"Non Touristic Areas"

A truck came to pick us up in the morning - one of those pick up trucks with a bench on either side so you sit facing each other. We fit 14 people on our pick up truck, to give you an idea of how squishy our morning was. We all became friends very fast! The truck drove us out of the city, stopping once to register with the tourist police and give them copies of our passports (so the authorities know who is out in the jungle). Once out of town we stopped at a market where our guides picked up supplies for all our meals. We drove and drove, coming to a bumpy dirt road which eventually ended in front of some huts. We piled out, and our guide told us we were going to have lunch here. So we all sat on some benches at a long table, and he proceeded to give us the coolest packed lunch ever - fried rice and vegetables wrapped in banana leaves, with an orange for dessert. All the packaging could be thrown in the compost, it was very eco friendly. (I have found it interesting that at home everybody is so concerned about how to be "green" and eco friendly, whereas here it is just a way of life).
After lunch, we slung on our backpacks and began our trek. We followed our guide, Pan, through the bamboo forests and slippery paths for a few hours before arriving at a waterfall in the late afternoon. We crossed a bridge over a waterfall, and then Pan told us we could go swimming. I was like, "Wait, in this pool right here?" The pool was not very large and quickly led to a semi large waterfall. I was really scared of falling over the edge, and would have much rather swam somewhere that didn't lead to a drop. But everyone changed and we all jumped in. The water was cold, and felt amazing after our sweaty hike. Probably half an hour into swimming, Sophie, a 22 year old British girl whom I had made friends with, was trying to climb out on the rocks, but slipped and was swept to the edge of the falls. While I screamed my head off, Toshi, a Japanese guy in our group, did something actually helpful and jumped after her. He grabbed her and they both fell one level down the falls, but not all the way down. He pushed her onto the rocks where her boyfriend grabbed her and pulled her up. Meanwhile, Toshi's wife Satchi, and I sat on the other side of the falls having heart attacks. All the rest of the group were down in another pool jumping off rocks. I was SO scared, first of all because that's exactly what I was scared would happen to me, and second of all because I had made friends with Sophie and she felt like a little sister, and I don't even want to think about what would have happened if she fell all the way over. I'm just really glad Toshi was there and able to grab her in time.
After that, we all got out and dried off, and hiked the rest of the way to the village where we were going to spend the night. The village consists of 9 families, and they have an agreement with the trekking service to provide a dwelling for trekkers, a toilet, and drinks. In return, the village is paid. Our dwelling was a big bamboo hut on stilts, with mats and a blanket for each person, and a fire where our guides cooked us dinner. The toilets were a hole in the ground, and a squatty potty with a bucket. We all went up into the village and watched the villagers come home with their baskets of firewood or food, and start the evening rituals. We then sat around on our stilted bamboo balcony overlooking the jungle, with a huge bucket of ice cold waters, coca cola's, and chang beers, and waited for our dinner. There were 12 people in our group: a Belgian couple in their 50's, a Japanese couple in their 30's, a British couple in their early 20's, 2 French girls, and 2 British guys, and us, the lone Americans (We've barely met any Americans this entire trip!) Everybody could speak a little bit of English, but not much. However, everyone was incredibly friendly and interesting, and it was really fun to get to meet and talk with them.
Somehow Pan and his friends managed to make a feast for us over one small fire, and since there was no electricity we ate delicious curry and rice with candlelight under the stars.
Some of the villagers came to hang out with us in the evening, and taught us a lot of mind games involving toothpicks and string, it was fun.
But when you've been hiking all afternoon, there is no electricity, the only source of entertainment is string, and nobody speaks the same language, you get tired pretty quickly. We were all in bed by 9 :)

Of course I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. This involved wriggling my way out of my sleeping bag sheet, groping for my flip flops and toilet paper in the pitch dark, and feeling my way with my hands through all the sleeping people over the creaky floor. I finally made it to the door and figured out how to unlock it, stepping out onto the unsteady porch. Luckily there were stars out, so I could see my way down the ladder, and down the hill to the outhouses. A successful experience with the slippery squatty potty, and I made my way back up the hill, up the ladder, across the creaky floor, and into my sleeping bag, where I spent a very cold night trying to cuddle next to Jordi, who would have none of it, on our hard little mats.

The next morning we all woke up, surprised at how cold the night had been and ready to tackle a new day. We sat on our porch for an hour drinking nasty nescafe, and tea that tasted like boiled spinach until our breakfast was ready. Pan cooked us carrots and eggs, and toasted some white bread - once again pretty impressive for the tiny fire he had going.

We finally got trekking by mid morning. It's called trekking, not hiking, because hiking usually involves trails and destinations, whereas trekking involves a lot of machete hacking and wandering through peoples back yards. Our Thai guides have walked these trails so often, they were skipping all over the place in their plastic sandals, waiving their machetes and having a grand ol time, while we trudged wheezing and sweaty behind them. The trails led us through banana tree and bamboo forests, sometimes so narrow and slippery it was scary. Other times we walked through rice fields and ambled through cow pastures. Everything was incredibly gorgeous. The only thing was the constant attack of gnats and bugs, who think eyeballs and ear canals would make great homes. Next time I come to the jungles of Thailand, I will remember to bring goggles and earmuffs.

Our guide took us to see a bat cave (which I obviously did not go into), and my cheap backpack I bought in Bangkok completely ripped, so it was all tied up and Jordi was carrying it like a football. Everybody was ready for lunch by the time we arrived at another village around 1. We waited for an hour while they cooked us fried rice, and then continued on our way. We came to an Elephant Camp and got to watch them and take pictures, but we didn't ride them until the next day. In the evening we made it to our next village where we were going to sleep. This time we had misquito nets and sinks, it was luxury :)

For dinner our guides made fried pumpkin with tofu, green curry soup, and rice. It was sooo good!! We all sat around talking until it was late enough to go to bed!

The next morning we had our standard coffee and tea, with white toast and watermelon for breakfast. Everybody exchanged addresses and info, promising to visit eachother in all our homelands. We walked back to the elephant camp, and got to ride the huge and friendly beasts. Elephants are so funny, I loved it! After our elephant ride, we walked an hour more to a village where we got picked up by a truck which took us to a river. We got out and got to go white water rafting for a bit (don't worry, they were pretty tame rapids!) and then we got to go on a bamboo raft. We were half sinking, but it was really peaceful and beautiful floating down the river. When we got to the end of our run, we all got to eat delicious pad thai before getting back on the truck that would take us back to Chiang Mai.

It was such a fun adventure, and I'm grateful that no one got hurt or sick. Our group was a great mix of people, and our guide was a sweet and knowledgeable guy. We had a great time, and I would highly recommend Trekking - just don't forget the goggles and earmuffs! ;)