Treking in Chiang Mai

Tuesday, Feb 9th. I went on a 2 day treking tour today. There were 10 people and two guides in our group. Apart from me and two other Americans, everyone else was French. I wished I had paid more attention during my french lessons.

We started the day with a tour of the orchard farm. It wasn't very exciting for me but I'm sure the flower lovers out there would appreciate it.



A group of blue orchards, amoung many more just likinitial in different colours.




We went elephant riding for an hour and at one point, I got to ride on it's head. It's not that easy to balance up there. There were nothing to hold on to so I put my hands on the top of the elephants head. Their skin feels rough and the hairs on it's head are very prickly.

Our elephant was really greedy. It refused to walk if we didn't feed it bananas. Then after we gave it loads of bananas, it took a very large dump!

We went treking up the mountain after lunch. No pictures available because I wasn't in any shape to take them. I was having a really bad day. I wasn't used to the heat and hiking in the sun really drained me. I suffered from heat stroke and almost passed out. Luckly someone in the group gave me a glucose tablet and I felt much better after that. Mike from the US also carried my bag for me. All I had to do was carry myself to the village, way up in the mountains. Easily said then done, I was in a pretty confused state. Eventually I made it.

The total hike time was only 2.5 to 3 hrs but I think I was in a poor state about half the time. I had a can of fanta when I got there and took a cold shower and I felt much better after.

We will live in the village, in one of the bamboo huts. The villagers cooked us dinner using just a camp fire. The food was nothing exciting, chicken and potato curry as well as fried vegetables with rice. There were no electricity so flashlights and candles were used.



This was the hut that we stayed in. It's raised from the ground. The showers and toilet are on the right side.

In the evening, we sat around the camp fire in our hut. One of the French guys played the guitar and sang while the guide was on the drums (oil can). I had almost forgotten about the bad day I was having until I cut my foot open on a piece of bamboo. It was not my day but I was lucky to have a nurse in our group. She cleaned my wound and patched me up. Just a plaster, no stitches needed but a bit deep and a little bloody.

The next day, I had a hard time getting down the mountain because my foot was still hurting from the cut. Walking on the flat was okay but going downhill was not. Unfortunately, most of the hike today was going downhill. Since I hurt my left foot, my right leg had to compensate for it. I could feel the lactic acid building up on every step I took. It took me a bit longer but I got down eventually. My muscles were really aching.

We hiked down to the area where we went white water rafting, but the rapids were very small at this time of the year. The water level was very low and we got stuck alot. It wasn't as exciting as I thought. Then we went bamboo rafting. I didn't like it because it wasn't very comfortable to sit on. We were sitting on a layer of water the entire time. But I can check it off my list now.



On our way down, we stopped by a waterfall and some of us went for a refreshing dip. The water was quite chilly!

We made it back to Chiang Mai at 16:30. In the evening, I met up with the two Americans, Steve and Mike, for dinner. Then we went for a Thai massage. It was their first massage and they loved it. I must admit that it was the best massage I had in Thailand. I have to go there again. It was only 100 baht per hour. I think they should charge more.