Days 9-11 - Monday, February 21 - Wednesday, February 23 - TREK

This next entry covers the 3 days of my trek to the Hill Tribes and mountains/jungles of Northern Thailand. Sorry if it's long. Print and read at your leisure but this could quite possibly be one of the greatest life experiences to date. I won't be able to do it justice but I'll try.

Taken from "The Beach":

"There's this saying: In an all-blue world, color doesn't exist. It makes a lot of sense to me. If something seems strange, you question it, but if the outside world is too distant to use as a comparison, then nothing seems strange"

trek ( P ) Pronunciation Key (trk)
intr.v. trekked, trek·king, treks
To make a slow or arduous journey. To journey on foot, especially to hike through mountainous areas.
n. A journey or leg of a journey, especially when slow or difficult.

Hill Tribes of Thailand: Ethnic minorities living in the mountainous regions of Northern Thailand. Each hill tribe has its own language, customs, mode of dress and spiritual beliefs. Most are of semi-nomadic origin, having migrated to Thailand from Tibet, Myanmar, China, and Laos during the past 200 years, although some have been here much longer. They are "fourth world" people in that they belong to neither the main aligned powers nor to the developing nations. Rather, they have crossed and continue to cross national borders, often fleeing oppression by other cultures, without regard to recent nationhood. Hill Tribes tend to have among the LOWEST standards of living in Thailand.

TREK - DAY 1
woke at 8AM to get ready for the trek. Had to pack the basics in the camouflage pack they handed out at the meeting last night. Not bringing much as I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing the same clothes for the next 3 days. I know the first tribe we are visiting doesn't have showers and not sure about the 2nd. The "shower" in the first tribe is the nearby river and I'm told its too far and too much of a hike to get there just to get clean. Had to get all my stuff out of my room and put it in the "store room" at Libra which is nothing more than an old pantry next to the kitchen which seems like it's a rats den when nobody is around. Had to put all valuables in the "safety deposit box" which is nothing more than a drawer that is locked with a piece of old chewing gum. I hope my "valuables" are safe. Had some breakfast and waited in the lobby area. Everyone slowly came down for our 9AM departure.

Our trek leader was Rooney. He's a Thai "ladyboy" who works at Libra and is hilarious. We all (13 of us plus Rooney) piled in the back of a pickup truck outfitted with 2 benches and got on the way. We drove for about 2.5 hours up and down, in and out of mountains, jungles and national parks to our first stop - The Elephant Camp. We rode Elephants for about an hour and a half and, while not that thrilling, it's someting one must do while trekking in Thailand. I had my own elephant and led the pact. Well, my elephant led and I followed where he went as did the other pachyderms. We rode the giant beasts right into our first village we visited (Rooney didn't ride, he went with the truck to the first tribe). This was the Chiang Dao tribe. When I say village, I am not talking about the village of Hewlett Harbor. The village is a dry dirt road with a bunch of bamboo huts lined on either side and pigs, chickens, roosters, children and others milling about. We were escorted to a little hut where Rooney passed out lunch - a small styrofoam container with some rice they had prepared for us at Libra. After a little stroll around the village, we got back in the truck and proceeded to drive up in the mountains / jungle for about an hour. We were let out and told we needed to trek for about 2 hours. This trek was no leisurely stroll on a path. This was very strenuous and was the easier of the 3 days I was told. The UPhill walks were STEEP and the DOWNhill was even steeper. This was not some National Park where the park rangers erected nice handrails when the path neared a cliff - one little bad footing and you were off the edge into the depths of a Thailand jungle. I was sweating my ass off and somewhat worried that I may pass out, die, or need to smoke signal a helicopter to come get me. Along the way, we passed water buffalo, snakes, and other misc animals. It was pretty wild. My pack sucked - there were clips digging into my back and I knew there were going to be giant welts left on my back. We arrived at a river after about 2 hours 45 minutes with screaming naked kids bathing and playing about. With that, a giant elephant walked through the river with a local tribe member throwing buckets of water on it. I guess even the elephants bathe in the river. We crossed the river and walked up a giant hill to the next village. The village was called LAHU. This village, if possible, seemed to be a little more primitive.

No phone, no lights no motor cars,
Not a single luxury,
Like Robinson Crusoe,
As primative as can be.

