Chiang Mai Part One: 2 day adventure trip *by Immy*

I’m back! Well you didn’t think you’d heard the last of me, did you? Ro and I are spending a week in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. It has a sleepy friendly vibe in comparison to the constant stream of tourists milling around like ants in Ko Phi Phi, and to the frenetic hustle and bustle of Bangkok. It is very common here to see three people piled onto a motorbike, and on one occasion we see a father bringing his four children to school on his motorbike.

Fried insects make a cheap nutritious snack

We start the week on a typically culturally touristic note, visiting three temples in an afternoon. I remember to dress appropriately this time to avoid causing offence (so no need to borrow an over-sized sweat-stained man’s shirt on this occasion), and I ensure my shoulders, knees and midriff are not exposed.

Ro grits his teeth and heads for the first of three temples on our designated cultural day

Monks meditating inside the temple

Initial searches for an exact replica of Ro’s drowned camera prove unsuccessful so we execute Plan B. My camera is a few years old so I buy a new one for myself which will suffice for our happy snaps until such time as Ro can find this elusive replacement. As you might expect, no sooner have I purchased my camera, Ro locates a store that stocks a replica camera. Well it is in fact some random assortment of letters *don’t ask!* posing as a DMC TZ7 but apparently it is the same thing. Ro is ecstatic! All of his Christmasses have come at once! Holland has won the world cup! Nothing can deter Ro from buying this camera, and he even overlooks it not having an international warranty. My poor camera only gets to enjoy one day in the limelight before being relegated to the depths of my suitcase.

We book ourselves onto a two day adventure trip that boasts a variety of activities. The main attractions for me are the white water rafting and an elephant ride. I can’t say I’m overly enthused by the elephant ride, but it’s a pleasant experience nonetheless, and I get to feed Ellie some bananas. We then embark on a three hour trek into the mountainous hills, the aim is to reach a small hillside tribe nestled into the peak of the hills where we will stay the night.

Cooling off

We were advised to bring warm clothes but nothing prepares us for the arctic conditions we discover on arrival at the village. I’m not adverse to an afternoon of walking and would regard myself as being reasonably active, but this trek is akin to climbing a glacier with no ice pick. It is a steep ascent, with no respite due to it being uphill all the way. Sweat cascades from us like waterfalls. We stagger along clutching our abdomens and gasping for air as though our lives depend on it. Right about now it feels as though I will collapse, and I fear the only way I’ll get off this freakin’ mountain is if I’m carried off it. Eventually, much hotter, damper, and no doubt considerably lighter, we complete the vertical challenge and reach our final destination for the night: the village.

Taking a much needed break from the constant uphill struggle

Immediately after putting our bags down, our guide suggests we pay a small fee for a massage from the local women. The village people used to grow and sell opium which was a substantial part of their income, but they have since been prohibited from using it outside of their village, and would really benefit from additional money, as such us having a massage would be mutually beneficial. 7/10 of our group opt for our weary bones to be massaged back to life. The village women silently emerge from the shadows and set about the task of restoring us to the human race.

Two of the village elders

Never before has the cooking of an evening meal been so riveting! Our entire group of 10 is drawn to the fire like moths to flames in an attempt to elicit some heat from the close bodily contact with others, as well as from the fire licking the cauldron of food. A fire blazes for the rest of the evening, stoked up by a village man with his bare hands. We sit round the fire swapping stories until the early hours of the morning, whilst the more adventurous disappear to a secluded room to smoke opium laced with paracetamol, supplied to them for a small fee by the local villagers.

Multi-talented: tour guide/cook

Enjoying hot food on a cold night

We endure sub zero temperatures during the night… okay okay 10 degrees, but even sleeping fully clothed and under three blankets does little to stave off the cold. For those of us lucky enough to shiver ourselves into some sort of uneasy slumber, we are rudely awakened at some unearthly hour of the night by a cacophony of cockerels with no sense of time, who feel it necessary to make their presence known in the dead of night. This is followed promptly by a pack of dogs baying to the moon. Jeez what does someone need to do to get some sleep around here?

Our freezing sleeping quarters provided no respite from our feathered friends

I wake up feeling bitterly cold and ill. The jury’s still out on the cause, I suspect the food, but our tour guide (and cook) is adamant that the sudden change in temperature caused me to be sick. I feel sorry for myself all morning and actively avoid conversing with anyone, until wallowing in the depths of self-pity motivates me to beg a paracetamol from a kindly American who has brought everything with her except the kitchen sink.

Following my much needed injection of painkillers (perhaps I should have indulged in the paracetamol laced opium last night?) I’m suitably recovered enough to partake in white water rafting on the Mae Taeng river, which is not as turbulent as anticipated, sadly we don’t get to experience any grade five rapids as rainfall has been low recently. It is a fun filled experience, followed by bamboo rafting. Ro fancies himself as a dab hand at steering the bamboo raft, which he discovers is no easy feat when we all stand up and submerge the raft!

Celebrating the end of the 2 day trek with a Margarita