Northern Thailand Trekking and Chiang Mai

By: Brendon

After Bangkok we took another flight north to Chiang Mai. We wanted to see Chiang Mai but the main reason for going was to do a jungle trek.
The trek we booked was a 3 day/2 night trip that also included some elephant riding, white water rafting and bamboo rafting. It also included a guide and all of our food.
The first day of our trek we met the other trekkers in our group of 8 while in the truck going to the mountains (2 people from Israel, 2 from Germany and 2 from France). Once we reached our destination we quickly ate lunch and then headed off on our trek. The first days trek was seriously tough and it wasn't long before all of us were sweating...a lot!! It was all up hill through somewhat dense forest and the humidity was very high. The best part of the first day was breaking through the forest and being able to see the valley that we just ascended. You could also see across the valley to the hill tribe that we were going to stay with for the first night.
The bungalow we stayed in was completely made out of bamboo and the first moment we all stood on top of the bamboo you could probably see our faces cringe waiting for the bamboo to snap (by the end of the first night we were all walking around on the bamboo without worrying at all...bamboo is a pretty cool building material I must say)!!! Our room was just a wide open room with mats on the floor for sleeping. In the middle of the hut was an open to air section where we all ate sitting on grass mats.

The second day (my birthday) was my favorite as the hiking was amazing as we followed the river down the valley. We stopped at a waterfall for a couple hours at lunch and went swimming. After that the hiking was really good and we crossed the river many times balancing on bamboo or fallen trees etc. Just really fun and not as exhausting as the previous days uphill trek! We then ended the day along the river at another village (although this one was a bit more touristy as this is the area where all the white water rafting etc leaves from). We went for a swim in the river which was refreshing and then got ready for dinner. After dinner the whole group sat around and we all had a couple beers. Then since it was my birthday and we obviously couldn't have a cake our guide gave me some Thai moonshine whiskey to share with everyone and let me tell you it was STRONG!!! It was a good night talking with all of the other people as we were all from different countries. We even played a few games which you'll see the result of in the pictures below. It was a great night!!!

The final day was the elephant trek, white water raft and bamboo raft which were all fun. The elephant ride lasted around 45 minutes and we got to sit on the elephants neck and feed them bananas. Both types of rafting were very fun as well and the time just flew by. It was sad to be done our trek after but nice to get back to the hostel and have a hot shower and sleep in a comfortable bed.

Soon after we started the trek. I know this because at this point Kristin is still smiling!

Here I am at a rest stop. See how wet my shirt is? I might as well have gone swimming in it!!!

Close to the top of the ridge. You can see some trekkers winding there was up.

Very close to the top.

View down the valley.

Kristin!

Me!

View of the village from across the valley.

You just can't escape people trying to sell stuff. Here I am buying a bracelet.

First dinner which was Thai green curry chicken. That's our guide on the left with no shirt on.

Holding a rhino beetle. I used to have a toy one as a kid so this was pretty cool for me!

Closer view of the Rhino Beetle.

Crossing the river on a little wooden bridge.

Swimming during our lunch break.

Kris and I standing in front of the small village we stopped at for lunch.

Me again!!

Another river crossing. It doesn't look like it but this tree is about 8 feet off the ground.

A waterfall we stopped at for a break.

Swimming after the second day.

Being good little trekkers we applied bug spray often so not to get anymore tropical diseases.

Mmmm...moonshine Whiskey.

After our little game we all looked like this because when one messed up we used the charcoal coated pots to mark each others faces.

When we woke up the last day we woke to elephants bathing in the river. Pretty cool!!!

Kris on the elephants neck.

Some hill tribe kids playing.

Damnoensaduak Floating Market

by:Kristin
On our last day in Bangkok we decided to take a half day tour of the floating market. We were in a mini van with 6 other tourists so it was nice to get talking to other travellers. The floating market used to be an authentic Thai event that happened every day in this one town outside of Bangkok. It has now become a huge tourist attraction and so has changed dramatically from the authentic Thai fruit and flower market to a souvenir market. It was still a cool experience. We got dropped off and put into a longtail motor boat which drove us through the canals and past many houses along the canal. Then we got to the market and into another boat. This one was more like a canoe and one woman paddled us around the market for half an hour. There were people set up all along the canal in boats selling a variety of souvenirs. Each of the "shop keepers" had a hook that they would hook onto our boat and pull the boat to their boat and try to sell whatever was in their boat. I thought this was the funniest thing. And I was sitting on the left side of the boat so I would always be closer to the "shop" and so found it much more difficult to say no to the items...There were also women selling bananas and coconut along the canal. We got a few coconuts to drink. Yes, very touristy but still a cool experience.

On the longtail motorboat riding through the canals.

Woman in her canoe coming from the market.

Boats selling fruits.

This woman is selling drinks. We are boat #19.

View from above.