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…



So Far... So Good...

Bangkok - View from HI Hostel

My first few days in Thailand have been action packed. I landed, took a cab into Sukhamvit, Bangkok to the HI Hostel. In the morning, while I waited for the banks to open, I met some lovely ladies from Victoria. We’ve been travelling together ever since. I convinced them to take the 11 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai with me. We got into Chang Mai at close to 3am. We wandered around a little before coming to the conclusion we were going to have to sleep on our backpacks for the remainder of the night. Right as we were scouting out a good spot in one of the quaint Sois, someone from one of the guest houses spotted us. We scored a room with three bedrooms, actual hot water, and a fan for 300 baht (that’s $10 a night).

Chiang Mai is a beautiful city. It’s an ancient one, with Wats, guest houses, restaurants and legit massage parlours scattered throughout the Old City. It’s split into two parts; Old City, and New City. The Old city is a quaint town with cobble stone streets winding throughout a perfect square, cut off by an ancient moat. Outside the moat is New City, where you can find malls, and even crazier traffic. I thought riding in a tuk tuk was scary, try riding a bicycle in Thai traffic. Lucky for me, I have bicycle experience downtown, so my defensive and aggressive nature on two wheels is just up to par here. It’s actually quite difficult getting one’s head around driving on the other side of the road. In the smaller Sois of Old City, the traffic is easy to handle, but the roundabouts and two lane traffic are definitely a little harder to navigate safely.

Beyond the endless amounts of good food, fresh fruit, cheap smoothies and bug stands, Chiang Mai has some fantastic markets to enjoy. Actually, I’m totally addicted. Between the clothing, the jewellery, the food stands, and handmade crafts, there is a real sense of culture. Locals and foreigners alike crowd around stands trying new foods, trying on clothes and sitting to talk about the day. Bartering comes with ease since most Thai speak enough English to get through the conversation. Today I had sticky rice with banana, cooked in a banana leaf. C’est Delicieux!!! I’ve bought myself new handmade sandals, some earrings, a necklace and pants… all for about $20.

The best thing for market addiction? A rugged two day trek into the mountains… Update soon.

Getting to Know Me

I’ve only been here three days, but fuck, does it feel good. I’ve tried to express my passion for travel to the average person, but everyone likes to travel. I feel it’s hard to explain that travel, and backpacking mostly is an important aspect of my life. I value being able to learn about other cultures and languages first hand. I value speaking to people from all over the world, and learning about their views and experiences. I value learning about politics, and experiencing the pros and cons of certain governments first hand. I value exploring the natural world, and learning about all of its importance, all over the world.  I value experiencing new things, and learning new ways of thinking and doing. I value having strong common sense, and being able to think independently. I value being an objective thinker, with the capabilities of simply observing the world go around. I value human connection, unbiased to social and global class. For people that don’t understand these values, I try to explain to them that it’s not vacation time I value, it’s experience that I value.

Exotic Fruit

Breakfast

Watch the Progression

Why pay for booze, when beer comes free? I originally thought my 11 hour flight to Bejing might be excruciating, but it’s four hours in already. I surprised myself by thinking it was at around the 2 hour mark.


We just flew over Ankorage Alaska. The flight path is pretty cool. We don’t actually fly over the Pacific much at at all. We fly north, up through Alaska, and into the Bering Sea where eventually we’ll fly over Siberia. We’re cruising at over 350,000 feet on a huge air bus. I’m content with my flight so far. I recommend the Yan Jing Beer, free of charge.

All the seats have individual TV screens, so we’re not destined to watch whichever corny comedy, or 3 star Disney movie they provide. I’ve had the pleasure of watching Iron Man 2, and the latest Shrek, which I highly recommend, and How to Tame Your Dragon. Turns out I’d watch both the Disney, and the corny on my own accord anyways… at least I have choice I suppose.

Now at the 7 hour mark, flying just over Siberia now… which looks like a frozen wasteland to be honest. There isn’t a single sign of life below, just frozen tundra. I haven’t slept a wink, but the food was half decent, I had a choice of pork (obviously) and fish. I’m also getting my first dose of language issues. This is the third time in 10 minutes I’ve put on the ‘I need service’ light to ask for a new refreshment, but the message clearly isn’t getting through. Ah, I asked for tea and received green instead of black. Yup, it’s official, I’m not in Kansas anymore.


