Bonjour-Mundo!

Yes, I know. Cheezy title. Just back from a little ways north we are getting excited to head south tomorrow.

But for now…

Our last day in Chang Mai before Pai went well. It was a recovery day for us involving lots of stress  ;-)…taking our laundry to get done at the super cute laundry lady ($3 for 4 kilos), getting the most wonderful Aromatherapy Oil Massage ($7) and then laying in hamocs reading, and then shopping at the sunday market. A good day. We actually even ventured out in the bar scene later that evening with the two kids we met trekking.

Off to Pai the next morning, a little too early perhaps. But we made it. The ride to Pai was absolutely awful as it was in a packed minibus and involved the most curvy moutain roads possible. Barf.

Once we recovered from the bus ride though, Pai was a great town. I can see how people get stuck there for awhile. It’s almost like a beach town in the mountains if that makes any sense. Extremely laid back, almost a hippy atmosphere in places. The surrounding scenery is gorgous, lots of green everywhere and a nice little river running around the back. We basically spent our time walking around and relaxing, very much needed. We also hiked up to a temple overlooking Pai that was very pleasant. On the first night we went to this really cool little movie house. You pick out a dvd from a big selection and then they’ve got these little living room things with couches and everything set up for movie watching, it was great.

Anyhow, the ride back to Chang Mai was much better. Only a few of us on it, plus we took some dramamene. Tomorrow we are off to the south, hopefully we’ll find some great sun and surf.

Back from a trek in the Thai jungle…and all in one piece! Just one very, very achy piece.

We just got back today from our 3 day 2 night adventure into the wilderness of northern thailand, and it was quite an experience. But a good time overall.

The first day we set out, 13 of us in all, all crammed in the back of a songthaew (large pickup truck with benches on both sides of the back part). Please note: there is not really room for 13 people in the back of a songthaew, especially 13 people with 13 packs. But, it worked, I suppose. In any case, all excited to be in the middle of nowhere in some peaceful jungle, after a brief stop at a market for food, we end up at this little hut and what do we hear…? Loud, pulsating KAROKE! In the middle of the jungle! What? Yes, I’m not really sure about that one either. This kind of put me off at first, what did I get myself into? However, after that, we luckily were not forced to endure anymore thai pop.

On to the trekking. When Em and I signed up for the trek we figured ourselves decently inshape girls. I realize now I, at least, am not in that category. It was HARD! Although we started on decent road, our guide suddenly turned up some crazy hill, and didn’t stop going uphill for the next three hours. Now, for those of you who know me, you know how much I love hills…or really how much they are the bane of my existence. I seriously thought I was going to fall over and cry. Add to this the fact that it began to pour down rain, and now we are soaked and climbed through little tiny sort of paths that aren’t really paths that are straight up and now completely mud. Awesome. Im going to cry some more. Plus, I’m slow, and in the back…they wait for me to catch up, and then go again, I don’t get a break! Oh man.

But, eventually we made it to camp, I was needless to say, extremely excited about this. At the end of the day though, it was worth it. Once I managed to catch my breath, I could see the view, and it was fantastic. Lush green hillsides towering up the clouds, beautiful valleys, the trees along the top of the hills made for amazing sillouettes at dusk. And luckily, no more karoke.

The second day was probably my favorite of the three. Although I was frustrated at first at the pace our guide took, we only hiked with the group for about an hour…then those of us staying on for three days split off, making only four of us. I have found I MUCH prefer small groups. It ended up being em and I plus a girl from australia and a guy from ireland. Very fun people who were really enjoyable to hang out with, and were willing to go slower and enjoy the views. We had a good time talking, and the hike the second day was much less strenuous. We got to stop at some waterfalls and swim, and the falls felt fantastic on a sore back. After the falls we made it to our second camp, much smaller then the first, but pleasant with a river rushing below. We had dinner and enjoyed playing cards and a version of scattegories well into the night. The night of our second day almost deserves an entry on its own, as it was one of the most beautiful I have seen in some time. Unlike the first night, there were absolutely no clouds, and being in the middle of the jungle made for incredible stars. It seemed as though the whole sky was lit up. Add to that the fire flies. Thousands of them. It was almost as if there was some sort of fireworks show going on for us in our little jungle hut. If you can picture a darkened stadium when some great superstar walks in and all the flashbulbs that go off at once, you would have about what it seemed to be.

Our third day involves all the tourist gimics of the trek, but it was still a good time. We rode elephants, which I was hesistant about at first, but was ok with after I saw they seemed to be treated well. They were much nicer then camels in morocco, and we got to feed them bananas as we rode, which was really entertaining as the animals reach behind with their trunk to nab the fruit out of your hand. After the elephants we did a bit of white water rafting, although there really wasn’t any white water, maybe one rapid total. Then they put us on bamboo rafts for a bit in some really grungy river water, and then we were done. Lunch was had, and then back to chang mai.

I’m very glad to be back, and very excited to spend the next couple days letting my body recover. We will be off to Pai, further north, on monday, and then hopefully catching a flight south after that to have fun on some beaches. I hope you all are doing well!

Side note: Emily is better at posting pictures then me, she’s got some pics of thailand up, so if you like, head over to the other bonjour mundo site to check them out.

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