Tribes, trekking and fireworks in Chiang Rai :)

30/12/12

I wake up at 2.00am and find it difficult to get back to sleep! The alarm finally goes off at 4.00am and we finish packing, shower and get some breakfast at 7/11!

Some irritating German girls bagsy the front seat, so I’m stuck in second row crossing my fingers that the travel sickness tablets that I brought at the Pharmacy work! It takes a short time for them to kick in but when they do I can deal with the twists, turns and near misses.

Two 10 minute breaks, a drop off in Chiang Mai and we’re alive and in Chiang Rai by 11.00am, half an hour earlier than expected.

It takes us a while to figure out that we are 8km out of the town centre at bus Terminal 2, the information point at the bus station provides us with a map and tells us to go to Bay 20 and get a shared mini-bus (shared Jeep) to Terminal 1, based in the City Centre, it’s an inexpensive 10 baht 🙂

Tom sussed out the way to Chat Guesthouse (www.chatguesthouse.com), we shower get some food and settle on two trips; one trekking and one sight-seeing.

After this armed with our map of the local area we visit a few local Temples including Wat Phra Kaew and almost make it all the way to Chiang Rai beach before giving up because of my tired, blistered feet.

31/12/12 – New Years Eve

Tom and I have an American breakfast; scrambled eggs, bacon etc to power-up for the day’s itinerary, we hire a scooter and cruise around to a couple of sights.

The first stop is a Flower Show that Chat told us to go and have a look at; it’s hot and busy with beautiful planted lilies, carved fruit, woven banana leaves and floating water displays.

Next stop is the Kings Monument, it’s on a main roundabout and is a bit awkward to get to, we manage though and take a few shots before moving onto the Hill tribe Museum. I’m surprised to learn that there are 10 types of Hill tribe that have immigrated from China, Tibet, Laos, Vietnam and Burma and these other interesting facts:

All of the Hill-tribes used to grow opium as their main export and this was passed down from generation to generation, this has now been stamped out by the Thai Government and Military, farmers instead grow crops like vegetables, coffee and tea.
Most of the hill-tribes speak Thai but some of them speak Mandarin and the Akha have their own language.
They had some very unusual beliefs in animal spirits called Animism.
Most of the tribes used wooden structured houses built on stilts but are switching to modern materials like concrete.
The Thai Government is granting citizenship to younger generations of hill-tribes but this is far and few between as they do not want a massive influx of immigration from Burmese tribes.
Despite the decline in opium trading, modern narcotics i.e amphetamines and ecstasy etc is still being shipped across the Burmese border for western consumption, so hill-tribes are effectively producing/selling drugs to westerners as a way of income instead of keeping to their farming methods.

After this educational experience , we get a free coffee at Cabbages and Condoms www.cabbagesandcondoms.com (came with our hill-tribe ticket). Tom takes a quick snap of condom Santa (don’t ask) and on that note its time to head to the beach! It’s not much of a beach but has some really lovely beach shacks and despite the fact the bar owner hardly speaks a word of English we manage to order some chicken wings and a beer or two 🙂

Back at Chat it’s time to get the glad rags on for New Years celebration at the The Clock Tower.

In town the main high street is packed with food stalls, performers, expats, sexpats, travellers, package tourist, retirees and locals all getting mashed and in high spirits to wish in the New Year. Tom and I spoil ourselves with an over priced meal at Swadee Thai Restaurant in the Night Market, its quiet and has tables overlooking the night market activity.

Next stop is a bit of bar hopping, starting off at Teepee which is a really funky bikers bar, Cheekadee a reggae themed bar and Cat bar (recommended by LP and full of sleazy westerners and Thai girls), do LP research any of the places that they recommend?

We race up to the Clock Tower with a few minutes to go before NY eve, the atmosphere in buzzing, a band sings on stage as a digital clock count downs and fireworks shoot out; it’s a real spectacle and I’m delighted that we chose to spend NY here and not on one of the Islands.

It’s an early start to the NY tomorrow, trekking all day through hill-tribe villages, so Tom and I pick up a few bottles of waters, some spring rolls and make a date with our beds.

1/1/13 – First day of the 2013

It’s the usual early start, I tuck into muesli and French toast to power up for our 7 hours of trekking today!

Chai our leader introduces himself and we meet Meghan and an allusive fourth trekker has dropped out (hangover may be)?

The trek begins in a Doi Hang National Park, Chang (a friend of Chai’s and a Lisu tribesman) joins us on the trek to lead us through the tribes and to have a tea-break with his mum, Jackie.

This is not a trek for the faint hearted, a huge amount of the trek consist of hill climbing and we’re grateful for the bamboo walking sticks that Chang makes us at the start of the trip 🙂 I’m a sweaty, breathless mess and resolve for New Year 2013 to get my fitness back on track when we return home!

Midway we stop for a dip in a waterfall, which really helps to cool off before continuing to the village where we have tea with Jackie. The village is really peaceful and quiet and we learn that the company we’re doing our trek with provides clothes and medical supplies for the locals.

Next stop is Chinese Tea Plantation before breaking for lunch which is uniquely cooked in the ground on banana leaves and to our amazement, Chang has carved cutlery for us from bamboo and we’re allowed to keep them afterwards as souvenirs 🙂

I start to notice an itching in my hand and a persistent rash, not paying much attention to it, I continue on with the group ending our 13km trek with a dip in hot springs to soothe our tired muscles 🙂

Totally exhausted when we get back I manage to update the blog, shower and get some dinner before crashing out!

2/1/13

The rash on my hand kept me up most of the night, it seems to be some sort of allergic reaction to either the grass or something else along the route yesterday! Why me?

Today it’s exclusively Tom and I with our guide Mr. M, it’s a full-on day and our first stop is the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun). It’s a really quirky design by Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. He wants to create a distinct art form for this period in Thai history and has sculpted visions of Buddhist heaven and hell within the Temple.

Next stop is the slightly more dark, the Black House – Bann Si Dum which is the house of Thai artist Kositpipat’s who is a former student of Thawan Duchanee . It’s a mixture of Nordic and tribal artefacts/architecture.

After this we visit a Wat at Chiang Saen, The Golden Triangle (where Burma, Thailand and Lao border) followed by the Opium Museum, Chinese Village (for tea tasting), Pagoda and tea plantation at Mae Salong before heading back to the Guest House to plan crossing the border into Laos.