Chris and Chandi’s Worldwide Adventures

So after feeling a bit defeated in Chiang Mai with regard to tours and thinking of moving on we decided to take a walk around Old Chiang Mai. We took a few back roads and it was really nice; a lot less traffic and people. Eventually an unusual travel agency/tour operator caught both our eyes and we started reading about what they offered etc. – Here Enters Pooh’s Eco-Trekking - It was later in the evening but a very nice guy came out of the shop and handed us a pamphlet and said if we have questions to come ask and to not feel any pressure about doing any of them or anything – Here Enters Tee – We started asking about the one they offered to the Elephant conservation centre and at the end we were talking about their 2-3 day treks.

Needless to say this place was exactly what I was looking for!! After being disappointed more than once with regard to either one or a combination of service, environmental issues, animal care concerns and no compensation to the Hill Tribes that are visited I was really excited about this place. As we were told “This is not a touristy trek” and that was perfect.

It turned out that a 3 day trek was leaving on the Friday so right then and there we signed up. We had a day before the trek so on Thursday morning we went to the day market as we heard it was better than the night one and cheaper. It turned out not to be what we were looking for but it was still interesting. More of a local market and it is a good place for food, everyday things and cheap extra bags to get all the stuff you bought back to Singapore. Next we headed to the Chiang Mai museum in hope of spending the hot afternoon in an air-conditioned place. The museum had some good information ranging from geology to history to current international relations but no air-conditioning.

At 6pm we had a meeting at Pooh’s with Tee and the other 5 trekkers to go over what we needed etc. They gave us each a “backpack” and a plastic bag to take with us and a small list of what we needed. So we headed back to the hotel and started packing.

Friday morning came and we were picked up from the Lai-Thai Guesthouse. Coffee/Tea and fruit were waiting at the trekking office. It worked out really well as we were able to leave our valuables and gear at the trekking office and we felt more than safe in doing so. The first part of the adventure was a 3 hour ride out of Chiang Mai to the province of Mae Hong Son. Here we had lunch at a roadside “café” and then headed off the main road for about 30min.

From here we headed on foot through the hills and fields that are home to the Karen Hilltribes. It was beautiful, majestic, breathtaking. . .

Tee told us about what was growing in the fields and about slash and burn agriculture used by the Karen. I am not sure what people know about this type of farming but if done in a traditional manner it is very effective and not destructive like having herds of cattle roaming the hills. All farmed areas are used by each family in the village to grow their food and food for their pigs and chickens. Cabbage, peanuts, corn, and rice were the primary crops. After about 2 hours we came to the village where Tee’s cousin lives and where we spent the night. About 200 people live in the village and each family takes turns in having the trekkers stay with them. Everyone was very friendly but also shy, especially the women. We all stayed in Papa’s house and he was always smiling and laughed when ever we said “Ta blu” – the phrase Tee taught us that meant everything from hello to thank-you.

Before dinner a member from most of the families in the village came to the house to see us and share some of their homemade rice whiskey. At this point you really have to not care about how clean things are or germs as about 20 of us partook of shots and in two glasses. It was a good way to make sure we all tried it as you were watched while you downed it. Not sure how strong it was but after about three and having not eaten I was feeling pretty good. After a number bottles were polished off we had a vegetarian feast cooked by Tee, which was very good. Then we all found spots on the bamboo floor to put our sleeping bags and settled in for the night.

After not really sleeping in fear of creepy crawlies and a moving bamboo floor anytime Chris rolled over, which was many times, we woke to a full on orchestra of roosters. I loved it as it so far it really had reminded me of the trips I had done before and I was having a great time!!!

I am going to leave it here as I have been in this internet café for over an hour now and will fill in the details when we get to Singapore tomorrow

On Wednesday we decided we wanted to see some of the temples in the Chiang Mai area. We had two choices, hire a tuk-tuk or truck to drive us around and explore the temples on our own or go on a tour. Well after awhile we decided a tour might be better because we know nothing about Buddhism and temples and having a guide explain things might be helpful. Well we booked a tour though the office at our guest-house, BIG mistake.

