700kms north of Bangkok and located on the Ping River, Chiang Mai has it's own province with four wards - Nakhon Ping, Srivijaya, Mengrai, and Kavila. The old quarter being in Srivijaya.With a more relaxed feel than Bangkok I knew once I had arrived that I would enjoy my stay in CM. my hotel was 5minutes walk from the night bazaar and 10mins to the old quarter... perfect location. With many massage parlours and small bars on the way, I was defnitely in the right place.Exploring the night markets on Saturday night was great fun, with so many different stalls and entertainment 5 hours went past so quickly - I managed a few beers too. I decided that I would need a massage before bed. I booked a half day tour to check out Wat Doi Suthep (wat = temple) buddhist temple 15kms from CM.
ON the bus we went through a windy road around and up and up and up. Gorgeous views. We visited a village on the way and then headed tothe temple. Just as we arrived and climbed the 309 steps up it started to rain. Warm rain. Once it stopped we went inside the temple and walked around, making wishes, lighting incense, praying to your day or using the numbered sticks to get your fortune. It was truly a peaceful place and I felt very relaxed being inside.
My birthday buddha - Saturday = protection
Read about the white elephant legend
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Phrathat_Doi_SuthepThe poor elephant.
I then got back to my hotel and ready to be collected by my driver to take me to Chiang Dao - staying at Chiang Dao Nest. An hours drive away further north. The drive was so peaceful, scenerary so green and spotting the odd wild elephant here and there was truly amazing. Again, I nearly cried when I saw these big creatures free and without chains or people riding them. Chiang Dao Nest - first impressions - awesome, relaxed, wooden, chilled, bungalows in the jungle, resort away from the madness, the tuk-tuk's, bartering. T
The bungalows were set out around the restaurant and play areas, with internet cafe being installed in a wooden area with gorgeous couches where you could just lay and read, sleep or play with the two cats Bao the ginger extrovert and Mao the black and white introvert with a chopped tail.I was greeted with Wicha (owner) asking if I wanted a beer. Truly had gone to heaven again...I was then given a drink which looked like water with lemongrass in it, I sipped it, it is was soo sweet, it also had palm sugar in it...delicious. I sat and talked to Wischa and Dave (a UK guy who was living in Saudi Arabia on holidays in Thailand) over a beer or two... then the Jack daniels and coke came out... I was very chilled, very relaxed and didn't want to leave. I then checked out my accommodation - simple room with huge double bed awesome white sheets with bright red pillows - wicker cupboard, mirror, side drawers and stairs down to bathroom, toilet and shower. Truly magnificent, why would you stay at the Hilton? really.... I wanted to get some light in the room so pulled back the curtains to be greeted with a big cheeeeeep and a gecko running up the wall... scared the shite out of me. This was no normal gecko that I was used to from Tom Price, this was a lizard.... I decided that the room wasn't big enough for the two of us and gently escorted him out the back door.
Dinner at the western restaurant was amazing, I was going to be traditional and walk the 700m down the road to the thai restaurant at chiang dao nest 2.... but with a few drinks in me, 700m is a long way.... plus I had seen steak on the menu and fancied that. It was delicious. The best. Perfectly cooked with dauphione potatos and vegies... delicious. Was in bed by 9pm and read for a bit before I turned out the light to get a big cheeeeep from my friendly gecko outside my window.
Trekking day - was very nervous/anxious when I awoke. We were to be collected today for our trek and I had no idea what to expect or who else was on this trek. Got up and had a good breakfast with eggs on toast, bacon, coffee and juice. Brilliant. The chef did win an excellance award in Thailand....I met Bonny and Tan, two gals dropped off with their gear ready for the pick up, we excitedly introduced ourselves and asking questions of how what where why.... we then met Derrick and Joanna... our group was complete and we headed out ready to do an elephant ride and bamboo raft down the river.
With water bottles and homemade biscuts in hand (with pineapple jam) off we set. Elephant trekking was good fun, we hoped on and I felt a little lopsided so my tour guide jumped on with me and we waddled through the bush. They are so huge and flapping her ears Mamoone was very hungry and wanted to keep stopping to eat. She wasn't choosing the easy food to select with her trunk like the elephant in front, she was stopping to attack corn trees and bamboo trees.... piggy.
We walked for about 20mins and then off the elepants to wander through the bush to get to our car, we were going to head to a Karen village. We walked through fields, it was a clear day but so hot and humid... bugs flying around and really felt like we were in the middle of nowwhere. We get to our car/trick and the driver cannot start it... so we try to push start it - not too sure if he quite understood the concept of "turning if over" whilst we push down hill... but we got there, after Joanna and I fought of and were bitten by red ants... those cheeky little things can crawl fast up ones leg.We drove to Karen village to be greeted anxiously by a bunch of kids running down the road to see us and sell us bracelets... all you could hear was "hello 10 baht" repeated over and over, and over again.... they wre so cheeky and cute, with the biggest grin on their faces... I just wanted to adopt them all. Derrick was running down the hill away from the hello 10 baht!! Hilarious a 6ft4" man running away from small children.. quite a site to see.We had a look around the village and were amazed at the culture of the tribal people and how basic they live but they genuinely are content... we left them and headed out to the river to have lunch before we rafted down. Lunch was gorgeous spicy chicken, rice and salad.
