3 Day Jungle Trek - Don Inthanon National Park.

In SK House (our hotel) they offered 3 day jungle treks – which is pretty much one of the things most people do when in Northern Thailand (especially Chaing Mai area) and after 2 minutes of Mr June (our hotel owner) talking to us about it we knew we were going, we booked on the tour for the next day – already excited about the prospect of an adventure. It was also going to be great as we hadn’t been anywhere too rural or jungle based on the mainland so it was going to be a great chance to discover the natural Thailand. The trek was to take place in the jungle in Don Inthanon national park which contains Thailand’s highest peak and some stunning scenery.

DAY ONE
So we got up bright and early on the first day, packed a small satchel type bag that we were issued with, with some essentials and jumped in a songthrew (which is a pick up with a couple of benches in the back). We drove for a couple of hours, and then stopped near and walked to Wat Phra That Si Chom Chom Thong, a very pretty looking temple at the top of a small hill. As well as offering lovely views about the jungle we were about to explore there was also an interesting collection of statues with all manner of Buddist symbols. The most interesting though had to be the one that a monk was busy completing. He was meticulously shaping the figure of a lady with cement and trowel which we were then told would be covered in mirrors, glass and gold leaf. I would love to go back and see it once it was complete which we were informed would be about 3 more months. After viewing the temple we wandered back down the hill and enjoyed our fried rice lunchboxes.

We then jumped into the pick up for another couple of hours and were eventually dropped off at a huge horticulture site set up by the king to grow and learn about all kinds of plants We (there were 3 other travellers trekking with us and our two guides Fu and Ec) all donned our raincoats and ponchos and set off down the lane. As we walked we passed rows and rows of Chrysanthemums which the villages grew to sell, plus a wonderful array of herbs growing wild such as lemongrass, mint and ginger. Fu pointed all the different plants and herbs out to us explaining what they were. As we walked down the lane it changed from herbs to expanses of paddy fields it was already very picturesque and we hadn’t even been trekking for 30 mins! We stopped again for Fu to pick some herbs and leaves which he planned to add to our dinner in the evening so we could sample them (we had stumbled across the Thai Ray Mears!!!) He also showed us a leaf that if you split the stalk you could blow bubbles with the sap (I particularly liked this plant!) Finally we veered off the track an entered the jungle! I was very excited at this point but was also having to concentrate on keeping up. Our guide had really picked up the pace! It was quite easy walking except for the occasional fallen tree trunk to jump over, the only thing that spoilt it was some chompy bug took a liking to my heel and managed to sting me, it was quite painful, but I told myself that this was to be expected in the jungle and carried on; it was about 10 minutes later when I looked down at my hand to see what I thought was a little slug sitting on the back of it, so I went to flick it off. The thing didn’t move and more disconcerting was the fact that the bloody thing appeared to be getting bigger! I quickly grabbed it between my nails and threw it into the bush, it was when I saw a little drop of blood that it dawned on me that it was in fact a leech. I was getting less sure about the jungle all the time……. Well at least it had stopped raining…..

We walked probably for another 30 or so mins as well as seeing an array of butterflies ants and other creepy crawlies we were lucky enough to see a massive green stick insect. We got to a clearing where there was a large wooden hut and then a smaller covered area with the remains of a fire in it. This was to be our home for the evening. We went to explore our new home it was very simple and consisted of about a dozen mattresses placed under mosquito nets and some blankets. We dropped our stuff and headed for the waterfall that was just behind and after a rather refreshing (the water was a little chilly!!) swim we headed back and had a wonderful green curry prepared by Fu and one of the local hilltribe people, with the addition of the herbs he had picked up earlier. After that we gathered round the fire. We chatted to Fu about the trek and the jungle, and he gave us some local rice wine to sample which tasted very similar to sake, after a little of that we were offered a sample of the local ‘tobacco’. It was prepared for us in a rudimentary bong that Fu had made for us out of one of the water bottles from the day. He promised us that he would make us a better one tomorrow should we enjoy the ‘tobacco’. We did indeed enjoy it!  So much so that we didn’t notice that Fu had disappeared until he returned. He stood just behind me and then I felt something slimy behind me – it was a frog clutching at my neck!!!! Fu had been out hunting and had caught us a couple of frogs for us to eat – proper bush tucker!!! After putting them on the fire we were each handed a ‘mini chicken drumstick’ (Rob’s phrase!). It was actually really tasty, though probably a little overcooked and chewy, reminded me of British bbq’s with that charcoal aftertaste! After our supper we retired to bed having consumed a bottle of rum, several bottles of local firewater and many beers, and having made some new friends on a very enjoyable day.

