Thailand, Chiang Mai
07/03/05 Filed in: Travel
Back in Thailand I'm off to Chiang Mai in the
north. Today it's been a full day, trekking,
across rivers and streams, over broken bamboo
bridges, up the side of a mountain to visit hill
tribes and then down the other side where there was a
chance to go on a little elephant safari. Most people
there seemed to be in couples and they were seated
together on big metal chairs on the back of the
elephant. Being by myself they invited me to ride on
the neck of the largest elephant. Almost felt like
some kind of mahout. It was a slow trek through the
forest then up a very steep and very narrow dirt
track. These big animals are sure footed, and that's
good, you don't want one of these big guys slipping
off the mountain and tumbling down over on top of
you. Fortunately, my elephant seemed to like me
pretty well, every now and then he would grab my foot
with his trunk and give a good
tug.
Following this I hitched a ride down a river on a bamboo raft. The rafts are made of several large diameter bamboo pieces that are maybe 25 feet long and the whole raft is not more than 4 feet wide and tied together in three places by one inch wide strips of old tire. Usually there are two passengers sitting in the middle of the raft with a boatman at the front and rear. There was a young couple from Ireland occupying the middle seat so this left me standing as the rear boatman manning a bamboo poll (used to steer around rocks). It was not the rainy season, so the river was pretty easy, with the occasional little rapids (not more than class 3). Quiet rice paddies and farming scenes drifted by, as well as small groups of elephants grazing along the river's edge. It was a nice easy float. Then at one point there was a sign advising passengers to disembark, for their own safety. The boatman on the front indicated we should get out, but we waved our hands indicating to push on. The boatman looked at me and laughed as I pushed off a rock with my bamboo poll. Off we went around a bend and the river suddenly narrowed to a small rushing gap between large rocks, just barely the width of the raft. The couple from Ireland grabbed their bamboo seat really tight and I crouched low and shoved my bamboo poll this way and that as we surged into the gap. Somehow we managed to scrape through without getting crushed, or even too wet. The boatman looked behind us to see that all the other boats had stopped and their passengers were scrambling off to walk around the rapids. Just another day of exploration, one never knows what's around the bend....
Please check out all the photos on my SE Asia Portfolio page available at NavaSwan.com
Following this I hitched a ride down a river on a bamboo raft. The rafts are made of several large diameter bamboo pieces that are maybe 25 feet long and the whole raft is not more than 4 feet wide and tied together in three places by one inch wide strips of old tire. Usually there are two passengers sitting in the middle of the raft with a boatman at the front and rear. There was a young couple from Ireland occupying the middle seat so this left me standing as the rear boatman manning a bamboo poll (used to steer around rocks). It was not the rainy season, so the river was pretty easy, with the occasional little rapids (not more than class 3). Quiet rice paddies and farming scenes drifted by, as well as small groups of elephants grazing along the river's edge. It was a nice easy float. Then at one point there was a sign advising passengers to disembark, for their own safety. The boatman on the front indicated we should get out, but we waved our hands indicating to push on. The boatman looked at me and laughed as I pushed off a rock with my bamboo poll. Off we went around a bend and the river suddenly narrowed to a small rushing gap between large rocks, just barely the width of the raft. The couple from Ireland grabbed their bamboo seat really tight and I crouched low and shoved my bamboo poll this way and that as we surged into the gap. Somehow we managed to scrape through without getting crushed, or even too wet. The boatman looked behind us to see that all the other boats had stopped and their passengers were scrambling off to walk around the rapids. Just another day of exploration, one never knows what's around the bend....
Please check out all the photos on my SE Asia Portfolio page available at NavaSwan.com