Yep, the first 6 hours were fine. But we’re now going on 9, with another 2 to go. Oh ya, not to mention the two hour layover in Bejing, followed by another 4.5 hours to Bangkok. The beer is making me burp, and I’m now over that to… It’s almost 10:30 at night back home, but since we’ve been following the light this whole way, it still looks like it might be about 3pm wherever I am in the world. My plan is to sleep slightly on the next flight, but not too much I can’t sleep this evening, when I arrive at 11:45.

 Flying into Bejing is like flying into any other city. While you descend through the haze, one tries to determine whether it’s pollution or light cloud. The surroundings are brown, and the industrial parts of town look like the inside of a computer. The buildings are systematically made to look similar. City blocks are planned to have the same size height and width buildings, making it appear so methodical it almost looks mechanic. There are 4 classic, “Simpson’s” nuclear plant cylinders, a huge super highway that disappears into the ‘haze’, and agriculture. At this point, I can hardly tell what’s what on the ground because of the incredible amount of well, who’s kidding, it’s pollution. The sun’s reflection on what little water I can see is a sickening orange. It’s easily as thick as dispersed fog. I was truly hoping to get a glimpse of the Great Wall from the air, but I can’t see into the distance at all. Next time.


Finally landed in Bangkok. I broke my rule of sleeping the entire way on that next plane, not mention snoozing in Bejing. Now I’m wired, but not quite prepared to venture into the nightlife of Sukhumvit. So, here I stay in the common area of the hostel, loathing having to wake up the other ladies in the room, listening to foreign club music out one window, and barking dogs out the other. Ah, just like any other foreign city. The highway on the way here was very well kept. I counted the amount of broken down cars, trucks or buses. Six total in an $8 cab ride. The electrical work is truly astonishing. I thought I had seen the worst, but I really don’t know how it works. Giant bundles of live wire accumulate at every post, some drooping to head level or lower. The skytrain is truly what us Vancouverites would call a SkyTrain, it looks exactly the same. I’ll take it tomorrow for shits and giggles.


Signing off, from Bangkok.

Quick Trip to The Island

As you may have guessed, I took Bikini with me, and so follows a few dog portraits.

While on our ferry trip over, we discovered that dogs arn't allowed on the passanger deck. That's fine I suppose, although the loading on and off with the car traffic could and should be avoided. 

We sat for the full hour and a half in a small, unlit dungeon quaintly designated the "pet area". Lucky for me, it was positioned against what I considered to be some sort of engine room. The constant clanking, and turning of machinery was somewhat hypnotic, but the real bonus was that it kept the far wall oddly warm. I huddled up to that thing like a lizard on a rock. With my good buddy to my right, my guidebook to Asia, and her comfy dog bed... things weren't all that bad. I didn't have to talk to anyone. Didn't spend money on a burger. Just sat peacefully, drinking a beer with my dog. 

Gargoyle

We took a walk through some trails full of garbage and obvious human disgrace. There were arbutus trees though, and damn, I love those arbutus trees. In between shots of beautiful mossy rocks, and ferns there'd be litter, or a broken bottle or three.

Bikini can be seen here, putting up with mom taking pictures. She looks like a gargoyle, or troll or something....

She loves music

And napping

Before and After

Granted the canvases on the before were easy to transform, but with a little help from Mandy (at the OC Spa) we had a chance to transform their hair, do their makeup, and light their pretty faces into the afters. 

The Before

Julie came in saying "do what you want". She was pretty open to Mandy doing anything.

Krista's hair was long, uncolored and needed a cut

Katie's hair was a little processed, but she needed a cut, and a color. Mandy went a little darker, but kept the cut pretty similar. 

The After

Julie

Julie

Krista

Krista

Katie

 

Katie

Mandy does hair and makeup services through the OC spa. They can be reached at http://www.theocspa.ca 

Services are listed, along with any prices, contact info and address.