In the jungle, the mighty jungle...
Today's adventure ends right here, at the Phasoet Hot Sprigs. A wonderful day spent with a great group of French people and our local Thai guide, Filo, ends with everyone soaking their tired bodies in the natural hot water pools, in the mountains near Chiang Rai. What started out as your regular tour, ended up being an unforgettable adventure of jungle trekking and elephant riding.
When I got to Chiang Rai yesterday afternoon, I didn't really know what I was doing in terms of a tour, I just knew that I wanted to explore the area. So I talked to the tour company at the Chat House, the local hostel I was staying in, and found out my options. At the time I inquired about the tour, I was the only person wanting to do a tour the next day, which would have resulted in a really high price. Shortly after I lost all hope for finding an affordable tour, the hostel guy/tour guy, informed me that a group of four want to do a tour tomorrow. So I went over to those people and introduced myself as the new addition to their tour. It was a brother and a sister and their uncle and aunt, all of them from France. The girl, Pilaune, was studying in Bangkok for the past four months and now will be heading home in a couple weeks. Her brother, Frederick and their aunt and uncle, all came to see Pilaune and to travel around Thailand for the last few weeks of her stay in Thailand. They were truly a lovely bunch, although only the siblings spoke English. Nonetheless, they each were very sweet and funny too!
The next day, I woke up early with the help of my alarm clock so I could sort through my things and get ready for the trip, since I did not do it last night on account of being very tired from my journey from Pi to Chiang Rai. So I packed my bag for the day and went out to walk around a bit before leaving for the trek. I found a little food place and got myself some Pad Thai for breakfast. Yeah I know, not really a breakfast meal but it sure filled me up and all for less than a dollar. Plus they had free iced water which is a luxury around these parts of the world. So I was a happy camper! Oh that reminds me, Danny Ritch, you still have my Happy Camper sweatshirt! Haha not I could really use it on my trip but when I come back, whenever that is, I would like it back por favor señor :)
Back to my story. We all gathered around in the courtyard of the hostel and were waiting to get the go ahead from our driver. Finally we all jumped into the jeep and were taken to the river dock for our first boat ride down the Mae Kok river. The boat ride was very relaxing and with some beautiful scenery around us of the mountains in the distance as well as many local fishermen making a living catching all kinds of creatures with their handheld nets made of two kris crossed bamboo sticks with a huge net at the bottom of it. I'd get splashed once in a while by the water since the boat was almost as low as the water itself. I did not mind though, on a hot day like that, any refreshing splash is appreciated and welcomed. I was very surprised to see a lot of rubble and garbage on the side of the river all along the way, because usually it seems that they clean around the rivers. But maybe that is only in the city limits, who knows... So out first destination was an elephant camp run by the Karen tribe of Thailand. The set up itself wasn't too impressive; a bit run down and a poor attempt at appearing to be a tourist friendly destination. Nonetheless, I was overjoyed when I saw the elephants. They are such amazing creatures! Besides the obvious fact that they're absolutely massive, when you look into their eyes, it seems that if they could speak, they would tell you amazing stories and probably tell you to stop staring.
We were told that if we wanted to ride an elephant, it would be about $6 for thirty minutes. I was more than ok with that price and happily paid the 200baht. One of the elephants was fought up to two story open deck, where I walked up and then sat down in the little seat, right on the elephant's back. I was a little nervous at first but then quickly got used to the side to side movement. There was a local man guiding the elephant, but I was the only one on it. It was so strange to be on an actual elephant! When these surreal moments happen, I always can't help but wonder; how did I get so lucky to be here? And every time I ask that question, the answer never really comes to me. Then, I tell myself to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Literally this time. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking since the elephant walked up to a mountain and then down into the river. Yes, right into the river we walked! Very interesting experience.
When my ride was done, I joined my group again, where we got back into our little boat and floated down the river a few minutes to the other side. The jeep was waiting for us there. Filo, our guide, brought about ten minutes up the road which was where our jungle trek began. Last minute preparations began; reapplying bug spray, making sure we have water and securing our shoelaces (I didn't have any but the others did). And we headed up this little path towards the mountains, past cows and many banana trees. It was almost midday by then and the sun was high up in the sky, beating down on us through the huge banana leaves. The hills began getting steeper after about fifteen minutes which made the hike even more challenging. I picked a couple of little bananas right off the tree and ate them, to acquire a little bit of energy. They were delicious! And the fact that I just picked them myself made them so much more appealing.
