So after a steep climb up a dirt road towards the end of our 3 and a half hour hike, we turned a corner into this elephant sanctuary. It was a complete bonus surprise -not mentioned in the trek description or foreshadowed by our guide.
Giddy from these new sights, I was energized to make the last push up the steep, long hill to the village. The plan was to participate in the communal food preparation and then spend the night with a family of the Karen Hill Tribe…To be continued…
Tour company: Green Trails Guide: Tui My rating: Excellent, highly recommend
After lunch, we drove another hour climbing steadily North alongside a river and happy Songkran celebrants young and old. (Thai New Year Festival is April 13-15.) Songkran traditions include visiting local temples and offering food to the Buddhist monks and drizzling water on Buddha statues. This water ritual symbolizes the cleansing of one’s sins and bad luck. Paying reverence to ancestors and returning home are also an important part of the Songkran tradition.
The holiday is perhaps best known for its water festival, which is mostly celebrated by the young and young at heart. Basically, it’s a countrywide, good natured water fight.
Traveling in the back of a tourist transport truck we were sitting ducks for playful ambush by hoses, buckets and hopped up water guns from both sides of the road and passing trucks. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pics of this as I didn’t have a waterproof case for my camera. (I do have one for my cell phone so I will try to capture some of the fun upon return to Chiang Mai.)
We started trekking in the heat of the day. (About 103 F.) My travel buddy Walter and I were on a “join in” tour, but no one else joined so it was our private tour. We didn’t see any other foreigners until the end of the last day.
It was a hot, dry, upward slog. Far drier and a bit scrappier of a trail than I’d imagined. Of course, April is the hottest and driest month of the year. How hot was it? So hot there were no mosquitoes even along the stream that we followed up to a waterfall. Ahh, what a refreshing reward at the halfway point and an our first introduction to a couple of Karen tribesmen.
Some of my favorite pics of today’s trek are these of a local at the waterfall and a farmer and his ranch. The crop is peanuts, rotating from rice. I’m using my new Nikkon D3400 for most of these. (My first “real” camera.) Can you tell the difference?
What an incredible experience this is! Up a hill and around the corner, an unexpected surprise…to be continued…
Tour company: Green Trails My rating: Excellent, highly recommend
Cycling level: Easy (While this was pitched as a half day tour it is very slow paced and doesn’t cover that much ground, but it is followed by 3 hours of moderately tough hiking in tropical heat so it’s a nice warm up.
Trekking level: Moderate++
Guide: Tui (Interesting fact, our guide does many different types of tours, and took Anthony Bourdain on a street food tour of Chang Mai. Hey Anthony, you missed out because Tui is also an incredible chef. He made us a couple of incredible dinner feasts in the mountain villages of the Karen Hill tribe. Video, pics and posts to follow.
8AM Our tour guide picked us up at our hotel in Change Mai. We loaded up and jumped into the back of the truck. (A bit rough and tired, but excited to embark.)
Notice the sky in this picture? So much for fresh mountain air. My first impression upon arriving at the airport in Chang Mai was “YIKES”. I haven’t seen smog as bad as this in a while. I was hoping it wouldn’t be like this in Mae Wang where we were heading. My second impression was hey, I thought it was supposed to be cooler here than Bangkok.
9:30 We started our adventure cycling dirt and narrow concrete roads through the rural lowlands, passing seldom visited Lanna style temples and various agricultural fields. We also stopped at paper making factory that was closed for the holiday. We were saw some of the materials they use mulberry trees pulp and the vats they use with natural dyes. Just had my cell phone on me for this portion. Wish I’d taken more photos en route, but I was in a bit of jet lag fog. Lots of great photos of the trek and tribe experience to come.
We hopped back into the truck after our ride and headed further north into the mountains, stopping for a savory and sumptuous lunch (chicken and pork dishes) and supplies at a local market.
Stay tuned for the trekking portion. It was AMAZING!
Not a city girl so only 1 day in Bangkok before I take off for the mountains of Chang Mai. My day’s agenda in Bangkok is Wat Pho, The Grand Palace and Wat Arun. After a not so refreshing 5 hours of sleep and a buffet breakfast at my hotel, I hit pavement for the 5k stroll to Wat Pho.
While walking provides great perspective of the area, I quickly learned that it does not provide the best experience here.
Impressions:
It’s SWELTERING here! 96 degrees plus “big league” humidity. (The pool at my hotel is bath temperature.)
The sidewalks are crowded minefields of obstacles, uneven pavement and unpredictable curb heights. Must be very alert, which is tough when you’re sleep deprived. The air quality is poor – heavy with vehicle exhaust, industrial and cooking fumes.
It was fascinating to be up with the locals, getting a glimpse into their morning routines as they opened up their storefronts, walked to school in their blue skirts and pigtails, or to their jobs in various work attire. (Strange, just realized schoolgirls present, but no school boys.) There are thin feral cats running amok, experts at dodging the traffic and darting here and there.
Wat Pho is one of the oldest, largest temples in Bangkok and also one of the most significant temples. Best known for its 51 yard long Reclining Buddha which is composed of a brick core, plaster covering and gold leaf finish. The buildings are spectacular as well with their ornate, detail of typical Thai temple architecture.
Having read all about the various tourist scams in Thailand, I wasn’t entirely surprised when a helpful, friendly Thai man struck up a convo and told my travel buddy and I that the palace wouldn’t be open until 1:30 PM due to Songkran, the New Year Holiday underway and a special Buddhist ceremony. It seemed plausible though. It was a holiday. He took out a map and described other attractions where his friend could take us instead. (Typical scenario where a tourist gets hijacked and financially extorted for the day.) There were many religious groups dressed in black around, which supported his story and he had no trouble looking us in the eyes as he pitched us. The palace compound is surrounded by a high wall so it’s difficult to ascertain what is going on unless you walk around the perimeter, which we did. Guess what? It was open. So we dodged our first scam bullet. The Grand Palace was a bit of a mob scene. Too hot and crowded for this semi-agoraphobic so I made a quick escape and headed for Wat Arun instead.
Next we picked up a Chao Phraya Tourist Boat Day Pass and headed to Wat Arun. As reported by others, the Tourist Boat is a great way to see the area. It’s only about $5 and you can hop on and hop off as many as 13 stops in different districts. Plus you get a little breeze on the boat. Tip: The boat runs every half hour, but you must stand on the dock and wave it in if it is not dropping passengers. Lesson learned. (They don’t mention it when you buy your ticket.
The iconic Khmer style tower of Wat Arun (temple of dawn)was under construction, but it was still worth a stop as you can see. The 76 meters high tower is decorated by thousands of tiny seashells and porcelain, I’ve added some pics from the boat ride and various other stops, including the a flower market. i don’t think it’s the famous one (Pak Klong Tald), but it was spectacular in it’s own right.
After 6 hours of walking around on 5 hours a sleep, I saluted the day with an early margie. Returned to the hotel, solved some tech issues with the blog and got a quick gym workout in. (Bike & some weight.) With plans to bike and trek in Chang Mai, I need to make sure I can workout in these conditions. The gym was minimally air conditioned at best so it simulated real conditions…
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