Prickly Elephant Hair… and Confronting That Big Prickly Elephant in the Room… or in the Stilted Hut Rather

Trekking started off with a bang. Ben and I piled into the back of this tiny, covered pick-up… squeezing in with 8 or 10 other trekkers (can’t remember how many of us squeezed in there really)… and we were off. While the pick-up bumbled out beyond the outskirts of Chiang Mai, Ben and I enjoyed chit chatting with our fellow, squashed travelers. Eventually Ben climbed onto the roof to ride and I ended up on the tailgate hanging onto the back. It was just too cramped and we had pics to snap of the stunning countryside! Then, we arrived at the elephant camp! It certainly wasn’t my first time seeing an elephant, even seeing one up close… but nonetheless my close encounters are few enough that I still get excited around these strange looking creatures with two big, side-by-side hoses for trunks. The trek guides herded us onto platforms and we mounted the elephants, sitting on these seats strapped to them. For a while, I rode the elephant’s head bareback… and it was really like riding a moving bundle of brillow pads bareback with a trunk that seemed to have a mind of it’s own, swinging up and back from time to time, groping for the bananas stashed on our seat. Elephants aren’t that clean of creatures by the way. The trunks seemed to be covered in muddy snot. The prickly, brillow-pad hair gave my legs a rash that lasted a couple hours. Their skin is as tough as leather.

Next, we hiked a bit along the mountain-fed stream. Then, it was time to cross over some mild rapids it in a cage that slid along a cable strung up between trees on either side of the gurgling stream. A total tourist ploy… but fun nonetheless.

Lunchtime was followed by more hiking… hiking through pristine Thai jungle. Beautiful. Breathtaking. Pinch-me-please so I know I’m not dreaming amazingness. Cooling off in wild waterfalls. Hiking up, up, up… through bamboo forests, palm-fringed cliff sides and gullies of ferns. Sweet, fresh air. A bit touristy or no… I was trekking in the jungle in some foreign land on the opposite side of the world!!!! This has always been my fantasy… and I was living it out! That night we arrived at a local village perched on top of one of the mountains we had been hiking up all day. Chickens, pigs and cattle roamed among the stilted bamboo huts, small gardens and clusters of villagers. It was all just so awesome! That night we all circled around a bon fire on our own stilted bamboo hut and sang and laughed and had a good time. Some partook in the cheap, and fresh local grass. Pure marijuana and opium were easily bought if you wanted it. Obviously I passed. I've never been too attracted to drugs. Besides, I was already way to high on life... trekking through the Thai jungle baby!!! Finally, push came to shove between Ben and I. After our series of “travel hang-ups” as I like to dub them… it seemed Ben and I just weren’t clicking anymore. I’m not of fan of games or confusion, so it was I who had to pop that pimple so to speak… on the first day. That night, it was decided that a week and a half of traveling together would be enough. Of course, the timing to address that was perfect on my part… with two full days still trekking “together.” So yeah, the next two days were a mix of stunning amazingness, awkwardness, hurting and the budding of new friendships that couldn’t have come at a better time.

So speaking of friendships, our group was turning out to be pretty cool. I hit it off right away with a local Thai… who on retrospect we suspect was doing a drug run… and a group of guys from London, though only one was actually English, the other two a Kiwi and a French guy. Some of our group though was only doing the two-day trek and some were doing the three, so in the morning we split up. There were 6 of us three-dayers. The local Thai drug-runner was obviously a two-dayer. He was really cool. Taking care of everybody on the trek… making everyone laugh. He claimed he’d never been on one before. But he seemed to know all the routes and the locals just a little too well. Anyways, the English guy, the Kiwi and the French guy were three-dayers and just plain great blokes. They made it their mission to keep me laughing and remind me of the amazing experience we were having whenever I seemed a bit down. I’m so grateful they guys were on the trek and so easy-going. I don’t know… I’m just the type of person that, when I encounter something just utterly incredible, I want to share it. For me, an experience isn’t maximized until you’ve shared it with someone. I’m glad I had those guys around to delight with in the raw beauty of our surroundings and joke with about the raw reality of living with minimal facilities for awhile… haha. The rest of the three-day trek was more hiking through pristine jungle… more village visits, more camping out in bamboo huts, more interacting with the local tots and… a grand finale of white water rafting and bamboo rafting!!! Incredible. Life is good.