Jungle trekking in Chiang Mai

November 1st, 2001 at 12:00am

So here I am in this Hill Tribe village somewhere in the mountains west of Chang Mai. The first destination in our 3-day trek. I am here with Rebecca from the guesthouse and we also have 4 others on the trek – David and Lucy from the U.K. and Claire and Katherine from Canada. We booked our trek with a trekking company in Chang Mai that was recommended to us by a couple other people at the guesthouse. Anyway this morning we were picked up at 9am and then had a 1.5-hour drive out of town to the start of the trek. Everyone was feeling a bit carsick after the windy ride in the pickup.

We started the trek and it was a beautiful 2-hour walk up the mountainside to the village here. Luckily we did NOT see any leeches today (we have already heard leech stories from the other people from our guesthouse!). The forest here is so green and lush and somehow the humidity is much lower up here so it was really an enjoyable walk. Now we are hanging out by a fire, drinking beer, and waiting for dinner to be ready (which is being cooked by the guides). Very civilized actually! We even had a shower and although it was cold it was still very refreshing.

An amazing celebration back in Chang Mai last night – complete with a parade, live music, floating candles being launched in the river everywhere, and, of course, firecrackers. The fireworks did not end until after 3am when I was finally able to sleep!

Heather, Rebecca and Jen at the Smile Guest House

The trekking crew – David, Jen, Lucy, Rebecca, and Claire

Jen, Rebecca, and Claire getting ready to chow!

Entry Filed under: North,Thailand