One of the main things I wanted to do in Thailand was to see an elephant. And I achieved just that:
It took a lot of physical exertion on my part to get there though that's for sure!
My new Dutch friends and I booked a 2 day, 1 night trekking tour to an elephant camp, to see the Kayan (long-neck tribe), hike to a waterfall, and go rafting. We packed up our day bags and got in a red truck bound for our jungle trek. We first had to make a pit stop at a Butterfly Museum first though, which was rather small and boring in my opinion. So boring I didn't even bother to take photos. I had my sights set on much bigger things. ;)
After that we stopped at a market to get supplies to take with us for the night. Our guide (who really wasn't very nice AT ALL) told us we had to bring at least these 5 things: toilet paper, bug spray, a plastic bag for our stuff in case it rained, a flashlight, and one thing I honestly can't remember... sunscreen maybe? Whoops.
After our 20 minute shopping stop we got back in the truck and drove quite a ways to a small village. We ate a lunch of pad thai there and then set out on our hike. As soon as we started though we ran into a few issues. The heat. The humidity. And the fact that our guide was booking it up a giant mountain. It was PAINFUL.
One poor guy on our tour was really struggling and our guide didn't even bother to help him or wait for him, just seemed incredibly inpatient and as if we were a major annoyance to him. It was so so odd.
We hiked for about 3 hours, mostly uphill and let me be the first to say I have done a LOT of hiking but this...this was difficult even for me. The humidity and over 100 degree heat makes walking outside for 10 minutes, much less 3 HOURS incredibly strenuous.
In no time at all we were drenched in sweat. But we trudged on nevertheless, trying to at least enjoy the views we spotted along the way:
My new Dutch friends and I booked a 2 day, 1 night trekking tour to an elephant camp, to see the Kayan (long-neck tribe), hike to a waterfall, and go rafting. We packed up our day bags and got in a red truck bound for our jungle trek. We first had to make a pit stop at a Butterfly Museum first though, which was rather small and boring in my opinion. So boring I didn't even bother to take photos. I had my sights set on much bigger things. ;)
After that we stopped at a market to get supplies to take with us for the night. Our guide (who really wasn't very nice AT ALL) told us we had to bring at least these 5 things: toilet paper, bug spray, a plastic bag for our stuff in case it rained, a flashlight, and one thing I honestly can't remember... sunscreen maybe? Whoops.
After our 20 minute shopping stop we got back in the truck and drove quite a ways to a small village. We ate a lunch of pad thai there and then set out on our hike. As soon as we started though we ran into a few issues. The heat. The humidity. And the fact that our guide was booking it up a giant mountain. It was PAINFUL.
One poor guy on our tour was really struggling and our guide didn't even bother to help him or wait for him, just seemed incredibly inpatient and as if we were a major annoyance to him. It was so so odd.
We hiked for about 3 hours, mostly uphill and let me be the first to say I have done a LOT of hiking but this...this was difficult even for me. The humidity and over 100 degree heat makes walking outside for 10 minutes, much less 3 HOURS incredibly strenuous.
In no time at all we were drenched in sweat. But we trudged on nevertheless, trying to at least enjoy the views we spotted along the way:
We FINALLY made our way down to the elephant camp but my poor Dutch friend slipped and fell and injured his arm. And the guide just stood there. Not helping. Not concerned. It was infuriating.
We picked him up and carried his backpack the rest of the distance to the elephant camp. We crossed the river with elephants on either side and I couldn't believe that I was actually here!
We set our belongings in the bamboo hut we would be sleeping in for the evening (VERY rustic!) and sat down in the main area of camp to relax and recuperate.
It wasn't long though until we were able to see the elephants! I didn't want to ride them or anything and so I just watched as they walked freely around and then were taken down to the river for a nice bath, and then back up for some bananas as treats! Elephants are just spectacular creatures and it was breath-taking to be mere feet from them.
We picked him up and carried his backpack the rest of the distance to the elephant camp. We crossed the river with elephants on either side and I couldn't believe that I was actually here!
We set our belongings in the bamboo hut we would be sleeping in for the evening (VERY rustic!) and sat down in the main area of camp to relax and recuperate.
It wasn't long though until we were able to see the elephants! I didn't want to ride them or anything and so I just watched as they walked freely around and then were taken down to the river for a nice bath, and then back up for some bananas as treats! Elephants are just spectacular creatures and it was breath-taking to be mere feet from them.
In the meantime though I took it upon myself to walk around and visit the hill tribe that calls this camp home. The Kayan people of Burma are more commonly known as the Long Neck Tribe and can be found throughout Northern Thailand. Originally from Burma, these tribes found refuge in Thailand and continue to preserve their culture here. The girls begin wearing the coils on their necks and legs around the age of 5 and while it appears to elongate their neck in actuality the coils push the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage- giving the illusion of a longer neck.
