I am not so good at this blog thing. I still have a lot of catching up to do, and not sure if I will. I suppose I'll make some small attempt to at least get a little closer. So where did I leave off? I left Malaysia and headed to northern Thailand expecting to do some jungle trekking or elephant riding. A lot of what I read and heard from other backpackers made the trekking in Thailand seem overly commercialized, so I started thinking I would opt out of it. I certainly enjoyed my time there. I found a cheap hostel, ate great food from the nearby street stalls and nourished myself with heavenly mango smoothies every day. Oh my, oh my, I still do miss all the mango shakes (more like a smoothie) I had in Asia. Sweet nectar! I lived off $6-$7 a day in northern Thailand, including all food and accommodations, and I ate better there than anywhere else on the journey. The hostel was great, very social and lots of people from around the world to chat with all hours through the night. I was also very fortunate enough to be there at the right time and happened to meet someone who had met a local Thai guy opening up some small bungalow guest houses out in a small village in the Thai country side with friends also opening up an eco-trekking company. It turns out all these people were looking for a few western looking tourists to take pictures of having fun on various activities at the bungalows or in the jungle, so they asked if we'd be willing to go on a couple day trekking trip with them with free food, free accommodations, and free activities all in exchange for allowing them to take some pictures to use for their web page or pamphlets. It was a hefty price to pay, but I volunteered for the strenuous duty, and they surely provided everything they promised.
The first day we took off in a truck with our gear and drive a couple hours out to the country side through rice fields, and jungle, and villages, palm trees, and farms. We hopped out of the truck and jumped on mountain bikes and began to peddle through the small winding roads of Thailand's countryside. We rode and rode in the hot sun staring out at rice paddies and farms. We rode through areas beyond the tourist track with only locals sweating away in the hot sun green fields or in local open-air markets.
We came upon a waterfall and I changed into board shorts, jumping in for a swim in the cool pools nestled int eh shade of trees of a Thailand forest. I struggled through the rough waters of the pounding falls and clinged to the rocks underneath with the heavy waters hard on my shoulders, and I dove beneath the water where the falls crushed in to the rivers and let the current take me down stream. After swimming we loaded the bikes up and I hopped on top of the truck with the bags and dodged the thorny branches and vines hanging down from the trees, several scratching and clawing and digging in to my skin, marks left of the forest.
We slept under mosquito nets in a hillside bungalow that overlooked an agricultural valley and small village. The hill sloped down the red clay earth of the mountain with a small organic garden. we sat on the the bamboo floor of a hut staring out to everything below us as we talked and played guitar and sang. The guides cooked a half dozen traditional Thai dishes all made over a small charcoal stove. The food was all delicious, flavored with spices and vegetables and washed down with fresh fruit juice and smoothies. For two days we ate deliciously, filling ourselves with freshly cooked dishes.
The last morning we rose early in the mountain air and ate breakfast and made our way down in to a small rice paddy of a local farmer plowing his rice field with a small wooden plow harnessed to a water buffalo. I took off my flip flops and trudged through the mud and mirk and grabbed the plow, lifting and dipping it into the thick mud with the buffalo in front pulling the load, trudging through the warm sludge to plow the field preparing it for planting. My legs sank in to the mud mid calf as I squished and squirmed, the warm mud wrapping around and oozing and pressing up between my toes, the sweat of my brow, the hot sun, and nothing but views of farms and mountains all in chorus with the mud and my body. After plowing plowing I jumped on the buffalo, grasping its huge horns as it edged slowly forward.
After riding a water buffalo, we immediately went to ride an elephant. I was placed on the biggest elephant, a smaller elephant with two passengers, and a baby in tow behind us. I sat with my legs wrapped around the neck, bareback on and an elephant, my thighs pressed in to the rough skin and hands resting on the massive gray head sprouting hair through leathery skin. We walked an hour through the jungle, up and down steep slopes, with the elephant occasionally marching in to the trees foraging for what branches it could eat. As we walked along its long trunk reached back to where my own face was, the hold of the trunk opening up and searching for what bananas and bamboo I had to give, quickly devouring and asking for more, sometimes blowing strong gusts of air on my face through its long trunk. We walked down and through a river, the elephants trunk splashing ans shooting water to cool its body in the hot sun. the whole two days were a great experience, and best of all, it was free. Sometimes life is good.
Well, until I get caught up, can't say these post will be that interesting or thought out. Here you are for now. We'll see if I get another one in sometime soon.
We slept under mosquito nets in a hillside bungalow that overlooked an agricultural valley and small village. The hill sloped down the red clay earth of the mountain with a small organic garden. we sat on the the bamboo floor of a hut staring out to everything below us as we talked and played guitar and sang. The guides cooked a half dozen traditional Thai dishes all made over a small charcoal stove. The food was all delicious, flavored with spices and vegetables and washed down with fresh fruit juice and smoothies. For two days we ate deliciously, filling ourselves with freshly cooked dishes.
The last morning we rose early in the mountain air and ate breakfast and made our way down in to a small rice paddy of a local farmer plowing his rice field with a small wooden plow harnessed to a water buffalo. I took off my flip flops and trudged through the mud and mirk and grabbed the plow, lifting and dipping it into the thick mud with the buffalo in front pulling the load, trudging through the warm sludge to plow the field preparing it for planting. My legs sank in to the mud mid calf as I squished and squirmed, the warm mud wrapping around and oozing and pressing up between my toes, the sweat of my brow, the hot sun, and nothing but views of farms and mountains all in chorus with the mud and my body. After plowing plowing I jumped on the buffalo, grasping its huge horns as it edged slowly forward.
After riding a water buffalo, we immediately went to ride an elephant. I was placed on the biggest elephant, a smaller elephant with two passengers, and a baby in tow behind us. I sat with my legs wrapped around the neck, bareback on and an elephant, my thighs pressed in to the rough skin and hands resting on the massive gray head sprouting hair through leathery skin. We walked an hour through the jungle, up and down steep slopes, with the elephant occasionally marching in to the trees foraging for what branches it could eat. As we walked along its long trunk reached back to where my own face was, the hold of the trunk opening up and searching for what bananas and bamboo I had to give, quickly devouring and asking for more, sometimes blowing strong gusts of air on my face through its long trunk. We walked down and through a river, the elephants trunk splashing ans shooting water to cool its body in the hot sun. the whole two days were a great experience, and best of all, it was free. Sometimes life is good.
Well, until I get caught up, can't say these post will be that interesting or thought out. Here you are for now. We'll see if I get another one in sometime soon.
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