Trekking and Waterfalls

Day 36 (05/05/08): Hills North West of Chiang Mai, Thailand

An early start for some of our group members. Three of the Irish girls were only doing the two day trek, and so left early to go join another group. That left 6 in our group, and since we were doing the longer trip, we had a more relaxed itinerary. We had an option for the first part of days trek, an easy walk along the road, or a more difficult walk up the hill. I of course opted for the harder option, and so left with the Korean girl and the Canadian guy, and Pooza to go up the hill. It was actually fairly easy going, the climb not taking very long at all. At the top we were rewarded with a stunning view over the hills, jungle and farmland. The most interesting part to me was watching all the vegetation change. Up on the top of the hill, the jungle plants gave away to pine trees. It could have been a NZ forest, with the tall pine trees, and pine needles all over the ground. The weather was a lot cooler up here as well, and the humidity a lot lower. A huge difference to the heat and dampness of the jungle in the lower parts. At one point Pooza stopped, and made us all hats out of large leaves. We posed for a silly photo, and then promptly lost the hats.

The way down was actually a lot harder than the way up. It was a lot steeper and the ground was quite slippery. I fell over once and got mud all up my arm and hands. Going down slowly you could actually notice the heat and humidity building up again, as the pine trees thinned out and the jungle plants became thick again. We met the others at another small village, they had done a very relaxed walk along the 'road' (or what passes for a dirt road up in the hills of Thailand). Our route for the day would take us past three waterfalls, and so off we went.

The first waterfall was quite small, but with a deep pool, and a few of the others jumped in for a swim. The second waterfall was a lot larger, coming down off a steep rocky cliff. A few small huts were nearby, where we had a brilliant lunch of fried noodles. Then we all went off for a swim under the waterfall. I walked right underneath it and managed to stay for a few seconds before the pressure and weight of all the water drove me out. Much better than all the soft pressure showers in the guest houses! Off on another short walk to the third, and most impressive waterfall. This one was fairly large, about 10 or 15 meters high with the water splashing down over the rocks. At one point there was a natural spout, causing a deluge of water to fly out almost horizontal before falling down in an almost perfect natural shower. Soap and shampoo was pulled out, and everyone had a good wash under the water. Although the pressure was so strong that you had to make sure to hold onto your togs, else they be washed right off!

The whole area was really beautiful, and what I really liked about the days trek was the variety of different environments we were walking through. Everything from the thick jungle, to the pine forests to bamboo forests, to lightly wooded areas. It was fantastic, and incredibly beautiful as well. For the last part of the trek we followed a small stream downriver, walking through a stunning valley surrounded by all sorts of plants, bushes and trees. We came to a small 'jungle camp', a collection of a few bamboo huts next to the stream. Once again a large hut had a few beds lain out, and all of us lay down and drifted off for a short nap before dinner. Dinner was cooked by our guides, and was once again fantastic. Thai Yellow curry, bamboo shoot salad, and boiled 'jungle vegetable', which had been freshly collected. These were the young shoots of the ferns which grew along the river. Boiled up, it looked and tasted like spinach. We munched it all down, everyone going back for seconds until it was all finished.

It was a nice relaxed evening. We sat around the bamboo table, on the bamboo benches and played cards. One of the guides made a bonfire, and we sat around that for a short time before a brief rain shower sent us back to the covers and more cards. We developed a funny custom whereby the winner of each round of cards rubbed their finger on the bottom of the soot covered cooking pot, and then drew on the face of the loser. After a few laugh filled hours, everyone had black all over their face, including the two guides (who were very good at cards). The guides were drinking beer, and so of course I joined them. At midnight, feeling a bit peckish, they guides cooked us up a really delicious rice soup, complete with a large collection of vegetables. Everyone else went to bed, and I spent a little while drinking beer and talking to the guides. It was quite possibly their last trek together. Good had applied for a job with the American consulate as a translator. He really loved being a guide, but only got paid when they were groups, and in the low season it was particularly hard. The translator job would be a lot more serious and hard work, but at least he was guaranteed a regular income. Mostly he was worried for Pooza, his young assistant. They got on really well, and had a good time together, Good giving Pooza a lot of responsibility and freedom, and they weren't sure what kind of guide Pooza would end up with. He said that a lot of the older guides would just treat him as an assistant, and make him do all the bad jobs. Pooza told me that if he didn't get a good guide, he would go back to the city and try and find a job, most likely in one of the new opening fast food places (KFC, Pizza Hut or Burger King). It's quite sad really, Pooza was well educated, studying as a monk for 6 years, and having studied at university afterwards, but there just wasn't anything else available.

In the early hours of the morning I crept back into our bamboo hut, and collapsed asleep after a hard day of trekking.