Trekking in Thailand
A quick update before we leave Chiang Mai tomorrow morning. Then we're headed to Chiangrai and the Golden Triangle. We'll have an opportunity to cross briefly in to Burma ( Myanmar ). I don't care much for a passport stamp but I think Phil will do it. And then we're headed to Laos . So I thought I would try to get in an update b/c I'm not sure what to expect internet-wise in Laos .
On Thursday night, we ended up having dinner at Phil's Dad's friend who has lived in Thailand for the last 7 years or so. He works for a Christian organization and we had dinner w/ his family. We got a cool introduction to Lao food. And then after dinner, we set off a bunch of fireworks. So firecrackers and fireworks are all legal here in Thailand and people are constantly setting them off - especially with the "Katong" (sp?) festival going on. People light up these giant lanterns taht float into the air and then you attach firecrackers to the bottom of it. In the past, these lanterns have fallen burning out of the sky onto houses - I'm surprised more houses aren't burnt down. But it's pretty amazing b/c you look into the sky and all you see are dozens of little orange dots. It's like a whole new constellation. That and it sounds like gun fire is going off regularly. The "katong" festival is some sort of Buddhist festival. I got to check out the night parade here which was absolutley beautiful - big elaborate buddhist themed floats, lots of music and dancing. People throwing firecrackers everywhere (gosh, it's like being stuck in a cross fire or something. - I particularl hate it when little punks throw the firecrackers near your feet). A firecracker just went off outside - I think I"ve lost my hearing again briefly.....
And another one just went off... good grief....
Anyway, so Phil and I went trekking for 3 days. I heard that everyone goes trekking in Chiangmai so I figured we had to do it. Essentially - we went camping int he Thai countryside for 3 days. It was pretty awesome.
Highlights -
1st day we had a bucket bath - yep, I threw buckets of cold water onto myself. the 2nd day - we took a bath in a pool at the bottom of a waterfall - so that was cool
Riding elephants. Our elephant was quite hungry and went through two bags of bananas very quickly.
Sleeping in wooden huts. One big dormitory the first night and then our own little private jungle huts the second night. It was very cold and hard.
I was so hungry on the 2nd day and they weren't giving us enough meat to eat (actually, they gave us no meat to eat - except fish balls and BBQ frogs, which aren't particularly filling) - I started looking at the village dogs very hungrily.....
On the first night, they had children from a small minority village come sing to us, which was cool. Then we had to sing back to them. I goofed up and forgot some of the words to "O Canada." Yes, I'm very embarrassed.
Walking around in the villages made me think that I was in some sort of World Vision promo video. It was interesting seeing people living in wooden shacks, pigs, dogs, and chickens running around. Women carrying babies in baskets and people living off of subsistent farming (rice fields, etc.).
It was an awesome trek. And I'm so proud of myself for doing it and surviving. I actually find traveling through SE Asia quite mentally draining. Part of it has to do w/ the fact that I feel like I'm being scammed by every person that I meet. I find that there's a lot of distrust w/in mysef of anyone and everyone. I was paranoid that during our trek - either our guesthouse would rob us blindly of the stuff we left in their storage, or perhaps the trekking guides would take us out into the woods and rob us there. So that's been sort of a hindrance and has made it more difficult for me to travel. It was different in China when I was able to communicate and get around quite easily. But I'm finding Thailand difficult and am not sure what to expect next in Laos - which is even less developed. Phil keeps me in good spirits as he's super laid back and easy going. He puts up w/ my complaining and moaning. There's a lot of scams out there. It's interesting comparing stories (and esp. prices) with other travelers. But I guess you have to start taking things in stride. The good thing about being ripped off in SE Asia is that when you do the currency exchange - you haven't been ripped off too much in CND dollars.
One really cool highlight from today -
I took a Thai cooking class, which was AWESOME. We got to make all sorts of Thai food and then eat it. Pad Thai, spring rolls, green curry.... YUMMMMMMYYYYYYY!!!!!