With a very cute doggie outside who wanted to play... bliss.We rafted down on the of the small rivers, flowing quite fast but slow enough to enjoy the relaxing scenary - lots of local woman standing in the water with their nets ready to catch fish. Every 25m or so there would be someone quietly standing in the water, waiting.... we did hear from one of them that they had been lucky and caught a few... good to hear.We rafted for about 35mins and it was so relaxing I could of had a nap, our feet sitting in the nice cool (dark coloured) water... was truly peaceful, quiet and relaxing. We got off and back into the car to head back to Chiang Dao Nest to grab our stuff and get collected for our overnight stay with the Lisu hilltribe people. After collecting more water and pineapple jam filled cookies.
We climbed up the mountains to some beautiful mountain shots of Chiang Dao national park.. we tried to find out what these mountains are called but couldn't get any names from the local people.. we got dropped off at a bush track and we walked down and down and dooown this track through a busy village to finally get to a smaller village, 2kms from the road. Very basic hut, huge blanket hanging as the door and inside 5 small mattresses with fly nets covering as our accommodation. We all took turns in having cold showers which were soooo invigorating and refreshing before settling down for the night to have some warm beer (not so refreshing) and gorgeous dinner chicken curry and rice with moooore cookies. We sat around discussing the day and the area, watching baby pigs fighting with the dogs for some obviously gorgeous scraps on the ground... national geographic at your back door. We were all in bed (after checking the sleeping bags) around 9pm. Took a bit to get to sleep it was quiet but the odd noise would surface - ahhh the tribal people are coming!!We awoke around 3am to the sound of the roosters.. waking up our village and then you could hear the roosters in the surrounding villages doing the same... for many hours.... so a very disturbed sleep indeed. I was busting to go to the loo but didnt fancy the drop toilet or being chased by the dogs in the dark so I waited until light... only to find out the doggies were so friendly and wanted lots of pats. Figures.
Day two after gorgeous omelette, tea and fruit, involved a walk for about 45mins to a cave in the hills, through corn fields and it was a hot and humid day. We trekked over small creeks balancing on trees and climbing up hills and sliding down some parts until we go to the cave. Such a difference vibe to the ones you see in Australia, no signs, no pathways, no lights. We had hard hats and our torches... our tour guide led us through and lots of ouch and banging from the hard hats... climbing through small sections of the cave only 3ft high was very interesting but such an experience. We walked back to our village and we headed out to the waterfall... still another couple hours walk... the water was gorgeous, clean and cold. flowing freely and so quietly. One of the village dogs escorted us and was trying to beat us up the water, but slid on rocks and proceeded to limp before giving up and going home. What a wuss. The view from the water fall was amazing, gorgeous blue sky, green folage around us with the hissing spray of the waterfall. Bliss.We headed back to village to be collected by another guide who would escort us to our second night in another village. We started walking up the dirt track we came down on and up a huge incline.... they had strategically placed a small hut at the top... perfeect place for a wee rest. It was humid, hot and we all looked very sweaty and NOT pretty.. haha. We thought we were going to continue up the hill but we darted right into the corn/rice field again... where on earth are we going.... we walked for a bit and then could see the village on the next hill, it looked ages away but we managed to get there in about 2hrs. NOt being as prepared with snacks as I am on treks in Australia and also the humidity dehydrating me I started feeling quite off with the fairies... the electrolyte drink I had taken helped a little.. but not as much as the pineapple jam cookies and the chocolate that Tan has stashed in oher bag... we all stopped and refuelled only to be told we are 10mins away. Figures.Up the hill we went and up and the views of the mountains around us were truly gorgeous... this was the best place I had seen in a long long time and we were all excited to stay here... oh and to sit down.We leaned against the bamboo huts they made for foreigners to stay in, simple but great views with a balcony overlooking chiang dao national park mountain.
As we were sitting there admiring the view (after I got squashed by the mattress) the guy came and said the most magic words "cold coke or cold beer"? We all looked at each other and said "did he say cold beer?" - off to our second balcony with a fuller table to sit and enjoy the coldest beer I have drunk for a long time and it went down sooooooo nice... Love Singh. The afternoon followed suit from the day before, sitting around with COLD beer and just taking in the gorgeous surroundings, discussing the area, the walks, the tour guides, it truly was a great peaceful place to be and we all agreed we could stay here for a goood long while. Then the rain came through the mountains and left as quickly as it came, warm breeze and then the most colourful rainbows I had ever seen....