I had the amazing opportunity to interact with the children and I spent a good deal of time with them. They spoke absolutely no English whatsoever but we were able to get by with gestures and facial expressions just fine! Nonverbal communication is amazing in that way! Despite the fact that they live in the middle of nowhere and are so culturally different than anything I have ever experienced they still laughed and played like every single child I have been blessed to spend time with. They ran and played, fell in the mud and giggled, and danced and pantomimed for me for laughs. This was by far my favorite part of the entire trip as I adore children and learning about other peoples' cultures. I had my trusty travel notebook with me and each of the children signed their name for me in Burmese (and one or two in English!):
We had such a good time just playing and laughing. I asked if I could take pictures of them and of course they loved it- I would take a picture or a video and then show them and they would collapse in a pile of giggles.
This girl was SUCH a ham- she loved to make silly noises and dance around flapping her arms and generally was very very silly.
For dinner we had a lovely meal of Burmese food- some sort of cabbage and vegetable dish with tofu in it and meat and vegetable dish with rice that I didn't eat. It was all pretty tasty though and cool that they prepared it for us!
We spent the rest of the night around the campfire as they roasted corn and meat for us (no meat for me though!) and played guitar. The children came out to do a traditional song and dance which was beyond adorable. They pulled me up to join them and I laughed my head off trying to keep up with them!
I went to bed pretty early because I was absolutely exhausted (not before I fell in the mud on my way to the toilet though....not fun and I ruined a pair of my hippie pants!). None of us slept very well at all though due to the hard floor of the bamboo hut, the noises of the jungle, the dogs, the chickens, etc. It was a rough night!
We woke at the crack of dawn (literally because of the damn roosters!) and ate a more Western breakfast of eggs and toast with coffee and tea. We said goodbye to the hill tribe and the elephants and made our way to the area where we would be hiking to a waterfall.
We parked the van after driving a good distance and started hiking once again. It was a pretty long hike, about an hour, filled with river crossings over shoddy bamboo slats, up and around rocks, and finally the waterfall!
For dinner we had a lovely meal of Burmese food- some sort of cabbage and vegetable dish with tofu in it and meat and vegetable dish with rice that I didn't eat. It was all pretty tasty though and cool that they prepared it for us!
We spent the rest of the night around the campfire as they roasted corn and meat for us (no meat for me though!) and played guitar. The children came out to do a traditional song and dance which was beyond adorable. They pulled me up to join them and I laughed my head off trying to keep up with them!
I went to bed pretty early because I was absolutely exhausted (not before I fell in the mud on my way to the toilet though....not fun and I ruined a pair of my hippie pants!). None of us slept very well at all though due to the hard floor of the bamboo hut, the noises of the jungle, the dogs, the chickens, etc. It was a rough night!
We woke at the crack of dawn (literally because of the damn roosters!) and ate a more Western breakfast of eggs and toast with coffee and tea. We said goodbye to the hill tribe and the elephants and made our way to the area where we would be hiking to a waterfall.
We parked the van after driving a good distance and started hiking once again. It was a pretty long hike, about an hour, filled with river crossings over shoddy bamboo slats, up and around rocks, and finally the waterfall!
It was so beautiful and a nice way to unwind for a little bit. I couldn't tell you the name of the waterfall (because our guide was terrible. Tisk tisk) but it was really pretty! It was a little annoying with the sheer army of mosquitoes guarding it though but worth the hike!
We hiked back and ate lunch of fried rice at the base of the hike and then drove to the river for rafting. Buuuut the rafting was a no-go. We were all pretty tired at this point and the river was flowing SO slowly that it was going to be more like...floating. So we all agreed to just head back to Chiang Mai for proper showers haha!
All in all this trip was definitely different than I thought it was going to be. I was very disappointed with our guide but extremely delighted with the hill tribe children. The elephants were of course a spectacular sight and experience in themselves but I wish we had more time to spend with them. I'm glad I was able to see a side of Thailand that you don't ordinarily see in the main city centers and if you have the chance to spend time with elephants and the Kayan people I highly recommend it!
Until next time!
Happy Travels!
-Freckles
We hiked back and ate lunch of fried rice at the base of the hike and then drove to the river for rafting. Buuuut the rafting was a no-go. We were all pretty tired at this point and the river was flowing SO slowly that it was going to be more like...floating. So we all agreed to just head back to Chiang Mai for proper showers haha!
All in all this trip was definitely different than I thought it was going to be. I was very disappointed with our guide but extremely delighted with the hill tribe children. The elephants were of course a spectacular sight and experience in themselves but I wish we had more time to spend with them. I'm glad I was able to see a side of Thailand that you don't ordinarily see in the main city centers and if you have the chance to spend time with elephants and the Kayan people I highly recommend it!
Until next time!
Happy Travels!
-Freckles