Trekking in Thailand

We went on a two day trek into a national park in Thailand. It was one of the package deals that zillions of operators provide and started out as something fairly ordinary.

On Wednesday morning, we were to be picked up at 8:30 and we were ready at 7:40 or so. We had a nice relaxed breakfast and they finally showed up to pick us up around 8:55. They had said that we would be picked up in an air conditioned mini bus which our ride certainly was not. Thankfully so because you could feel the wind in your face as they drove.



Then off we went to pick up more people. Around 9:15 our guide showed up and said that he needed to do some paper work. By the time we picked up everyone and got going it was 10:30 and we were hungry. By the time we picked up everyone, we had determined there would be 8 people, which was a good sized group, since the truck was not too crowded. We stopped at a market to pick up some provisions and then set off.

We stopped along the way at a waterfall called Mork Fa or Fork Ma or something. They were not a far walk from where we parked and were really nice. They were about 25 metres high but were surrounded on all sides by lush vegetation. There was a tiny bit of beach area around the falls. We went in took a dip in the cool water and wanted to stand under the falls to see what the water felt like. The falls were small enough to do this although I am not quite sure of its wisdom. The water hurt like hell and we lasted seconds under it and ran to save our skins. Then we tried the other part of the falls and ran like hell again since there was some sand like particles in the water and it hit hard.



We stopped off for lunch in a little thatched place by the side of the road. The lunch was simple but filling. A generous amount of rice with some sweet soup and pineapple for dessert. We made our way to the beginning of our hike. The hike started out easy for about 10 minutes and I thought to myself, "Aarrgh ! A typical simple tourist hike !". It wasn't long before I decided that the hike was quite enough for my level. The bamboo forests were beautiful and a deep shade of green for the time of year that I exist in. Novemeber and Decemeber in Canada are grey, brown and dark with not much redeeming about them. It is not until the snows arrive, and stay, that winter becomes somewhat enjoyable. As we climbed higher, the vistas through the trees were stunning. The sun streamed in through the gaps in the canopies and in the distance, the mountains looked stunning through the hazy sun.

We stopped at a Karen tribe village in the hills and they were exceptionally friendly as one would expect. They offered to sell water and beer, which was tempting but would have been unwise in retrospect. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and we took a few pictures and moved on. The second part of the hike was more difficult but we made it to the final village, our resting place for the evening before dark. We were sweaty from all the hiking and grimy from our ride in the truck. So off to the river went the guys and we just washed in the river. It was cold, just before sundown, with a cool but calm breeze. Getting out of the water was cold but after a minute or two we walked back to the hut we were all sleeping in.

We had a great dinner, with brown rice, green curry with chicken and green egg plant and a stirfry. We had a couple of very warm beers which did not go down as nicely as we would have liked. We sat around and then played some games and chatted but went down fairly early. The night sky was one of the most incredible we had ever seen with the stars shining so brightly and numerous that it was hard to imagine that people wilfully cause damage to this beautiful planet. Since it was so dark, my eyes were playing tricks on me and it seemed that waves were washing across the sky and down towards us.

We fell asleep easily on the musty sheets and pillows but were rudely awoken at about 3:00 in the morning by some bloody roosters crowing. One would start and set off a chain reaction which went on for about half a minute. Then a bit of silence and by the time you could fall asleep, they went at eat again. I kept thinking that even if I was vegan, I would start eating chicken again, or at least rooster, in particular those roosters.

Breakfast was a quick affair in the morning with eggs and jam and toast. Then we trekked off to the elephant camp where we would be on elephants for a couple of hours, going further into the forest. The elephants were beautiful, calm and gentle as one always perceives them to be. We got ready and the climbed onto a platform from where we climbed onto the seats on the backs of the elephants, but after stepping on their heads. It did not feel right to step on the head the elephant even though it probably felt very little when we stepped on his head. It would have been more appealing to climb onto the back from the side. The elephants were really well trained and kept walking along until the had to take care of business and did it right in the river. We saw balls of elephant dung floating past us as, much to our dismay as we were going to be swimming in the water a bit later.

After the elephants, we took a bamboo raft down the river. The scenery was stunning. The sides were lush, with tall trees and sometimes the sides rose to about 250 metres, very steeply. It felt really amazing to be in the midst of such natural beauty. Every so often, there were little riverine beaches between five and ten metres long. There were creepers hanging about 30 to 50 metres over the trees and that was incredibly beautiful. The vines and creepers had a distinctly Tarzan-esque flavour to them.

It was the best two days spent outdoors in a very long time and one that will hopefully be cherished for a very long time.