We get picked up by one of the guesthouse tour guides in his station wagon and off we go. First stop after a half hour drive into the country is the Doi Sethup temple. At this point we though our "guide" would show us around the temple and give us a local insight....uh no. Apparently "tour" means, I am going to sleep in my truck while YOU look at the temple. So we spent an hour looking at the temple which was very nice and quite elaborate, I would recommend it. After the temple our guide took us to the Jade Factory which is store where they sell..you guessed it...Jade! They were very slick but due to the fact that everything was extremely expensive we escaped unscathed.

Next we went to two temples in Chiang Mai which we liked very much as well as they were quite old and had more "character" than Doi Sethup. One of them had these little Buddhas that were quite old, the Emerald Buddha which is 1800 years old and the Marble Buddha which is 2500 years old (possible I have reversed the ages though ). Oh and did I mention that the guide sat in the truck for all these temples as well?

Basically the temples were quite nice but I would recommend just taking a tuk-tuk or something like that there and skipping a "tour" as ours really sucked.

On Tuesday we went to Bo-Sang which is the paper umbrella capital of Thailand. If you love umbrellas this is your mecca. They have an umbrella "factory" you can go to and watch them make paper umbrellas which is somewhat interesting in a wierd way.

We also spent a couple of hours walking down the main road of Bo-Sang which has lots of wood carving shops, umbrella shops and furniture shops. The wood carvings are pretty cool and the umbrella shops are well...full of umbrellas. The teak furnture is very nice and pretty cheap relatively. Shipping would be HUGE though.

I would only recommend going to Bo-Sang if you really like umbrellas or want a good deal on teak furniture.

Well I got sick last Sunday morning. Not too sure how or why but let us just say it was quite unpleasant. The "sickness" lasted about 12 hours then I spent the next three days not particularily interested in food.

We were supposed to go on a Thai cooking course Sunday but we postponed it until Monday cause I spent all Sunday in bed watching HBO and eating rice crackers, good times ++

On Monday we went to the cooking class and it was quite good. It started with a trip to a local market where the guide showed us all types of different food (I watched an old lady club about 100 frogs to death) and most importantly showed us different types of rice. After that we went out to the organic farm where the cooking class was to be held.

The course started with a tour of the farm where the instructor (a young lady) showed us lots of different Thai fruits and veggies, it was quite informative because we had been eating these things for weeks with no idea what they were.

Then we proceeded to cook up a storm! We made rice, green curry (ground in a mortar and pestle!), stir-fried veggies, tom yum soup, spring rolls and bananas with coconut milk. Unfortunately I only ate a little bit because I was still reeling from the "sickness". We both really enjoyed the course and I would recommend a Thai cooking class to anyone who comes here to visit. One of the best parts was the other interesting people on the course, they were alot of fun!

Well last Saturday (it is now Wednesday) we went on a day tour that was jam packed full of fun, kinda like a Boston Cream donut at good old Tim Hortons.

We started with a trip to an elephant farm out in the jungle. Here you get to ride around in the jungle on an elephant (in our case we got the crazy one) while feeding the little buggers bananas. It was pretty fun and Chandi was scared when we were riding on it which was even more fun! I got some great pictures of Chandi riding a little mini elephant and we fed him some bananas as well, they sure do love bananas!

Next we went to a hilltribe village in the mountains. It was a Karen hilltribe if people are interested. It was horrible. Basically they drive you out to this village and then the guide gives you a sob story about how they need money to provide transportation to schools for their kiddies and then they try and sell you stuff. It was pathetic. Not to knock the tribespeople or anything, but it is sad that this is what is called a "hilltribe tour".

Next we had another "delicious authentic thai lunch" which consisted of pineapple and watermelon (yum) and fried rice, not so yum. Not much to say about that.

Our last adventure (ha ha) of the day was bamboo rafting. Four of us and a guide piled onto this bamboo raft held together using old innertubes. It then proceeded to nearly sink, apparently I am a fat ass. The rafting was pretty fun until the monsoon started and we got soaked. My shirt got all nice and wet which allowed me to show off my sext body to all the young ladies on the tour though which was a bonus. The guide freaked the hell out of Chandi by splashing his pole in the water beside her and yelling "SNAKE" which was mildly amusing.

That night we went to a place recommended in the Lonely Planet for dinner, "Jerusalem Falafel". No, I am not making that name up! More to come of JF!!!

Bye for now