DAY TWO
Next morning we were up again bright and early and had a quick breakfast. We were then handed our lunch parcels for the day which to our delight were rice wrapped neatly in banana leaves and tied with a vine. We popped these it our packs and headed back toward the jungle. It was rather hot work and the terrain was much trickier than the previous day when we were climbing we were really climbing and the descents if anything proved more difficult and slippery. But we were still enjoying it and I was really amazed by the wealth of fungi and many amazing butterflies. Eventually after about 3 or so hours we stopped for lunch. Fu handed us each a couple of sturdy stalks that he had cut from a tree for us to use as chop sticks. We got stuck into our lunch and enjoyed the surroundings. We then headed off going up and down all the way. On our journey Fu stopped us – he and the other guide had spotted a squirrel hole. Fu thought it might be another good jungle food for us to try so the other guide quickly shinned up the tree and began poking a long twig up into the squirrel hole…. No squirrel emerged. Not disheartened by this Fu pick up a thin piece of pine bark which he easily lit and handed to the guide up the tree. He stuck this in the hole, trying to smoke the poor squirrel out. I am actually quite pleased to report that Mr Squirrel did not appear to be home as nothing emerged, though I am sure he was in for a shock when he did get back!!

We trekked for about another 4 hours, and after 7 hours of trekking up and down hills I was ready to get to our destination. I had had a good day, but it had been some of the most challenging walking I have ever done. We arrived at the village – it was pretty much as I had expected and we each had our own little hut to sleep in. It was a great scene we were in a clearing on the top of a hill with jungle all around us as far as we could see there was a communal table in the middle of all of our little huts with a villager carving himself a new handle for his spade that had just broken. We were greeted with much enthusiasm and many smiles. Our base was about 50 or so meters from their actual village and unfortunately we did not get to go and see their homes – but they all came up to say hello. Some of them spoke better English than others but all made a real effort to communicate and be welcoming. We then looked at some home crafts and I couldn’t resist and bought a few lovely scarves. After all of that it was time to clean up before dinner. After having a shower (well a hosepipe above our heads) we went and sat around the table. Much to my surprise there were too large black tarantulas on the table one dead and on a banana leaf and the other limping around the table. Fu informed us that he had caught them and the fangs had been removed of the one that was still alive so we could handle it! These were to be our starter for dinner! After everyone had a prod and a handle – some people including myself were more tentative than others – they were taken off to be bbqed. We were then presented with a leg each to munch on! It actually didn’t taste of much just crunchy non descript bbq meat! But it was defiantly an interesting one to try and add to the list! We then had a wonderfully fiery northern Thai curry with lots of potatoes and greens, a little more conventional than the starter!

The rest of the evening was spent sat round the fire smoking local ‘tobacco’ in a rather wonderful bamboo bong that Fu had fashioned for us, drinking rice wine and listening to some of the locals singing us traditional songs and playing traditional pipes (Kwe) made from animals horns and drums made from hides and tree trunks it was wonderful and we actually bought one of the instruments, and the villager showed us how to play it. It was a thoroughly good evening.

DAY THREE
The next morning we woke, had breakfast and started to trek away from the village. We trekked pretty much down hill all the way for a couple of hours and then were picked up by our truck where we were taken to an elephant enclosure. We climbed onto a platform and an elephant was lead towards the platform. The elephant had a 2 seater saddle type thing on his back. The guide signalled to us to get on. To my surprise we had to step onto the back of its neck, I was worried about hurting it but as I stepped on it hardly seemed to notice! Once me and Rob were in the saddle the elephant guide jumped on and sat on the back of his head legs dangling behind its ears. Then we were off! Not the steadiest of rides and we had bought some bananas to feed the elephant as we rode and it could obviously smell them as every couple of paces it would stop and the trunk would appear signalling for another banana. It was fantastic experience and what I enjoyed the most was seeing the animal so closely and being able to touch and feed it. I did not expect the skin to feel so much like slightly hairy sandpaper! After about 40 minutes the ride was over and we’d made it around the track with only a few detours up banks for the elephant to pull down half a tree to eat!

