Jungle Trekking in Chiang Mai

Maria and I followed up our beach days with a short trip to Chiang Mai (northern Thailand), where, unlike Phuket, the locals outnumber the tourists. We signed up immediately for a ‘jungle trek’, which promised visits to several hill tribes, elephant riding, bamboo rafting, white water rafting, and more... all in a mere 2 days. Day one began with a few inevitable tourist stops (butterfly farm, orchid farm), ended with campfire games in a remote jungle village, and epic hiking in between. Our group included four pre-army Israelis, two spirited young ladies - Sylvia (Dutch) and Mariana (Mexican) - and an exceedingly spry tour guide. Not long into our hike, it became clear where the ‘hill tribes’ got their name – I don’t think there was a single flat stretch all afternoon! The four Israelis in our ‘platoon’ breezed up the hills with their huge packs while Maria, Sylvia, Mariana and I, struggled to keep up the pace. Our guide did indulge us in the odd break, including a stop for fresh papaya right off the tree- deeelicous!

We were all a tad disappointed upon reaching the ‘village’ at sunset. We had been hoping to dine and carouse with the long-neck tribe, but it seems we had bad timing as the long-necks had taken a day off on account of a new baby. Hmmm….Interestingly, the 'abandoned' camp accommodated our group quite nicely. For dinner, we were served an attempt at curry and pickled vegetables, along with an apology that there were no spices (not even salt)…it’s a good thing we were all starving! Maria and I shared a cabin with Sylvia and Mariana, complete with paper-thin ‘mattresses’, old, smelly blankets, and a few ant farms on the dirt floor. Needless to say, we were all relieved when a diligent rooster signaled the end of a long night.

Day two was considerably more fun for us non-masochists. After a 'short' (two hour) hike, we reached the elephant camp, where the rest of the afternoon’s activities were based. We quickly went through the checklist of tour highlights - elephant riding, visiting the long-necks (follow the road sign and look for scarf stalls!), bamboo rafting, white-water rafting, and bathing in a waterfall (a natural waterslide which I don’t recommend trying if you value the skin on your tailbone!). We wrapped up our adventure with a painfully long and bumpy ride in the back of a truck back to town. Now that it's over, we're glad we signed up!

On our last day in Chiang Mai, we finally visited a handful of Thailand’s countless wats (temples), where we mingled with the monks, then spent the afternoon spoiling ourselves at the spa. At long last, we headed back to Shanghai via Bangkok. We were short on time so didn't get to see the heart of the city, although we did have a memorable walk at the park where we fed fish and turtles with a kind family that shared their fish food (bread). Apparently we timed our trip well as the airport was closed amidst political protests just a few days after our return!

For more photos from Thailand click here.