Chiang Mai - Jewel of the North

Arrived at Chiang Mai last Wednesday from Sukhothai, the scenery getting more mountainous and lush as we travelled further north. Chiang Mai is the capital of the old Lamma Kingdom, the old city being built in the 13th century within 3 concentric walls and 2 moats to keep the Burmese out. Being set in the mountains and surrounded by forest makes it the ideal centre for outdoor activities and there is now a thriving backpacker scene in the new city, outside the old city walls. Even though Chiang Mai is now a Thai province, it still upholds the tradition of having its own King, even though he is a figurehead with no power. Traffic swarms outside the city walls but inside, the streets are small and leafy with cafes and guesthouses. The Chiang Mai night sky is dotted with the little orange lights of paper lanterns sent up into the darkness. We can understand why some people arrive with plans to stay for 2 days then end up staying for 2 weeks instead.

We seem to have done so much since we arrived, so here, in bite-sized pieces is what we've been up to.

TUESDAY - 2 DAY HILL TRIBE TREK
(or otherwise known as I've Got Rat Stuck in my Teeth ...)

11 intrepid adventurers joined our guides, Pun and Jojo in the pickup, carrying our day-packs, containing the essentials on the list we'd been given in the briefing meeting the night before. On the list were a long-sleeved top and fleece as it's cool season in Thailand apparently! We also took along our swiss army knife in case we needed to slay a wild animal for our tea, or construct a bridge to cross a deep ravine (we didn't, just as well). Our first stop was an elephant trek and our ride was called Bujo - the only bull in the herd, 25 years old and twice the size of the others. The ride took about an hour and at intervals along the way there were raised platforms where 'farang' (tourists) could buy a great big bunch of bananas or sugar cane for 20 bhts (30p) 'to make friendly with elephant'. No elephant is going to pass up the chance of a snack and they all stopped expectantly at each one. When the purchase had been made, a huge big muddy trunk would come waving backwards to collect. At the first station, Bojo had taken the whole bunch, so at the second station, we got wise and put them on the seat between us - only for them to be nicked by the elephant following behind! Marc had a go in the driving seat, sat on Bojo's neck, legs down behind his ears - pretending to be a big chief. We had lunch - and guess what was for pudd - yes, a banana!

HILL TRIBE TREK

The clue should have been in the name really, but 20 seconds into the trek and the path started to rise sharply up a red clay path baked solid in the heat. Calf muscles were soon screaming and sweat started to pour off (and continued to do so for 2 days). We walked for about half an hour to the sound of thunderous waterfalls and when Pun told us that we could go swimming in a big pool in the river to cool off, it was heaven. On we went, stopping occasionally to catch breath at the top of particularly steep bits, crossing rivers balancing on logs and bamboo bridges and swinging from the lianas (OK I made the last bit up). Three sticky, humid, sweaty hours later we arrived at our camp for the night, which was one big hut with 12 mattresses (more like a blanket) and sleeping bags side by side on a bamboo floor with mozzie nets hanging above. The facilities for freshening up was a bamboo shed with holes in the side which were covered by blankets for modesty. The shed had a squat loo and a standpipe with icy cold water for showering. There was huge long table and benches which is where we sat all evening eating and drinking by candlelight. I've never been anywhere so dark in all my life - even with night eyes it was like 'bol buwch' - pitch black. Pun made a wonderful meal - six great big bowls of red curry, sweet and sour and noodles and beansprouts with mountains of rice. A meal never tasted so good. One of the ladies of the tribe brought home a rat that she had just taken from the hunting-trap in the woods. Pun singed all its hair off on the camp fire then skewered it head to tail and bbq'd it until it was cooked (charred). We all had pieces to eat - we both had some tail and hind leg and it tasted like a pork scratching! One of the trekkers crunched open the skull and ate the brain (sorry that was probably too much information). And so to bed ... some slept like logs (the males) and others (the 3 females in the group) were awake all night, just dropping off when the cockerel started at about 6am. There was a constant procession to the toilet through the night, people swearing quietly as the fell over everything and nothing in their efforts to get to the hut door in the dark so as not to disturb the others. It poured down at intervals through the night and I was just expecting to feel drops landing on my forehead, but thankfully not. Breakfast was a leisurely affair - lots of toast and jam and piles of fruit.

Farang used to stay in the village with the hill tribe until a couple of years ago when the tribe decided that they'd had enough of the noise and not being able to sleep so they built a purpose-built camp about 10 minutes walk from the main village for the foreigners - and this is where we stayed. On the way to see the village proper and meet some people, (another calf burning climb) we came to a clearing in the woods that they had flattened and made a football pitch with grandstand! A first to three goals match ensued and by the time we got to the village, all but a few women left at home to look after the animals, had gone to work or to school at the next village. So much for the cultural bit. On we went, slipping and sliding our way downstream to another welcome stop at a waterfall for a swim. This time it was possible to walk behind the waterfall and try and stand under it without falling over. An expensive flip-flop was washed away here and we told Gibbo who had lost it, to throw the other one in too as someone would probably be waiting patiently on a rock downstream somewhere waiting to see if it arrived. The last leg of the trek took us to lunch and back to the pickup - all filthy, sweaty and exhausted but with big smiles. Huge thanks must go to Pun and Jojo, the two local lads, for making the trek so fantastic - they made bamboo walking sticks for us, a bamboo pop-gun for shooting little stinging pellets of soggy paper at each other, caught a snake and threw a stick into a wasps nest then shouting 'run' and making us eat rat.

