Candi's Corner: Wanderlust and Passions

Every time I talk about our trip, I am always inclined to say "this was the highlight in our trip", then I change my mind to say "that was the highlight of our trip", I guess I should feel blessed that we have taken a trip that was full of highlights(as opposed to lowlights?). Anyway, there is no doubt that the three day trek we took in Northern Thailand, starting in Chiang Rai and ending close to Chiang Saen, was full of great memories that we will always cherish.

Our trek started on Friday May 22nd, when our two wonderful guides Sam and Jay, from Go With Me Tours, picked us up in their nice air conditioned SUV for our three hour drive to Chiang Rai. We did many stops in our three day trek, so I will skip these for now and focus on the actual trek, otherwise this post will be really long. So, to get to our trekking trail, we boarded a long tail boat that took us along the Mekong River for about 45 minutes or so. I can't say that I was not nervous on the boat, lets face it, being on a wooden boat that doesn't seem to be equipped with any life preserves and was floating in the middle of no where as far as I am concerned, was a bit alarming. The scenery,however, was very beautiful and we spotted our first elephant(then) drinking water on the side of the river.

The boat docked at the side of a rather large village,Karen Rummit village, where I got my first practice(in that trip anyway) to use the squat toilet, and if there is anything that I did not like about our trek it is these squat toilets, I find them really hard to use. Okay, moving on, we did not spend much time in that village, although they were selling many souvenirs, offering elephant rides and photos with snakes,we politely declined the offers(gasp!I can't believe anyone would decline a photo with a huge snake wrapped around their neck!) and started with our trek.

The actual hike was not that hard, although we were gaining elevation. But the real killer was the heat, and I can't say exactly how hot it was, but we were getting soaked with sweat, and stopped very frequently to take advantage of shaded spots. We saw many huts and farmers along the way, and were offered litchis, which were very refreshing. It took us about two and half hours to reach our destination: Lahu hill tribe village. The Lahu tribe is believed to have originated in Tibet and then migrated to China making its way to Northern Thailand among other south eastern Asia countries.

After managing to take a challenging shower, we had a lovely evening with Sam cooking, and us eating and chatting with him. I was surprised to see that the village was equipped with a solar battery that was used for some lighting. The village people were very nice and accommodating,although we could not communicate with them at all since they did not speak any English. Actually, they spoke their own language, and very little Thai. It was fascinating to see people living the simple life. Coming from a life full of computers, laptops, iPods, blenders, cellphones and other luxuries and comforts, it was very empowering realizing the fact that we can live without it all, might not be as comfortable,luxurious or entertaining, but we sure can survive.

After talking the night away, we went to our fairly comfortable bed in out private room. The mosquito net worked very well, and we managed not to get bitten during the whole trek.