Chiang Mia...

Chiang Mia was a welcomed sight after spending a few days in Bangkok(see posting below). It was much smaller (1.6M people), much cleaner and traffic was only crazy...not chaotic. I must admit though...it didn't smell that much better than Bangkok due to the fact the inner city is surrounded by a moat/canal filled with some pretty dicey water.



I had the first afternoon to kill before my 4 day trek the next day so I hopped on a 1/2 day excursion to Doi Suthep (temple in the hills...over 600 years old) and a village in the hills. You can never get enough Buddha temple shots...so here's another. Actually...I'm almost "templed" out.


As I soon learned...the people living in the hills often wore traditional clothes, even when I was the only foreigner around. Now I think the outfits worn by these two girls (before I started my trek) were more for the tourists than anything, but you'll see that others are clad in bright colours as well. I didn't have the fortune to visit the "long neck" village, but my understanding was that it was fairly close by. You might have seen the women who wear bands around their neck to give them the appearance of an extended neck. I found out that the jewellry is really just crushing their collar bone and vertebrae...not actually extending their necks...Who knew?? Bizarre!!

Now I know I bragged about my accomodations in Thailand in earler posts, but Chiang Mia was no different. It is hard to call yourself a backpacker when living in opulant (I know Tim likes when I use these big words) surroundings to the left. Why show you a hotel room...it's so that you can see the contrast I had in accomodations over a 12 hour period of time. Let's just say I didn't find myself needing to use the washroom very often during my 4 day trek and bamboo is hard to sleep on...trust me!

The trek started with a 4 hour drive north from Chiang Mia and into what I thought was the middle of nowhere. However, I felt pretty special as it was only the guide and myself for the next 4 days. I soon found out that meant more work for me and I was the only target for the villagers to sell their wares to. Talk about a hard sell!!

Just before the driver left us to begin our trek he offered me a bag of dead grasshoppers. What the heck did I need them for on my trek? He smiled and proceeded to grab a handful and eat them. What's a guy to do...so I grabbed three grasshoppers (and where was the chocolate...that would have made them more appealing) and down the hatch they went. The driver nodded his approval and poured another 30-40 into my hands and smiled. So...the trek began with me eating more than 30 grasshoppers. At that moment, I was a bit concerned what else was in store for me.

The hike to the first hill village was only about 4kms, but even though I really wouldn't call it a jungle (my guide did inform me that there were cobras, pythons, scorpions, wild boars, feral buffalos, spiders and lots more creepy stuff around)...the woods were pretty dense and I never really saw any path to follow. And in case you're wondering...hill villages really mean they are found in the hills so there was a lot of up and down to get there. It was also "jungle" hot outside...and the bush fires that the villagers set didn't help the situation either(since we walked within 10 feet of numerous fires along the way). I asked my guide if the fires ever got out of hand and he said..."only sometimes". That answer wasn't too reassuring for me. The noise in the woods also surpised me as the cicada bugs can be deafening and a real pain in the butt (literally) when they hit you. But I became master of them when I ate boiled cicada bugs at the first village. What was I turning into...insect carnivore?

When we arrived at the village, I was dumbfounded and thought I was looking at a movie set. I didn't realize people still lived this way. Small bamboo huts were surrounded by chickens, pigs, dogs, cats, cows and buffalos. Most of this village did have electricity, but not all the villages we visited did. And it gets dark early in the middle of nowhere. It was usually pitch black...except for the candlelight by 7:30 every night. Candlelight might be romantic in some circumstances, but this wasn't one of them.

One of the great things about being the sole trekker with the guide... usually one of the families invited us to eat dinner with them. The worst part about being the lone trekker is that you feel compelled to buy a trinket from everyone as it is one of their main money earning opportunities for their families.

Every meal was cooked over an open fire and rice is a staple for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've definitely had enough sticky rice for awhile. I always felt a bit ashamed as I could never eat everything my guide prepared for me...knowing that the villagers often only ate rice...but they always seemed happy to eat my leftovers. It certainly gives you a new perspective on things.

