Jungle Fever.... (or is that just sweat?)

  
 Thailand is an interesting place. It’s full of amazing culture, and people. I find it is easier traveling as a woman here than in Central America to be honest. As long as you respect cultural boundaries, they have so far proven to respect that of the farang (foreigner) as well. No longer does one have to put up with the Latin Hiss, or incessant cat calling of other countries I’ve been to. Not only having, but maintaining cultural and religious boundaries has made for a pleasant experience with the local people so far.



50 m waterfall



The Trek



As with any other third world country, one is exposed to car pollution. Air care doesn’t exist, and your nose starts to sting. With that in mind, I wanted to venture a little into this nearly pristine jungle I kept hearing about. Chiang Mai has tour companies on every street, or people trying to sell tours to tourists at least. Deciding what to do is fairly difficult, since everyone is just trying to make a buck. Lucky for me, our host at Libre guest house is simply amazing. She was very helpful in seeking out what I wanted; a rugged trek with little to no tourists. They had a house tour that happens to fall into the category.

 There were a total of seven of us. We all jumped into the songthaw which in literal translation means “two benches”. It’s a pickup truck with a tarp canopy on it, with two benches running down each side. As we drove out of the city, we drove up past rice fields, hot springs, and waterfalls. All of which we got to stop in at. The tour continued on to what we would call ‘base camp’; a final hot spring where we packed our backpacks and sent out on our 12km hike into the jungle.

Really hot springs

As we hiked up towards the mountain top, to an ultimately fantastic vista, we came across leeches living in the mud (and on my leg), numerous butterflies, and dancing termites. We had a few opportunities for breaks since the trail led us up three large mountains, and then back down. Our longer breaks were taken at hillside villages with no access other than the one-lane trail we hiked there on. By dusk, we finally made it to our last destination; a small 12-20 person village with the most basic of accommodation, and deliciously cooked outdoor meals.

The villagers spoke their own dialect, but since our tour guide was originally from the hills, we had few issues trying to communicate. Our long house was made strictly out of bamboo, with small mats on the floor, and mosquito nets hung above each abode. The floor was covered in unsturdy palm leaves, and bamboo studs. When the thick air of the hot day cools, moisture condenses, making bedding and anything else susceptible to damp. Paranoid about bugs, I checked my bedding at least 9 times, and I slept with my hood tied tightly against my head, even though my mosquito net covered my resting area well. I awoke several times throughout the night convinced the large spider I saw outside, had made its way inside only to be crawling somewhere near me. In actuality, I was quite alright, and the cat by my feet most likely had everything under control.

We got up early for basic breakfast to be followed by bamboo raft practice, and elephant feeding. The elephants at this particular camp are allowed to roam free, and come when called like dogs. They are well fed, and very well kept. From around the corner, three large elephants came walking towards us, already dressed with saddles. We fed them bananas before we set off on our 1 hour elephant ride down the river. They eventually dropped us off on the river bend, where we continued onwards via bamboo raft. Some parts were lazy, and we filled the gorge with pirate songs, or old blues songs… others were terrifyingly fast and full of rapids.

The gorge at these times was filled with screams of “Right Side!” “Left Side”. A navigation technic of using bamboo poles against the bottom of the river is used, and isn’t so easy during times of intense rapids. All in all, a couple small injuries were sustained, but everyone came out alright. I enjoyed my rugged adventure, and will be looking for more rainforest to explore…