Trekking to the Northern Villages of Thailand

About a two hour drive north of Chiang Mai, Thailand is where the three day trek began for my visit to the Northern Villages of Thailand began. The first leg of the trek was about two hours to the village where we were going to spend the night. It was a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. I didn't really think about the physical aspect of the trek much, it is a lot like hiking in the Rocky Mountains, except that at home, I don't go for overnight hikes that last for days. Perhaps I should have given this a bit more thought! I had difficultly with the downhill parts and fell on my butt a lot.

We finally arrived in the tribal village where we were going to spend the night. Dogs and chickens and other farm animals were everywhere! We put our stuff in the guest house (a shack with beds for fifteen people, right in the middle of the yard with all the animals. Then our trekking guide, Sammy, took us on a tour of the village.

The first house we visited had chicken and pig body parts stuffed in a cupboard (not a refridgerator) on the side wall of the one room house. The man who lived there played a song for us on an instrument that was similar to a ukelele.

The yard

Inside the villagers' house

Villagers outside their house

The next day was exciting, but tough too. We started our trek in the morning. It was okay, but there were a lot of downhill parts and Sammy, the trek guide, helped me a lot. I actually wasn't that far behind everyone else, but an alternative form of transport was offered to me anyway. Bamboo rafts were being loaded up to take the food to the spot along the Mae Khong River where lunch was scheduled. So my mom and I went on a bamboo raft to the spot for lunch.

This was an unexpected adventure! Rapids weren't too bad, but at one point I almost fell off when the raft tipped to a 45 degree angle! I was holding on by only three fingers! I managed to stay on the raft and we made it safely to our destination.

After lunch, we had an elephant ride to the next village! I was so excited as I love elephants. This was definitely checking one point off my bucket list!

My mom and I got on the same elephant. The elephant ride was rough and bumpy. Our elephant was old and temperamental! She was in a mood that day. I don't think that she wanted to do the trek that day. We had a driver (the elephant trainer) for most of the ride, but at one point he jumped off! We were on our own!

The elephant ride!

Our elephant was moving very slowly and we were holding up traffic. She just didn't want to move! We were yelling, "Hee, hee!" at her and tapping her behind her ear to get her to go. She got mad at me once. She put her truck up above her head, pointed at me, and blew air towards me. She was not happy.

There was a point where the path separated at a "Y" intersection. Our elephant decided that she didn't like the direction we were heading, so almost took the wrong path! Our guide jumped back on and pointed her in the right direction. It was quite the experience, but I don't think I am too eager to ride an elephant again.

The second village we stayed at had sort of tree houses. They were up off the ground amongst the trees. It was really nice.

The last morning of the trek involved another bamboo rafting adventure. The first hour was calm and relaxing. After a break we hit rapids for the last two hours of the rafting adventure. This time I didn't fall off. It was a lot of fun!

Our group on our bamboo raft

After lunch we got back on the road and went to see the Padong Long Neck Tribe. For more information about this tribe, please see my post: The Padong Women of Northern Thailand

For more information about the tour I went with, please visit G Adventures at G Adventures Northern Hilltribe Villages

~Angie