After about forty five minutes of hiking, we reached a fresh water stream running from high up in the mountain. It was so clean and very refreshingly cold. So I washed my face in it just to cool off for a short instance. Sweat was pouring off my skin in buckets and the path kept getting steeper with each step. We had a couple wipe outs in the group since the mud under our feet was pretty slippery after last night's rain. Nothing too serious, thankfully.
The aunt of the brother and sister was having a pretty hard time hiking so we made frequent stops to rest. This was perfectly alright with me since the hike was definitely not easy for me either.
About two hours into the hike, we started hearing thunder far away. Soon, the wind picked up and the jungle became silent. All the bugs stopped making noise, the birds weren't singing their happy songs. The whole jungle just seemingly died out. Soon after that, we felt a couple rain drops on us which was actually nice and refreshing. However, those couple rain drops turned into a torrential downpour and the jungle became a blur of water, coming down in buckets. The French had rain costs and plastic bags to cover their backpacks. What did I have? I had a cone shaped hat that Filo made for me on the spot when it started raining since I didn't have a raincoat. He took a huge banana leaf and rolled it together into a cone and then pierced it through at the bottom with a little stick to hold it together. Ta da! I had a hat. It didn't help much in terms of staying dry since I was completely soaked in a matter of minutes, but it was fun to wear and it kept the rain out of my eyes.
The muddy path became even more slippery due to the rain and the path itself had become pretty narrow, with a sharp ledge leading to a drop that would be deadly if not careful. So I was paying attention to where I was stepping and keeping my focus. Being the queen of random accidents which usually result in bodily injuries, I was extra careful.
About two hours later, when we finally got up to the top of the mountain, we were greeted by a bunch of not so friendly dogs and a bunch of long legged chickens and roosters running around like crazy.
I was actually pretty cold by that time because the rain had stopped but my clothes were completely soaked trough, sticking to me and weighing me down. The temperature had dropped a bit too and a slight breeze was still blowing which made having wet clothes on, not so pleasant anymore.
Past the dogs and the chickens, a tribe woman greeted us all and led us to a little landing right on the edge of the mountain with a roof, a table in the middle and some matts for sitting. The view from there was spectacular. The fog had covered the mountains all around us, giving them an air of mystery and unspoken royalty. We were soon given many plates of fruit; mango, pineapple, lychee and also some hit tea which came at a very good time since I was getting pretty chilly. We also got our food that we ordered at the beginning of the day. I got some fried rice with veggies and moo (which strangely means pork, not cow).
It was great to sit down, relax and eat. I could've absolutely taken a nap right then and there. While in motion, I didn't really feel how tired I was but sitting down and eating made me feel it.
When we were done, we still had a quite a hike left to the waterfall. It was about another two hours until we reached a beautiful cascading waterfall which was situation in an area surrounded by fields of tea. I picked a couple leaves expecting for them to have a great aroma but they smelled like grass. I guess they have to dry first for them to actually smell like tea.
So after the waterfall we headed back down the path where our jeep was driven over by another guide for us. We all hoped in. Filo and I sat in the trunk part of the jeep which I didn't mind at all since all the fruit Filo bought for us was in the back. Our next and last destination was the Hot Springs. It was fairly short ride to there, but it gave me a good opportunity to chat with our guide about growing up in Thailand and working here. We talked about the drug trafficking around these areas which is a pretty big problem. But a lot of people do it since money isn't easily made here. He told me that Thailand exports about five million dogs into Vietnam because they eat them over there and I guess they just don't have enough, whereas Thailand definitely has a surplus. It's a strange thing to think about, eating dogs but food is food, I guess. So when we finally arrived to the Hot Springs, I was a bit disappointed because it looked more like a public pool but nonetheless, it was nice to soak in some warm water.
So that brings me back to the beginning of the story which is also the end of my day filled with memorable adventures.
We had a nice thirty minute ride back to our hostel where we all sat down and had some dinner while recapping our day. That night I slept like a rock. I also ended up being the person in my room so no one disturbed my sleep, except for some mosquitos buzzing around my head towards the morning.
