It's Sunday, August 10th, 2008.
I have been in Thailand now for 11 days. I just came out of the jungle this friday, as the Beijing Olympics were having opening ceremonies. Chiang Mai has so far been the highlight of my trip. who knew that I would so much enjoy wearing the same stinkin' sweat-drenched t-shirt for three solids days and sleeping on mattresses that are so hard they feel like they're made from coconut husk but are probably in actuality just some form of shredded up bamboo or compresses grass.
I was the only American on my trip thru the jungle, and furthermore, there were no Canadians, either. There were 2 people from Basque, Spain; 2 from Belgium, and 1 from S. Africa (who I could have just shoved off a bamboo raft our last day out), and TONG! our guide. It was a very enjoyable time. I got to ride on the neck of an Elephant--did you know that when an elephant makes noise, it feel like a soft rumbling? kindof like, i think when my dog is sleeping and he's all soft and quiet and I try to stel his bone, he growls while he is half-asleep--well it's like a really big one of those.
We visited the Karen tribes of the North and stayed at their village the first night, then hiked and hiked and ate noodles out of banana leaves and took a nap at the top of a hill then hiked some more after the rain stopped on the second day. Finally we cam to a waterfall where we stayed in individual bungalows beside the waterfall. We showered in the river, rode the current down the stream, and walked through strong currents and slippery rocks to venture under and behing the waterfall where moss and frogs clung against the smooth crags and little pockets , where we went to watch the water fall in front of and on us.
on the third day it rained. a lot. there was a lot of mud and slipping trekkers. this was the first time I pulled out my glorified garbage bag with armholes and a drawstring and slipped it over my sweating, rain-soaked body.
Finally we saw something that looked too concrete and metal to have been built in the jungle and knew that the end was near! we visited one more village, where we were attacked by little kids saying, "hello, 5 baht" and shoving bracelets made of beads, seeds, and coffee beans in your way. YOU think, oh, it's only 5 baht, so you buy one, and the moment the kids see you've bought one from a kid, they swarm, and you're out 50 baht, 1 from each kid, and your arm is covered in one-time use bracelets.
The bamboo rafting was our last little bit, and it was okay. basically 3 of us sat on this raft and a guy poled us down a gentle river and a little waterfall. It was a good chance to sort of rinse the jungle dirt from myself, as I got completely soaked.
Today I go away from Chiang Mai. a very nice, smaller city with a friendly attitude, I will go to Krabi in the South where I hope I can do some rock climbing!
I hope you all are well, and for you folks in WA/OR I am so so so so so so so so excited to see you all!!!
With love,
Susan
