Hello!!! I haven't been updating my blog in Thailand as much because I haven't had much time. Thailand, so far, is a vastly different from China and a much better fit for me. We arrived last Saturday and started our tour on Sunday. Our tour group is really good. We have 2 Australian brothers Paul and Steve, a American named Megan and an English guy named Alex. Our tour guide is pretty awesome as well. His name is Sek. We left Bangkok last Sunday morning and headed to a small town, Autthaya for the day. We rode bikes around the town and hung out at the pool in our hotel. We were catching the overnight train to Chaing Mai, so we didn't have much time.
The overnight train was a much different experience than China. I didn't have the best sleep, as the sleeper trains are open concept, but I was so excited to be exploring it didn't matter.
We arrived in Chaing Mai on Monday morning. We were starting our 3 day tribe trek the next day. We went for a traditional Thai dinner, which was delicious. Night markets are huge here, so we checked on out. The stuff they sell in Thailand is so nice, and super, super cheap. Chaing Mai isvery busy, full of travellers. The next day we started our tribe trek. It took quite a long time to drive to where we needed to be and we made a stop at a Monkey farm. You can see how comfortable I look in the picture above :) We arrived at the start of the hike and hiked that day for four hours. I never prepared myself for this, and it was pretty intense. We arrived at the village where we were staying for the night. The village was very quaint and simple. There were animals roaming everywhere, which I liked. Our shower was the river, and this was the best part of our day. We all shared a room, mats on the floor. Our group hung out around camp fire and played some games, got to know each other and shared some laughs. The roosters, my new least-favourite animal, woke us up at dawn. I didn't sleep at all. The hike the next day was insane. We started at 9 am and ended at 7 pm. We did stop to eat, of course, but it was brutal. Rewarding once finished, but crazy. The day was hot and the jungle isn't the easiest place to hike. There is a lot of bush and sticks poking out everywhere. I cut up my legs pretty good, and had got bitten all over from the mosquito's. But so worth it because at the end of our hike we rode some elephants through the river to the next village. I wish I wasn't so tired and dehydrated, cause I really don't remember much about being on the elephant except that I was scared to fall asleep and fall off, which almost happened. This village was pretty similar, especially because they had damn roosters as well. No sleep again. The next day, to end the trek, we rafted on a bamboo raft down the river to the end location where we would head back to Chaing Mai. It rained that day and the bamboo rafting isn't as relaxing as you might think. You have to hold on pretty tight and I was a bit anxious, especially because our guys weren't well versed in bamboo rafting. haha. We made it, alive, wet but alive. THe next day we had plans to head to Chaing Rai by bus. On our way we stopped at an Opium museum and at the golden triangle, Laos Burma and Thailand. We were in 3 countries that day, crazy! The countries we all very similar and we didn't venture far into any of them.
Late last night we arrived at the Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang. I love it here, it's so cool staying in the conservation centre. We each had our own hut and the huts were located in the middle the forest. We were able to watch the elephants bathe as well as the elephant show afterwards, which includes them painting and doing all sorts of tricks. It was pretty spectacular, what smart animals. Right now I am at the Internet cafe waiting for our overnight train to Bangkok where we will stay for a few hours before head out to another town. Thailand has been a great experience so far. It's been busy and there are days I crave some relaxation or not having a schedule. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.
The overnight train was a much different experience than China. I didn't have the best sleep, as the sleeper trains are open concept, but I was so excited to be exploring it didn't matter.
We arrived in Chaing Mai on Monday morning. We were starting our 3 day tribe trek the next day. We went for a traditional Thai dinner, which was delicious. Night markets are huge here, so we checked on out. The stuff they sell in Thailand is so nice, and super, super cheap. Chaing Mai isvery busy, full of travellers. The next day we started our tribe trek. It took quite a long time to drive to where we needed to be and we made a stop at a Monkey farm. You can see how comfortable I look in the picture above :) We arrived at the start of the hike and hiked that day for four hours. I never prepared myself for this, and it was pretty intense. We arrived at the village where we were staying for the night. The village was very quaint and simple. There were animals roaming everywhere, which I liked. Our shower was the river, and this was the best part of our day. We all shared a room, mats on the floor. Our group hung out around camp fire and played some games, got to know each other and shared some laughs. The roosters, my new least-favourite animal, woke us up at dawn. I didn't sleep at all. The hike the next day was insane. We started at 9 am and ended at 7 pm. We did stop to eat, of course, but it was brutal. Rewarding once finished, but crazy. The day was hot and the jungle isn't the easiest place to hike. There is a lot of bush and sticks poking out everywhere. I cut up my legs pretty good, and had got bitten all over from the mosquito's. But so worth it because at the end of our hike we rode some elephants through the river to the next village. I wish I wasn't so tired and dehydrated, cause I really don't remember much about being on the elephant except that I was scared to fall asleep and fall off, which almost happened. This village was pretty similar, especially because they had damn roosters as well. No sleep again. The next day, to end the trek, we rafted on a bamboo raft down the river to the end location where we would head back to Chaing Mai. It rained that day and the bamboo rafting isn't as relaxing as you might think. You have to hold on pretty tight and I was a bit anxious, especially because our guys weren't well versed in bamboo rafting. haha. We made it, alive, wet but alive. THe next day we had plans to head to Chaing Rai by bus. On our way we stopped at an Opium museum and at the golden triangle, Laos Burma and Thailand. We were in 3 countries that day, crazy! The countries we all very similar and we didn't venture far into any of them.
Late last night we arrived at the Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang. I love it here, it's so cool staying in the conservation centre. We each had our own hut and the huts were located in the middle the forest. We were able to watch the elephants bathe as well as the elephant show afterwards, which includes them painting and doing all sorts of tricks. It was pretty spectacular, what smart animals. Right now I am at the Internet cafe waiting for our overnight train to Bangkok where we will stay for a few hours before head out to another town. Thailand has been a great experience so far. It's been busy and there are days I crave some relaxation or not having a schedule. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.
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