My day was definitely one to remember and all of this only cost me $38. Lovely :)
When I got to Chiang Rai yesterday afternoon, I didn't really know what I was doing in terms of a tour, I just knew that I wanted to explore the area. So I talked to the tour company at the Chat House, the local hostel I was staying in, and found out my options. At the time I inquired about the tour, I was the only person wanting to do a tour the next day, which would have resulted in a really high price. Shortly after I lost all hope for finding an affordable tour, the hostel guy/tour guy, informed me that a group of four want to do a tour tomorrow. So I went over to those people and introduced myself as the new addition to their tour. It was a brother and a sister and their uncle and aunt, all of them from France. The girl, Pilaune, was studying in Bangkok for the past four months and now will be heading home in a couple weeks. Her brother, Frederick and their aunt and uncle, all came to see Pilaune and to travel around Thailand for the last few weeks of her stay in Thailand. They were truly a lovely bunch, although only the siblings spoke English. Nonetheless, they each were very sweet and funny too!
The next day, I woke up early with the help of my alarm clock so I could sort through my things and get ready for the trip, since I did not do it last night on account of being very tired from my journey from Pi to Chiang Rai. So I packed my bag for the day and went out to walk around a bit before leaving for the trek. I found a little food place and got myself some Pad Thai for breakfast. Yeah I know, not really a breakfast meal but it sure filled me up and all for less than a dollar. Plus they had free iced water which is a luxury around these parts of the world. So I was a happy camper! Oh that reminds me, Danny Ritch, you still have my Happy Camper sweatshirt! Haha not I could really use it on my trip but when I come back, whenever that is, I would like it back por favor señor :)
Back to my story. We all gathered around in the courtyard of the hostel and were waiting to get the go ahead from our driver. Finally we all jumped into the jeep and were taken to the river dock for our first boat ride down the Mae Kok river. The boat ride was very relaxing and with some beautiful scenery around us of the mountains in the distance as well as many local fishermen making a living catching all kinds of creatures with their handheld nets made of two kris crossed bamboo sticks with a huge net at the bottom of it. I'd get splashed once in a while by the water since the boat was almost as low as the water itself. I did not mind though, on a hot day like that, any refreshing splash is appreciated and welcomed. I was very surprised to see a lot of rubble and garbage on the side of the river all along the way, because usually it seems that they clean around the rivers. But maybe that is only in the city limits, who knows... So out first destination was an elephant camp run by the Karen tribe of Thailand. The set up itself wasn't too impressive; a bit run down and a poor attempt at appearing to be a tourist friendly destination. Nonetheless, I was overjoyed when I saw the elephants. They are such amazing creatures! Besides the obvious fact that they're absolutely massive, when you look into their eyes, it seems that if they could speak, they would tell you amazing stories and probably tell you to stop staring.
We were told that if we wanted to ride an elephant, it would be about $6 for thirty minutes. I was more than ok with that price and happily paid the 200baht. One of the elephants was fought up to two story open deck, where I walked up and then sat down in the little seat, right on the elephant's back. I was a little nervous at first but then quickly got used to the side to side movement. There was a local man guiding the elephant, but I was the only one on it. It was so strange to be on an actual elephant! When these surreal moments happen, I always can't help but wonder; how did I get so lucky to be here? And every time I ask that question, the answer never really comes to me. Then, I tell myself to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Literally this time. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking since the elephant walked up to a mountain and then down into the river. Yes, right into the river we walked! Very interesting experience.
When my ride was done, I joined my group again, where we got back into our little boat and floated down the river a few minutes to the other side. The jeep was waiting for us there. Filo, our guide, brought about ten minutes up the road which was where our jungle trek began. Last minute preparations began; reapplying bug spray, making sure we have water and securing our shoelaces (I didn't have any but the others did). And we headed up this little path towards the mountains, past cows and many banana trees. It was almost midday by then and the sun was high up in the sky, beating down on us through the huge banana leaves. The hills began getting steeper after about fifteen minutes which made the hike even more challenging. I picked a couple of little bananas right off the tree and ate them, to acquire a little bit of energy. They were delicious! And the fact that I just picked them myself made them so much more appealing.
