A Blast of Wind in your Ear

As the bus started reaching the outskirts of Bangkok, it because obvious to all of us that Bangkok was a different ball-game to the rest of the places we had been to so far…its an international hub…it’s a relatively wealthy city and for me was just a stepping stone to our next destination…we spent maybe 2 days there…it was good for one reason for me..it reunited me with my favourite thai dish; Phad Thai…it just doesn’t taste the same unless its served from a stall on the side of the road…

the plan now was to try and organise some trekking up in Chiang Mai with Elephant riding, trekking and bamboo rafting top of the agenda…we found a wee place just off the infamous Khoa San road…everything was organised…we managed to get the bus for free as well…its probably Johns favourite journey so far…being a long fellow he needs leg room…he got the front seat of the bus where even the tallest would have leg room…at this stage we also got another two additions to the crazy gang…Celine (a French girl we met at the border that worked in Dublin for three years and could out swear any Irish man) and Steve (a Coventry lad met on the bus to Chiang Mai that was trekking as well)..the travelling contingent was now a respectable 7 people which meant that in a trekking group of 10-11 we would have the majority rule, and allied to that we would be able to dictate when we wanted to go trekking…

we arrived in Chiang Mai and took a down day…12 hours on a bus is knackering…we were planning to go trekking the following day but then a valid point was made that the 6 nations was starting the next day…so as 5 out of the 7 were interested in watching the rugby we changed our plans by two days…the girls went back to confirm with the trekking company that we were going to be changing the date of trekking…next thing we know..they didn’t come back but John did telling us that the two girls (Celine and Jaime) were now recruited to take part in the Chiang Mai international flower beauty pageant and had been spirited away to learn what they needed to do and to get ready…all previous plans for the evening were shelved and getting to the pageant was now top priority…each girl had to come out and tell about themselves and display a talent…unfortunately I had a hand in both the girls talents with Celine singing Molly Malone and Jaime singing “Apple Bottomed Jeans” (Low by Flo-Rida featuring T-Pain – don’t ask…long story)…they were amazing…most of the other girls never bothered display any talent and the performances by the two girls received the biggest applause…Jaime even had her own thai support group who decided they wanted her to win…unfortunately the girls didn’t make the top three…it was discovered afterwards that apparently the judges were looking for the pure and demure girls and those who carried themselves like boring old ladies…the girls were ruled out then…but one girl made it to the top three that quickly became public enemy one (for us anyways)…she spoke thai and didn’t have the same spirit of fun the other girls had..winning was only in her mind…she was beaten into second place by a Swedish girl…we were delighted as the Swedish girl was great fun…

The next night we went to the famous night market…it was another thing that has changed for the worst…it was like a funeral procession there were so many people there…it was extremely difficult to get through the crowds to see what was available..only an hour or so was spent there due to this frustration… but now onto Monday and trekking..

Our trekking company spent ages trying to convince us that the trek that were had booked was crap and wanted us to change and go to Pai…a group decision was made to stick with the program and that they were only trying to get more money out of us…definitely the best decision that has ever been made on the trip as the 3 day trek could not have been any better…our guide Si-Com was an absolute hero…he amazed us every second of the day and did everything he could to make sure we had a phenomenal time…we got 4 more people added to the group…and again as if by pure luck we got 4 great people…3 more Canadians girls and a half-Australian/Canadian lad…we went Elephant riding…they are officially my favourite animal…huge and gentle..all they want to do is eat…a bag of bananas lasts no time…on then trekking to our first village..Si-com put us in his awe very quickly at our first rest stop…he put a 7up tin on top of a branch about 70-80 feet away and gave us catapults to try and hit it…not a chance…then as we gave up he walked away from it..then turned and smacked that can up in the air from about 100 feet away first time…he then proceeded to show that it was no fluke and did it many other times…he even threw the can in the air and hit it repeatedly with the catapult without effort…John in an effort to test him put the can about 150 feet away in the middle of a pile of brush…after a couple of misses he smacked that can around the place…it was amazing to see the accuracy he had..he then took a bamboo branch and hitting it off his machete showed even scarier accuracy…what a legend..and that was only the start…

Onto the village then on a night of a full moon, a couple of us played football barefoot with the local kids and got the shins kicked off of us…it was worse than being caught with a hob-nailed boot….well almost …then all the local kids came around to sing us songs around a campfire…what a magic night…Si-com came out with a guitar that he could barely play…but he did his best to entertain us…he came out at one stage dressed and made up like Bob Marley..hilarious……the food he cooked was phenomenal as well…

The next day Si-com completely wowed us…whilst walking he went off and carved out of wood, a walking stick…one with a proper handle..it was magic..further down the trail he cleared an area of the ground and dug a small hole…all of us didn’t know what he was at but waited to see anyways…next he carved a small ball and made us all feel sheepish when it turned out that the “walking stick” was actually a golf club….he was making us something to play with while he got down to making some other stuff out of bamboo….he ended up carving us each a pair of chop sticks and a knife…for our dinner that night..he showed us how a certain leaf when pressed onto of a fist and hit with an open hand would make a loud popping noise…he showed us a tree that when you cracked the branch the sap on it could be blown into bubbles through the branch…he shows us the leaf from which tiger balm was made and other leaves from which tea was made…the guy was a phenomenon… he made the trip unforgettable…the last night was spent at his in-laws house..he cooked us up a feast and entertained us for the night…his son Deetha played around with us for hours as well…he especially enjoyed playing with Steve who was sad saying good bye the following day..

The last day was a trek in the morning with bamboo rafting in the evening…we had to say goodbye after the hike to Si-com which was a sad affair…the man gave each and every one of the 11 of us magical memories never to be forgotten…the bamboo rafting gave me bruises never to be forgotten…it was crazy fun…I must have ended up in the water a dozen times…the last one succeeding in busting the raft, it got hit with such force…when you have three teams of rafts all trying to out-pirate the other, you are going to have casualties…

Finally back to Chiang Mai and it turned out that our decision to stick rather than change the trek was the right one..the people did not enjoy their trek as it was all uphill and they had to trek through the hottest part of the day and spent most of the time trekking…added to that they had a disjointed group and didn’t have half the fun that we did…

Next on the agenda is Luang Prabang in Laos…the end goal of our powering through Cambodia was now going to be realised…we managed to get a cheap flight and were on our way..

Talk soon
Hughie
www.hughie.eu