We had dinner with fresh tom yum soup and a chicken curry delight with more beer followed by a nice cup of cofffeeeeeee to relax the night away. Ok so we were in bed by 8pm! Early lights out after a good days walk and we knew that the last day we had a big walk to rest for.Hardly any noise kept us awake, a few clucks in the distance, but that was all, we were all up and breakfast was ready for 7am! Coffee/tea, cereal, jam, bread and fruit..lovely. Grabbed our water supplies and head up to start our walk.. off to a Lisu village to meet a sharman who would bless us on our journey. The village was finally reached after I kept sliding in my shoes up a mountain.... it was muddy from the rain the night before. Even though my shoes weren't sliding on the mud it was my feet sliding in my shoes between mud... I couldn't wait to get to a water fall/stream to wash the mud off. We were greeted by the village men, given cups of freshed brew tea in bamboo cups and also some home grown tobaco made from bark off a tree, smelt like cinnamon. Truly was tasty.... we were all wanting to know if this was "magic" tea or smoke... just in case, if so our afternoon walk would of been very interesting indeed. It wasn't magical, just tasted awesome.We all chose our wrist band to have the sharmen bless us... he did some funny noises and twisting of the arm and blowing away negative vibes (mud shoes) and everyone felt pretty good and continued through the jungle on our walk.
We walked for what seemed like 30mins but was about 2hrs before we stopped at a small man made hut ready for our guides to prepare lunch. We all sat down and wiped our faces with the baby wipes and then reapplied suncream, insect repellant to be able to continue the day. A few of us had to go pee, so we created clapping games and singing to scare away the cobras... as you um do.I feel bad that I cannot remember the names of our awesome guides, sometimes they couldn;t get it into english translation... and I forget. One started the fire too cook our thai sausage stir fry with lemongrass, capscium, tomato and onion and the other chopped down bamboo to make our plates.
One plate had the sausage, one had the tuna with red chilli, lime juice, lemongrass... and our plates were filled with rice. Blisss.
We had a bit of time to rest up and digest our food before setting off on our adventure once again. We had another 4 hours to go roughly and we would be stopping by a village school. The walk this time was less muddy but still a few of us fell over... I tried to keep walking on the sections of the path that had grass, leaves, roots to get some grip... the mud was toooo slippery. Lots of logs and bamboo bridges again and we crossed a fast flowing river - it was exactly like the bridge from shrek... all was good until Derrick started bouncing the bridge, whilst I was on it... froze!! Got to the other side in time for Derrick to pick up a nice green snake that had been sliding around where we just set off from... then it started to rain... out came the gorgeous poncho's... we didn't mind it was cooler and toward the end of the day at this point, the school was around the corner, across another bamboo bridge and up a slippery hill to the teachers house.... where we were met by a gorgeous ginger cat who fought over us to get her belly rubbed... washed feeet and rested up.
We wandered down to the local school where all the children from the age of 5 upwards attend - such a range of children in the classes... a few shy glances and smiles.... pretending not to know english... they had their heads in the books and were trying to look busy.The last bit of the walk was tiring we didn't know where we where and it had been a long day we had to walk up the hill that never ends... and in the middle they decided to put gravel on there, which added NO grip at all..it was a long way up and the smiles on the drivers face when we got to the top was priceless... hellooo!! We all were tired, sweaty but felt awesome at the walk we achieved.... very similar after doing about a 30km walk in aussie land but add humidity.
The trek itself wasn't too hard, but defnitely a challenge with limited pathways, and proper bridges...centipedes, snakes, mossies, all the things apparently I should of been used to... hah!We sat in the back of the truck and drove back to the nest where I knew I could get out and go immediately for a hot shower and a beer.... the rest of the crew had to travel onto chiang mai, another hour away... I was extremely glad I listened to the advice and booked a night before and after the tour to prepare and rest....my legs.Dinner at chiang dao nest was an all you can eat bbq... heaven heaven... so with cold beer in tow after bidding bon voyage to my trekking friends - I sat and listened to the man play the guitar and sing local songs over a very large singh beer... making me so tired... but relaxed.... with bbq egglplant, tofu, prawns, salmon, chicken!! Homemade sauces to accompany them and potato salad, green salad and BEETROOT.... oh how good it tasted.... it was a buffet style all you can eat... I managed one plate and was ready for my bed. I thanked the girls for wonderful bbq and got a passionfruit cheesecake to take to my room/bungalow/hut to read and sleep in my clean, large bed with white sheets.... Truly am amazing experience, one I would reccommend to anyone who loves a challenge and an adventure. The next trip I will do will be a relaxing on on the beach in Thailand, but I will return to chiang dao nest.... because I promised myself and Wicha I would...