BAMBOO RAFTING

Last activity of the 2 days was bamboo rafting. We had been told that it was a very sedate way of floating down the river for half an hour - not! 10 thick bamboo logs are strapped together to form a raft about 10 metres long with a one man at the front, one at the back and passengers sat side by side in the middle, in the water. Our first front man was crazy, trying his best to tip us all off the raft and shouting crocodile whilst running up and down the raft then our second front man was even crazier - it was Marc. Once he found his balance, he steered up through rapids and around other rafts that were having a more quiet time. We had one hairy moment as we headed for overhanging trees that would had wiped us all out, had we not lay flat on the raft, clinging on tightly. I had expected to see Marc in the water, but no - he was still on and sprung back on his feet in an instant. One thing that can't go unmentioned was the small tear in Ed's shorts which suddenly turned into a huge rip all the way down to the bottom (past his bottom) that left his shorts flapping. We made sure that we pointed it out to everyone we passed on the riverbank - as Katie said, cracking view!

MUAY THAI (you're doing well if you're still with me)

Friday night is Thai Boxing night in Chiang Mai and we went along with 4 fellow trekkers, Pun and Jojo. The stadium is just outside town and I was expecting to see a rough and ready shack with unruly crowds and no-holds barred stuff but I was pleasantly surprised (if you can be pleasantly surprised at a boxing stadium). There were 8 matches on the programme for the evening, in a professional looking ring, complete with 3 judges and referee. Some of the fighters wore coloured armbands and feathers around their arms to accentuate their muscles and headbands with big ponytails sticking out of the back. After a lot of showing-off and strutting around the ring, the headbands were taken off then, to the sound of a tinkling bell; music to charm snakes to and a cheering crowd, they proceeded to punch and kick seven bells out of each other and it was great! A match consists of 5 rounds of 3 minutes each and the more action there was, the quicker the rounds seemed to go. Every time a kick landed, everyone in the crowd cheered and the seconds went crazy during flurries and holds. Wagers are made between individuals in the crowd, the money being held by another impartial person until the end of the bout. Without doubt - the best fight of the evening was won by a farang, a blond bloke that we reckoned probably came from Glasgow. I'd recommend this to anyone for a great night out.

LONG NECK TRIBE ETC DAY OUT (won't be long now)

A word to the wise - don't' go on this trip unless you're happy to spend 3 times as long on a bus as seeing interesting things outside the bus. First stop was an orchid and butterfly farm where we at least got to try out the macro setting on our new camera and I now know how to breed an orchid but I don't think I'll bother all the same. A long drive to Chiang Dop caves where we saw Burmese Buddhas and other sculptures inside the cave. We could only go so far into the cave as the rest of the complex was closed due to rains and high water levels - understandable given recent tragic events. Ning, our guide was excellent though, explaining the history of Chiang Mai province and the difference between Chiang Mai buddhas and Sukhothai Buddhas. Chiang Mai or Lanna buddhas are the happy little round smiling chappies that we usually associate with Buddha. Sukhothai Buddhas are thin and unsmiling, reflecting all the wars and conflicts that Sukhothai have been part of over the years, in contrast to Lamma who have had a more peaceful history. Last on the list was a visit to see the Padanung tribe, part of the Karen family of Burmese tribes that have settled in North Thailand in the wake of civil war. Children of the tribe born in Thailand are given Thai citizenship so they will be able to work and be a part of the
Thai community in future. The Thai government also provides free education for them.
Adults however, depend on the income from selling handicrafts and the tourist trade and they flock in busfulls to see the ladies of the tribe - known as the long-neck tribe. From childhood, females wear a brass ring around their neck and one will be added to every year until she is 30 and she will wear them until she dies. The tribe believe that the rings protect the girls from being bitten on the neck by tigers as they work in the fields. They also wear rings on their legs as protection from scorpions and snakes. The village consisted of just a dusty street of stalls and women weaving cotton scarves and sewing bags. We had been told that it was OK to take photos of the ladies but it still felt a little voyeuristic until some of them started the hard-sell and it was difficult to get through the sea of painted faces and blackened teeth all calling 'looking here'.
Then is was back in the bus for another arduous 3 hours back to Chiang Mai, a nice cool beer and a wander around the massive night bazaar - but that's another story ...


A Word about Squat Toilets

... because they were the subject of much conversation before we left. I must say that 2 weeks in, I'm getting used to the idea and technique of a squat toilet (you'll only wet your feet the one time). I was so taken by the first one I went into (it was decorated beautifully in pink mosaic tiles) that I had to take a picture of it. Between negotiating the loo itself and the photo shoot, it took quite a while and Marc thought that there had been an incident of some kind. The only thing is, is that it deprives you of what could sometimes be a welcome 2 minute sit down, to 'take the weight off' but looking on the bright side, we'll have thighs of steel by the time we leave!