Once that was over we jumped in the truck again and were taken to the bank of a river, where we climbed on a raft made entirely from lengths of bamboo, and a guide at the front who was punting. Rob grabbed the back to steer and punt from there and nearly lost his head several times as we went under trees! We had a really fun guide who encouraged us to splash the other rafts and splash each other, and actually capsized the raft a couple of times to ensure we were thoroughly soaked by the end of the trip! The ride lasted about an hour where we all giggled and laughed all the way – it was in beautiful surroundings and was lots of fun.

And so that was the end of our trek. A thoroughly challenging, entertaining and enlightening 3 days. This was to be one of our last adventures in Thailand before heading to Laos and a great way to remember Thailand. The last cool thing about the trip is we met 3 great people, Marek and Agnieszka from Poland and Chris – the American of the group who was planning the same route as us to Cambodia so we had a new travel buddy!

JUNGLE TREK SLIDESHOW! Click on the pictures to see the full album....

Meat

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai was everything that we hoped it would be. After loud brash Bangkok this had a much calmer feeling to it, more like a small town that a 2nd major city. It had a historical aspect to it that had been in many ways swallowed and lost in Bangkok, with the 5 square mile ‘old town’ area surrounded by a crumbling defensive wall and moats which were apparently built 700 years ago to keep the Burmese out. What was also wonderful about it was it was a little cooler than in Bangkok meaning that the average temperatures were early 30’s rather than late 30’s early 40’s. It felt much more bearable and it made us want to be more active than when we were in Bangkok. We decided to rent bikes for the day and tour the city, exploring the many temples and checking out the town and park. It was lovely to cycle round, peaceful and quite pretty except for the occasional western takeaway place (like Mike’s Burger Bar which proudly claimed to have been converting vegetarians for 28 years!). We went to Wat Phra Singh which had beautiful murals and carvings, and is considered the top temple in the Chiang Mai city. It was built in 1345 and ended up to be a wonderful spot to watch the rain from. It proved in my opinion to be just as special a place in the rain with all the water cascading from the roof tops, the tranquillity of the surroundings accentuated with the sound track of the pouring rain.
In addition to this temple we went to Wat Suan Dok, this again was beautiful and had a 500 year old bronze Buddah, which we marvelled at and then jumped on our bikes and headed back to the hotel. I could go on about these temples for ages – but I’m sure it would bore you all senseless – much better that I bore you with the endless amount of pictures instead! They will do them justice far better than I will with my ramblings! We also cycled to watch the sunset in the park which was a great spot to watch the locals too, and headed home very pleased with our self propelled tour, although it became more stressful on the way home as once it turned dark we soon realised that bicycles don’t come with lights or reflectors here!

Travelling to Chiang Mai

Apologies for taking so long to place another blog entry – we’ve been having a busy month and far too much fun to type! But as we now have a quiet day before we leave Cambodia I can begin to tell you what we have been up to since our last entry. After deciding to move on from Bangkok we headed up to the north to Chiang Mai – this would be the Manchester equivalent if Bangkok was London. We were looking forward to getting away from the hectic and often chaotic feel of Bangkok and had been told that Chiang Mai although the 2nd city felt a lot more peaceful. We decided to use the sleeper train again as we had had such a nice experience last time. We were not to be disappointed as we ordered some food and settled back for a relaxing journey.

The food was fantastic – and there was so much of it! After a very spicy soup and a couple of curry dishes the staff (most of which were of questionable gender!) set about trying to get us drunk. Every time they would come up the aisle they would spin us a story about how it was the last beers they had and if we would be so good as to buy them they would get to have a break – me and Rob often don’t need much persuasion in these types of situations so were only to happy to oblige, and several Changs later we were having a very nice train journey indeed!

At about 7am we were awoken to a tasty if not a little sweaty egg breakfast, which we needed after our heavy evening! Then finally just over 14 hours later we arrived having had a fairly good nights sleep this time. At the station and were greeted by the usual hordes of tuk tuk drivers, and hotel representatives vying for our business. We found one which seemed ok called SK House so we thought we would risk it and get the free car ride there. In the car we met the owner Mr June who began telling us all about the city, where all the markets were and where to eat etc. That is when the alarm bells in my head started going off. It sounds horrible to say but you learn to be very guarded if someone is overly nice to you and especially having just come from Bangkok, me and Rob looked at each other quite worried about the place we were about to end up, but I am pleased to report that Mr June was the exception to the rule and we ended up in a very reasonably priced guesthouse with a lovely pool. This was to be our base for the next few days.