Once again, all the animals were running about. Dogs were chasing pigs, pigs chasing roosters, and chickens clucking about. Everyopnce in a while, a huge water buffalo of sorts woudl wander in the village and all the dogs, pigs, and cluckers would run towards it and chase it away. This villag has about 200 people living in it - about 20 families.

We put our packs down and enjoyed some beverages that the villagers have all ready to sell to tired, hot, and thirsty tourists. They have to walk 3 hours to the nearest market to buy this stuff to sell to us. They don't have the money to drink any of these luxurious beverages. Chang Beer never tasted so good! We all sat around and talked about how much more difficult the trek was so far from what we had expected. I would venture a guess to say that it's advisable to consult a physician before deciding to go on a trek in the Thai Jungles. It was cooling down a bit and it felt great. The mountains get quite chilly in the AM's and PM's.

We were all filthy but nobody seemed to care. Rooney started cooking us dinner in the bamboo hut next to the sleeping hut. The sleeping hut was about 12 feet wide by 20 feet long. Around the sides, were 13 bamboo mats with some blankets and a pillow on each one. This was going to be our home for the next 12 hours. It started to get dark and the village was pitch black but the kids and animals were still running around. We had 3 lanterns on our picnic table but they had ZERO. Not a candle, a lamp, nor a lightbulb obviously. Most of these peopel have never experienced electricity as most of them never leave the village. We ate dinner by candlelight and all got acquainted and shared our stories of where we are from, careers, etc etc. Dinner was rice, and 3 other dishes, one tofu and beans, one chicken and vegetables and one pork with something else - I can't remember. After dinner, the women and kids of the tribe came around selling local crafts. Remember, even though they don't speak English, everyone knows how to bargain. We all felt bad so we bought little trinkets from the kids.....mostly woven little bracelets or change purses. These were the real deal - "manufactured" right in the village. After we were done with the "night market", we all gathered around a big fire and the kids sang songs and danced about. I can't describe what this was all about. These people have nothing but seemed so happy. Hopefully, I got some great photos.

We all hit the hut at about 10:30P as we were pretty tired.

Trek - Day 2

I woke up at about 8AM and I was the first one up. It was pretty cold so I went outside to see about getting some tea or something. The local tribe cook was already boiling water and preparing our breakfast. I had some tea, found a nice spot behind the hut to brush my teeth and by this point, everyone was slowly getting up. We had breakfast which consisted of toast and hard boiled eggs. I was hoping for something a little more authentic but oh well. We packed our bags, and headed out at about 9:45A. The next 3.5 hours were BRUTAL and I mean BRUTAL. There is no gym workout that can prepare you for this "trek". At one point, the incline was so steep and the path was only about a foot wide. If you fell to the left, you would hit the side of the mountain and if you tripped and fell to the right, BYE BYE! I was panting and just said over and over again, "I think I can, I think I can". This was the hardest physical thing I had ever done in my 36 years of existence.

After about 3 hours and right at the top of our last incline, I was sure my hernia was going to pop open and I was going to die right there, never to be seen or heard from again (just kidding mom).

The last 30 minutes was a steep downhill trek and although very hard, I much preferred the downhill over UP. We got to the BAMBOO RAFT CAMP and had lunch. Rooney had made some ramen type of noodle soup. We scarfed down lunch and broke into groups.

THIS PART WAS AWESOME!

We rafted down the river in the coolest rafts. Made entirely of bamboo, there was no mistaking that we were in Thailand. There was a raft guide in the front, and a guy from our group (one of us on each raft) in the back steering with a giant bamboo pole. Basically, steering was pushing off the bottom of the river with your pole. The girls of the group got to sit and enjoy the ride. We went through portions of the river with some good rapids and others that were relatively calm. We saw great animals on the river banks and had some good water fights. The river was cool and so damn refreshing after hiking all that way. The steering wasn't too hard and if you wanted to rest for a bit, the guide in the front of the boat did all the work.