After about forty five minutes of hiking, we reached a fresh water stream running from high up in the mountain. It was so clean and very refreshingly cold. So I washed my face in it just to cool off for a short instance. Sweat was pouring off my skin in buckets and the path kept getting steeper with each step. We had a couple wipe outs in the group since the mud under our feet was pretty slippery after last night's rain. Nothing too serious, thankfully.
The aunt of the brother and sister was having a pretty hard time hiking so we made frequent stops to rest. This was perfectly alright with me since the hike was definitely not easy for me either.
About two hours into the hike, we started hearing thunder far away. Soon, the wind picked up and the jungle became silent. All the bugs stopped making noise, the birds weren't singing their happy songs. The whole jungle just seemingly died out. Soon after that, we felt a couple rain drops on us which was actually nice and refreshing. However, those couple rain drops turned into a torrential downpour and the jungle became a blur of water, coming down in buckets. The French had rain costs and plastic bags to cover their backpacks. What did I have? I had a cone shaped hat that Filo made for me on the spot when it started raining since I didn't have a raincoat. He took a huge banana leaf and rolled it together into a cone and then pierced it through at the bottom with a little stick to hold it together. Ta da! I had a hat. It didn't help much in terms of staying dry since I was completely soaked in a matter of minutes, but it was fun to wear and it kept the rain out of my eyes.
The muddy path became even more slippery due to the rain and the path itself had become pretty narrow, with a sharp ledge leading to a drop that would be deadly if not careful. So I was paying attention to where I was stepping and keeping my focus. Being the queen of random accidents which usually result in bodily injuries, I was extra careful.
About two hours later, when we finally got up to the top of the mountain, we were greeted by a bunch of not so friendly dogs and a bunch of long legged chickens and roosters running around like crazy.
I was actually pretty cold by that time because the rain had stopped but my clothes were completely soaked trough, sticking to me and weighing me down. The temperature had dropped a bit too and a slight breeze was still blowing which made having wet clothes on, not so pleasant anymore.
Past the dogs and the chickens, a tribe woman greeted us all and led us to a little landing right on the edge of the mountain with a roof, a table in the middle and some matts for sitting. The view from there was spectacular. The fog had covered the mountains all around us, giving them an air of mystery and unspoken royalty. We were soon given many plates of fruit; mango, pineapple, lychee and also some hit tea which came at a very good time since I was getting pretty chilly. We also got our food that we ordered at the beginning of the day. I got some fried rice with veggies and moo (which strangely means pork, not cow).
It was great to sit down, relax and eat. I could've absolutely taken a nap right then and there. While in motion, I didn't really feel how tired I was but sitting down and eating made me feel it.
When we were done, we still had a quite a hike left to the waterfall. It was about another two hours until we reached a beautiful cascading waterfall which was situation in an area surrounded by fields of tea. I picked a couple leaves expecting for them to have a great aroma but they smelled like grass. I guess they have to dry first for them to actually smell like tea.
So after the waterfall we headed back down the path where our jeep was driven over by another guide for us. We all hoped in. Filo and I sat in the trunk part of the jeep which I didn't mind at all since all the fruit Filo bought for us was in the back. Our next and last destination was the Hot Springs. It was fairly short ride to there, but it gave me a good opportunity to chat with our guide about growing up in Thailand and working here. We talked about the drug trafficking around these areas which is a pretty big problem. But a lot of people do it since money isn't easily made here. He told me that Thailand exports about five million dogs into Vietnam because they eat them over there and I guess they just don't have enough, whereas Thailand definitely has a surplus. It's a strange thing to think about, eating dogs but food is food, I guess. So when we finally arrived to the Hot Springs, I was a bit disappointed because it looked more like a public pool but nonetheless, it was nice to soak in some warm water.
So that brings me back to the beginning of the story which is also the end of my day filled with memorable adventures.
We had a nice thirty minute ride back to our hostel where we all sat down and had some dinner while recapping our day. That night I slept like a rock. I also ended up being the person in my room so no one disturbed my sleep, except for some mosquitos buzzing around my head towards the morning.
My day was definitely one to remember and all of this only cost me $38. Lovely :)
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