One of our first tasks on arriving in Chiang Rai was to book ourselves onto a trek and do some of that ‘back to nature’ stuff. Our guesthouse was running a reasonably priced one the next morning and so we signed up, had some curry, Skyped our parents and hit the sack, ready for an 8am start.
Having come downriver from Tha Ton the previous day, we weren’t particularly keen on heading back up it for some elephant riding at the start of our trip. The scenery was just as spectacular – but we gave the riding a miss when we arrived at the camp, instead spending an hour sketching (Rosie) and photographing (me). The story goes that about 10-15 elephants are kept at the riverside for the tourists, but are rotated regularly with the remainder (30ish if I remember correctly) allowed to roam into the forest to eat. As much as the elephants seemed to be well-treated, it’s still unfortunate to see some who are obviously bored/stressed about being chained up.
Where the trek differed most from the 3 day one I had done 6 years earlier in Chiang Mai was the sheer effort required (mostly by our guides) to clear a path for us. We were there towards the end of the low season, but our guides hadn’t been on this route for a couple of weeks and it didn’t look like anyone else had either.
Taking breaks from their deforestation efforts, our guides could be seen pocketing just about everything which moved, including giant crickets and bamboo worms, most of which ended up on a fire or wok later on.
Our 4 hour walk on the first day led us through some spectacular scenery, finishing at a Lisu tribe village where the locals seemed to be celebrating our arrival amongst themselves with plenty of rice whiskey (Lao Khow) and cigarettes, which were replaced later in the evening by opium pipes. For medicinal purposes we were informed. Sure.
Cooking started as soon as light started to fall, with everyone getting involved in the preparation of at least one dish. The bamboo worms were up first as a starter.
Stir fried vegetables:
Potato and chicken curry:
Green papaya (I think) and mince:
This seemed a little excessive for 4 people, but, since the guides and villagers were eating elsewhere, we did our best to polish off pretty much everything.
Some of the most spectacular scenery came on day two, we dropped down a little only to climb an even taller mountain, passing through a large village which earned its income from a large tea plantation and a small village with just 3 families who had crossed the border from Burma a year earlier.
When we left the Lisu tribe on the morning of our 2nd day, we had taken along one of the villagers – a waif of a man who, were it not for the huge knife strapped to his side, looked like he should be sitting in a rocking chair. Despite leaving the village with nothing other than his one knife, we arrived a few hours later at a small jungle clearing, having built two bridges en-route to cross rivers and repaired three others, with enough chopsticks (and holders), ladels, mugs, spoons and bowls for 7 people.
Chopsticks in progress:
Dining set complete:
Then the preparation for dinner started – an hour-long session, frequently using ingredients collected en route, which had us in awe both at the resourcefulness of the guides and the flexibility of bamboo.
If we were going to boil some water, we’d need some containers:
And maybe something to eat out of:
Get the vegetables and meat on the boil:
Time to set the table:
Serve it up:
One of the best chicken and vegetable noodle soups I’ve had.
And just to polish off the second day, before we headed to the natural hot springs, the sun made an appearance to light up some breathtaking views.
I’ve focused a bit much on food in this post, so head over to my wife’s blog for a skim through her more amusing version.
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