Jungle Treking and Pai

20 December 2007
Pai - North West Thailand

The visit to the North of Thailand wouldn't have been complete without a decent jungle trek, so after we had fully recovered from the sleepless nights on the bus and the wild party that surrounded the Mauy Thai fight, we decided to visit some of the T.A.T offices and find a bargain. This sounds really easy, but it requires you to have your wits about you, as you have to deal with serious professionals. How it happens is that you get inside and they lure you into a false sense of security by sitting you down and perhaps offering you something to drink. Then before you can do anything they push a photo album into you lap and show you awesome photos and go on to tell you that their trip is better than any other. Making empty promises of private and exclusive tours, yet using exactly the same flyer as their neighbour. Anyway, even though it took us a while, I can proudly say that Iaki and I have become street wise. We saw straight through their scamming minds and got ourselves a bargain!

The trip started with a 9:00 pickup from our hotel, we were the first one in the car, and were jetted around the city slowly picking up the other 11 people. By the time the 10th got in, it was getting mighty cosy and everyone was getting to know each other.

The way North, 13 in the back

We dumped our bags at a locker room and then started the drive up north. The first stop was a market which seemed to only sell deep fried chicken (including heads and feet) and fruit, so everyone had a little snack, only to be awarded lunch once we got to the start of the trek. The group that we were to spend the next few days with was awesome. The breakdown was 2 americans, 2 belgians, 2 aussies, 2 brits (or jerseys) a scot and 2 israelis! So good times were bound to be ahead.

After lunch we were on our way, up what seemed a never ending crisscrossing foot path, making many unnecessary river crossings. The crossings did however make things interesting! The hours flew by, and the scenery got better and better.

Hiking in the jungle

Once we eventually got up to the "rustic" village, we were shown to our awesome bamboo cabin. It was a dorm, with a balcony complete with fire place, yep they had a fireplace on a bamboo hut. Below is a picture of a typical hut, jock pointed out by Iaki =

Jock point

The view from camp

The rest of the day was spent chilling at the cabin and having an awesome meal

Dinner Time

The day started early due to the roosters wanting to emphasise their presence, must to the dismay to most of the camp! Getting us up and ready for another day of trekking. The second day was through the propper jungle and we got swim around with some waterfalls! very well received as it was once again a scorther of a day. The evening was eventful as the guides, (namely Jack Sparrow and JJ, got a little carried away with their bamboo bong and started piromaniac antics by blowing methane onto the fire... very entertaining, at least nothing bad happened haha), The last day was the day jampacked with activities.

Awesome

The day started with the elephant rides, something that iaki had been rather sleepless about. It was an awesome experience, with iaki and the elepahnt getting rather close at one stage. I think iaki was sending mixed signals when he was lovingly caressing the elephants neck.

Riding

Haha, iaki's new friend getting too close for comfort

Look how scared one of us looks... fear in the eyes!

Everyone seemed to be having an awesome time, and th eride lasted for about an hour

Elephant Riding at the river

From there they gave us our bright orange life vests and matching helmets and put us onto the rafts. The rafting was somewhat of a let down (fear factor wise), but due to some healthy competition we made the most of it, (got to give it to Aiden and Iaki, you guys beat us to the finish) with our guides getting over excited and wrestling each other from boat to boat.

The crowd was awesome!

The Chiang Mai trekking crew group photo

Once the PVC rafting was over we were placed onto the traditional bamboo rafts, which was way more exciting. They work as a kind of gondola, and have a low balancing ability. So it ended in a lot of spashing and sabotage of each others rafts, an excellent end to the days activity. After lunch we made our way back to Chiang Mai, and all met up again for dinner and a party out on the town.

Last Dinner

Now in Pai, together with the Israelis and the Aussies. It was an interesting bus ride, for 4 hours going up winding little roads with the bus giving it all it had... and making speeds of 20-35 kilometers an hour. The bus was probably 50 years old and def not a fan of hills. Once in the small quaint village of Pai we hired a manly Hogg and rode the afternoon away in the surrounding country side. As some may know, I am not a fan, so Iaki agreed to ride the red devil. It turned out to be an excellent day out, and the plan is to carry on with that today.

Look at the fear in his eyes as he opens up that Throttle

We have booked a bus to get to Chiang Khong tomorrow morning, so we should be in Laos by Saturday.

written by

ourindochina on December 19, 2007 from Pai, Thailand

from the travel blog: The Indo China Adventure (incl Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia)

Send a Compliment

flippen kief! i've been waiting for the next entry for a while and definately not dissapointed!

written by walter on December 20, 2007

Hey Pd, jeez that trip looks awesome!

So how much were one of those thai girls in Rands? just curious.... :)

Anyway, merry xmas and i hope you'll having an equally awesome and sweaty christmas as those of us in natal.

heading down to ox braai tomorrow, so i may not return

so goodbye for now, and if i don't make it, I'll see you at that big brau haus in the sky.

cheers
jonjon

written by Jono Hotz on December 25, 2007

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