Up into the hills...

So wat tee ka! (hello!)

We're back from our 3 day trek into the hills of Northern Thailand. Wow. What an experience...(I know! I keep saying that, but seriously the hits keep on coming on this tour). Let me start from the top...

Drove from Chiang Mai for a couple of hours up into the hills of Northern Thailand. For this trek, we only brought our day packs (THANK GOD), and a couple of days of clothing. We had a guide (named KoKo), and a porter named Gan (along with our regular guide Neung)...yes, I have totally butchered the spelling, but I am thinking phonetically these days :) The first day we walked about 3.5 hours, and about 7km. It felt like straight up...but maybe that's me :)

We were dropped off at 1000 meters (above sea level), and trekked to 1400 that day. What amazing views, we were heading up the sides of these hills, which by Ontario standards are very close to mountains :)...the views were stunning. The biggest mountain, which I can't remember it's name but is translated to mean "Big Mountain" seriously, this language slays me! It is a limestone mountain, and stands at 2500 meters above sea level. We arrived in the village at about 6...we were greeted by about 20 kids, all yelling "FOOOOOTBAAAALLLLL". I guess that's what we tourists are good for :) So we made Ben (the 19 year old limey on our trek) do it...He was very entertaining, and the kids were hilarious. So shy, but over time they were very friendly, and wanted to know about everything. My thermarest got much attention :)

We stayed in a bamboo hut. In one corner was the cooking pot where our guides made us dinner. Pretty much the best thai food I've ever had :) We slept on mats on the floor. Oh yes. A word about the toilets. Yeah.I can't say I am a fan of the asian toilet. you stand with your legs about a foot apart and pee downward. They call these "happy rooms" ...and when I pee on myself. I tell you I AM NOT HAPPY!

Anyways...that was too much information...Day 2...was CRAZY. We walked 13 km, KoKo said it was 60% up, and 40%down. and I say, He's a big liar. We were meandering up and down hills. We stopped at a georgeous waterfall, and took a swim (if I can figure out how to put pictures up I'll post one), and we walked through alot of bamboo forests.
**Useless Fact alert: there are 60 different types of Bamboo in Thailand.
so, little known fact, I am moderately afraid of heights. This made yesterday especially challenging. Some of the paths were about a foot wide, with a very steep drop (at least 3 stories) to my right. I was having a hard time with that. But I am here to write this note, so obviously alls well ends well.

So finally, at about 4pm, we arrive at the second village. they have electricity, they have a brand new guesthouse, which is beyond beautiful. oh yes, wait for it. AN ARMY of women waiting to give us Thai massages. BOOYA! That was the best!!! We all were pretty much comotose thereafter. This place was so beautiful, in a valley, and the buildings were built into the trees (they've called it Tree House Chiang Dao)...very amazing.

And today...just a quick 2.5 hour hike up into the meeting point...seemed like a cake walk compared to Day 2. After we were done, we headed to the Elephant Park where I rode an elephant. HOW COOL IS THAT? the highlight was going across the river, and having the elephants suck in water through their trunks, and spray it all over us...

So tonight, free time, finally, we're heading to the night bazaar. Tomorrow, just hanging around Chiang Mai. My roomie is amazing btw. Anne, from Denmark. She celebrated her 60th birthday on Tuesday night in a hut..that was pretty cool. She has a house in Peru, and loves to run. We're already planning a Toronto/Copenhagen marathon exchange...(TRP, Kim, prepare yourselves :))

So wat tee kaa (also means good bye :)