The second day was our longest day as we trekked for 13kms to the next village. Up and down...up and down!!! The guide explained many different insects, plants and trees to me along the way and I sampled everything he gave me to eat. I'm not sure that was the smartest thing to do, but I was feeling one with nature.

Since I hadn't washed that morning (did you see the bathroom picture??) I was feeling pretty grubby by the time we arrived at the next village. My guide told me there was a nice river to wash in when we got there. I know what you're saying..."don't do it Joe" But feeling dirty won over my instinct of not catching a waterborne disease and I followed the guide into the river. I wasn't the only one bathing in the river so I wasn't feeling to bad until a water buffalo crossed the river about 15 feet behind me. I knew at that instant...bathing in the river was a bad idea. That night I had nightmares about what was already growing inside me.

As you all know and it's been said in the blog already...I'm not the smartest guy...but I'm a guy who does believe in fair play. So what did I do the next morning...I gave all those tapeworms and tropical diseases a fighting chance and went back into the river for another cleansing. And didn't I see on National Geographic that most "critters" enter the body through an open wound...and what did I have on my ankle...oh yeah...and open wound. Maybe I don't have to watch what I eat now and Mr. Tapeworm will keep me thin. Bring on the beer and chips...oh...don't forget my McDonalds!!

The third morning we hiked about 6kms to an elephant camp. These 6kms were the hardest of the trek as 5.5km were up a very steep incline. I actually outpaced my guide for the most part...but he did have an heavier backpack than I did and a couple years older...but I felt good none the less. When we arrived at the elephant camp I was surpised to see the elephants were just walking around, checking everyone out. These animals are pretty daunting when they walk up to you and give you a sniff. Sorry Vern (my friend the elephant keeper at Toronto zoo)...I did go for an elephant ride. The picture of the elephant above was the one I rode on. I was very impressed how nimble these huge animals are going around rocks, up and down hills, through the water etc...but the ride sure wasn't smooth. You had to hold on to the seat for dear life or down you would go. I made sure I bought him extra bananas when we were done.

The afternoon of the third day had us building a bamboo raft that we were going to use to raft down the river. The raft consisted of 10 bamboo "logs" lengthwise and 5 bamboo "logs" cross tied to keep them in place. Not the sturdiest thing I ever seen. My first experience of using a bamboo pole to propel this little makeshift raft along the river was pretty rewarding. The next day I wasn't so cocky! Along the river we passed a herd of water buffalo cooling off in the river and literally...scared the crap out of them. I could feel the diseases working their way through me at that instant.

But oh yeah...you guessed it...I found myself in the river again later that day. Disgusting!!! I am not right!! My trek had me eating unrefridgerated meat, my food served on dishes rinsed by well water and bugs landing on my food every few minutes...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We'll see if that holds true over the next few weeks!

At the village it was strange to be in the presence of only women. With the earlier tribes...it was usually the men who hosted us. I found out that in most tribes, the men have more time on their hands as it usually falls to the women to work in the fields. I liked the thought that for 20,000 or 30,000 Baht (about $700- $1000 Cdn) I could buy a wife and that she was expected to do all the work. Not a bad system. However, as I was reminded at every village...I was too old to marry (story of my life). Most hill village people get married before the age of 20 and start having kids right away. However, in the last village...an 18yr old man had just recently married a 55yr old woman. I'm not sure what that's all about. I guess there is still hope for me yet. Our last night was very strange indeed...the women of this hill tribe were very interested in knowing more about life in Canada (not so strange)...but the topic soon turned to sex. Hey...they brought it up first. I soon learned that the hill tribe usually only have sex when they want to have another child and never get completely naked for the act. I think I like our culture better!!

The last morning had us rafting for about two hours to the last village we would visit. It turns out this village is where my guide was born and spent most of his life.

We had to traverse many rapids along the river and even though I never fell off the raft...I was thrown to one knee once....OK...twice, but I never said I was a professional bamboo white water rafter!!

This last picture had me smiling with my guide, Nong...happy to have survived (so far anyway) the 4 day trek and looking forward to a real shower.