We got to the end of the rafting portion and had to hike about 30 minutes to the next village. This village was called LISU. We were shown our little area with similar accomodations. There was a fence around the visitors area to keep the pigs out - apparently in the past, the pigs and other animals have gotten into some belongings and ruined them. We has beer and this time, SHOWERED. Remember, a shower to some isn't alwasy a shower to another. There were 2 huts about 50 feet from camp. Inside each one was a hole in the ground (toilet) and a spiget coming out of the wall about 2 feet up from the floor. Everyone had their own method of showering but cold water splashed on your face and body felt good no matter what method. I put on clean clothes and we sat around drinking. Beer and moonshine (their homemade rice whickey) were the drinks of the evening. Dinner was rice and 2 dishes and I was pretty wasted. This time, after dinner, they too had "night market". I was drunk and having the best time with these people. Once again, I Have some great photos of us playing with the local kids and dancing with the villagers. After we danced in our area, we were invited to a local celebration in the center of the village. Rooney, obviously does all the translations for us. These villages don't speak Thai, each one has their own language but he knows enough to get by and make sure we get what we need.

At their "celebration", we all joined hands and played some dancing game. When the leader in the center of the circle stops playing his instruemnt (not sure what it was), the dancing circle has to stop moving as well. There is some pattern that we never really got the hang of, but they were having a blast with us. This lasted until about 11:30PM and we headed back to our area. I made a big fire and we sat around talking and drinking for a while. Our muscles were sore, every body part ached, but we were yukking it up.

Crawled into our hut at about 12:30AM

Trek - Day 3

I woke up first again and it was cold out. I got some wood, built a fire and had a great blaze going for the others when they got up. Same routine - got up, had breakfast, and packed up for the last day. The villagers lined up as we were leaving and waved us goodbye. The kids were all clinging onto us. I was so tempted to throw one in my pack and take him home.

Much to our suprise, our TRUCK was at the village and we DROVE to the next stop. The next stop was the entrance to some "National Park" where we got to hike about 40 minutes to a GIANT CAVE. This trek was almost as strenuous as yesterdays. Steep hills to get to the cave but once we got their, each step was cooler than the next. I don't know why, but for some reason, I didn't know about this caving we were going to be doing. This cave was HUGE and pitch black. If you didn't have your own flashlight, you had to rent one. When I'm talking pitch black, I mean it. This was not like any cave that I have been through at home. Those are all doctored up for tourists with ropes to help you find your way as well as nice ambient lighting so it's not so dark. This was VERY COOL and VERY STRENUOUS again. We were getting NO break. We had to crawl on our stomachs, trek down steep crevice like drops, climb through openings that even the smallest Thai person had to squeeze through and watch our heads for sharp stalactites that would surely sever your head wide open. Crawling on my stomach and contorting my body to fit through some of these little openings and crawling around like a confused mouse in a maze, made me think I was going to need emergency surgery and I was never going to recover. Although never really in pain, a thought crossed my mind that I shouldn't be doing this. HOWEVER, 2 hours later, we got to the other end of the cave and I was alive and although sweaty and disgustingly dirty, I felt great. The caves were awesome. Loaded with snakes, bats, and spiders, each step was a great adventure.

We now had to trek back to where we started. Another 3o-40 minutes of HELL but it was the last hell so it felt great. Knowing that I didn't have to walk one more step was the most exhiliarating feeling.

We had lunch (Rooney cooked while we caved) and hung out until it was time to get back in the truck and head back to Libra. The truck ride sucked but we made it back at about 6PM.

THIS TREK KICKED MY ASS yet was one of the most rewarding adventures I've ever taken. I hate to sound so cliche, but it has to be life-altering in some way or another.

We all shared a beer in the garden and slowly retreated to our rooms - some to sleep, and some to go out and get dinner.

I did some e-mailing, reading, and showered. A hot shower never felt so good. I scrubbed as much as I could as I may have been the dirtiest I've ever been.

I met up with Matt from the trek in the garden and we decided to go out for dinner. I took the recommendation of Alex Sohn and got a Tuk Tuk to "The Brasserie" on the river for dinner and local music. Great place, great food, and great atmosphere. I was exhausted and needed to get some sleep. After dinner, we walked over the bridge through some Chinese area that was enjoying some celebration and stumbled across the Night Market. This was the huge one that I went to with Adam and Emma a few days prior. I had no patience for this so we hopped in a Tuk Tuk and headed back.

I don't think I was in my room for more than 3 seconds before I was out cold.