Alright, I'm exhausted. After a long day of cooking and eating, I need some rest. ;)
On Thursday night, we ended up having dinner at Phil's Dad's friend who has lived in Thailand for the last 7 years or so. He works for a Christian organization and we had dinner w/ his family. We got a cool introduction to Lao food. And then after dinner, we set off a bunch of fireworks. So firecrackers and fireworks are all legal here in Thailand and people are constantly setting them off - especially with the "Katong" (sp?) festival going on. People light up these giant lanterns taht float into the air and then you attach firecrackers to the bottom of it. In the past, these lanterns have fallen burning out of the sky onto houses - I'm surprised more houses aren't burnt down. But it's pretty amazing b/c you look into the sky and all you see are dozens of little orange dots. It's like a whole new constellation. That and it sounds like gun fire is going off regularly. The "katong" festival is some sort of Buddhist festival. I got to check out the night parade here which was absolutley beautiful - big elaborate buddhist themed floats, lots of music and dancing. People throwing firecrackers everywhere (gosh, it's like being stuck in a cross fire or something. - I particularl hate it when little punks throw the firecrackers near your feet). A firecracker just went off outside - I think I"ve lost my hearing again briefly.....
And another one just went off... good grief....
Anyway, so Phil and I went trekking for 3 days. I heard that everyone goes trekking in Chiangmai so I figured we had to do it. Essentially - we went camping int he Thai countryside for 3 days. It was pretty awesome.
Highlights -
1st day we had a bucket bath - yep, I threw buckets of cold water onto myself. the 2nd day - we took a bath in a pool at the bottom of a waterfall - so that was cool
Riding elephants. Our elephant was quite hungry and went through two bags of bananas very quickly.
Sleeping in wooden huts. One big dormitory the first night and then our own little private jungle huts the second night. It was very cold and hard.
I was so hungry on the 2nd day and they weren't giving us enough meat to eat (actually, they gave us no meat to eat - except fish balls and BBQ frogs, which aren't particularly filling) - I started looking at the village dogs very hungrily.....
On the first night, they had children from a small minority village come sing to us, which was cool. Then we had to sing back to them. I goofed up and forgot some of the words to "O Canada." Yes, I'm very embarrassed.
Walking around in the villages made me think that I was in some sort of World Vision promo video. It was interesting seeing people living in wooden shacks, pigs, dogs, and chickens running around. Women carrying babies in baskets and people living off of subsistent farming (rice fields, etc.).
It was an awesome trek. And I'm so proud of myself for doing it and surviving. I actually find traveling through SE Asia quite mentally draining. Part of it has to do w/ the fact that I feel like I'm being scammed by every person that I meet. I find that there's a lot of distrust w/in mysef of anyone and everyone. I was paranoid that during our trek - either our guesthouse would rob us blindly of the stuff we left in their storage, or perhaps the trekking guides would take us out into the woods and rob us there. So that's been sort of a hindrance and has made it more difficult for me to travel. It was different in China when I was able to communicate and get around quite easily. But I'm finding Thailand difficult and am not sure what to expect next in Laos - which is even less developed. Phil keeps me in good spirits as he's super laid back and easy going. He puts up w/ my complaining and moaning. There's a lot of scams out there. It's interesting comparing stories (and esp. prices) with other travelers. But I guess you have to start taking things in stride. The good thing about being ripped off in SE Asia is that when you do the currency exchange - you haven't been ripped off too much in CND dollars.
One really cool highlight from today -
I took a Thai cooking class, which was AWESOME. We got to make all sorts of Thai food and then eat it. Pad Thai, spring rolls, green curry.... YUMMMMMMYYYYYYY!!!!!
Alright, I'm exhausted. After a long day of cooking and eating, I need some rest. ;)
posted by John A @ 7:41 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:15 PM,
Anonymous said…
With all the fireworks and lanterns... any relation to the Chinese Lantern Festival and Mid-Autumn Moon? (history and culture-wise, that is)
So, you'll come back a chef?
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