We eventually left Bangkok after a last tour to the Wat Arun temple on Monday morning. We also discovered the Phraya Express to get there, a cheap and effective ferry on the rough Phraya river through Bangkok.
After a night on the train, which was delayed by only 3 hours, we reached Chiang Mai. A breeze compared to crazy Bangkok. We went to meet Sasi from the tour company that we contacted before we left and arranged a 3days/2nights trek in the mountains north of CM.
On Wednesday morning we were the first being collected in the back of a small pickup truck that we were soon to be sharing with another 11 people! We started with an elephant ride which was good but not as exciting as you may think. Then was the start of the real stuff - a hike up to the top a massive mountain in the sweltering heat! It was a tough job but we stopped half way for a swim in a waterfall and finally reached the village where we stayed overnight. We were with a good bunch of people so it was a funny evening in what was essentially a refugee camp from Burma!
Day 2 kicked off with more uphill walking which turned into steep slippery downhill, eventually leading to crossing rivers in knee deep water with shoes on! We then stayed in a jungle camp, similar to the previous night (dirty blankets and pillows, no electricity, mosquito nets but no crazy Lahu villagers this time, only a couple of Thai mamas).
On day 3 the walk was very easy and lead us to the start of the white water rafting. It had rained a lot and the water looked rough from the start, which was everything Nic needed to feel more scared.. However we all jumped into a dinghy raft and got started, Nic was loving it by the end and I ended up in the water! That was the end of our adventure, we were shattered and so treated ourselves to a well deserved Thai massage in the evening.
Bastien
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