pad siew and tom yum kum. We walked around the market and ended up stopping in to catch the last bit of this Cabaret Show. The men were gorgeous, dressed as women.
 |
 � |
2/5 In the morning, we took a small truck (songthaew) to the first tribe we were visiting. Not all of us can fit into the truck so a couple of the guys hung outside. Later, I went and hung out the back too because it was getting too claustrophobic inside the truck.
The first tribe we arrived at was called the Lisu Tribe (they originated from the south of China). We had lunch there (Fang got us all fried rice) and then we got to wander around and take pictures. Amy and I chatted with the head of the tribe, a older man named Zhang. He told us they made a living selling lychee and dou miao (grass like veggie). The head, according to Fang, has 4 wives and many children. We also spoked to his youngest son, who has come back from Taiwan after studying and working there.
Then we left the village and trekked for about two hours through some rough woods. It was spectacular. We arrived at La Hu Village where we stayed for the night. Here, they are much poorer than the Lisu Tribe. The children don�t go to school and they don�t use money. Dr. O took us on a little side excursion to check out the small opium field near the tribe. The tribe is allowed to grow a small amount of opium for their own sustenance. Before dinner, I washed up in a nearby fresh water stream. Fang and gang made yummy food for us. We had rice with red curry, chicken with potatoes, stir fried veggies, and another dish. We drank �special� tea (meaning with whisky).
After dinner, we all sat outside and stared up at the sky. It was enormous and filled with millions of stars. It has been a long time since I have been at a place so dark that you can see that many stars (I believe Orion�s belt and two planets were visible that night). It was a great night except it was hard to sleep in the evening because it was so cold.
2/6 In the morning, we had breakfast (toast, jam, eggs, and pineapple) and then headed off on our trek. The trek was hard because I was already sore from the day before. What a great workout this was! During the trek, we stopped at a waterfall and most of the guys went for a dip in the clear fresh water. Then we trekked up and down more hills and ended up at a deserted tribe by lunch time. Fang and gang cooked us noodles for lunch. The tribe people that lived there before actually stopped in to grab some more rice to their new area.
After lunch, we trekked some more and finally, we saw where we would be staying far in the distance. The Karen tribe lived on the top of this small hill. Cattle and elephants roamed all over. Amy and I washed our dirty, cut up and physically sore bodies by the stream. Then we had dinner which was yummy rice with potato, veggie and beans. Fang said he also threw in the owl that Nop caught with his slingshot during the trek. If it was an owl, it tasted like chicken to me. Fang, Dr. O and Nop are amazing. They can make a bong in two minutes using a machete. They can also shoot just about anything with a slingshot.
This evening, we slept well because Jodie got the fire going quite well (and perhaps due to having a lot of whisky that warmed our system)
2/7 We had another filling breakfast and got ready for our ride on the elephants. It was bumpy but really fun. Elephants are huge but they sure can walk through the most narrow walk ways. On the way, one of the guys caught a bamboo snake, which was bbqed and made into soup for lunch. After the elephant ride, we walked some more and arrived at this very modern yet still pretty place for lunch. The guys played soccer on the grass field and us girls went wading in the river. After lunch, we went bamboo rafting and that was really fun. I pushed Nop into the water and he ended up getting most of us into the water. Of course, somehow I must have gotten bitten by something in the waters and had scabs all over my legs but what's adventure without some physical scarring. After rafting, it was the end of our trek tour and we rode the truck back to the guesthouse in Chiang Mai. There, we got a great room (#208) with hot water. We went and had our Big Macs at McDonald�s and then headed back to the room to rest and relax.
 |
 � |
2/8 Today, we had our Long Neck tour. It started very early in the day and of course we were bussed just about everywhere else first before getting to our final destination. The first stop was quite interesting. We stopped at this temple cave where there was a giant laying buddha. There was also a "holy man" there blessing people for money. Hmmm.. makes you wonder just how legit that was. Anyway, there were monkeys everywhere. Amy and I attempted to feed them and try to take pictures with them but somehow the critters were just a little too fast for us. After that, we stopped at this orchid garden. Since the orchid is the flower of Thailand, they had all the variations you would ever want to see in the garden. Simply beautiful they were, reflecting the culture and the people. Finally, we arrive at the Long Neck tribe along with a couple of other tribes. It was a bit surreal and Amy had a hard time taking pictures of them because it just seem very exploitative. The Long Neck tribe no longer keep up their tradition other than for Thailand's tourism industry. Since a girl was about 5 or 6, they add a ring around their neck until they are adults. The more rings and longer their necks, the more prominent and important they are in the tribe.
...to be continue
