Just an update since the weekend:
Made it to Pai (pronounced "bye") on Saturday evening after 3 1/2 hours of back and forth hill driving on a small mini-bus. I was in the back with the bags and belongings of the 11 other passengers, along with my fellow Italian and an American traveling mates....
The three of us, along with a combo of English and Germans, set out on a two-day jungle trek with a Thai guide....staying the night with one of the local hill tribes. The rain didn't stop over the two days, so it made for some interesting mud hiking.
Day one was mostly uphill climbing....day two was mainly river crossing and mud sliding. I managed to spend the majority of day two on my tail end. We managed to come back on day two with 3 less travelers, losing two Germans and an Englishman to some sickness. I have a feeling the food we were provided wasn't cooked to Mom's standards.....
The six of us managed a pretty good adventure on day two's hike. Several battle wounds via pesky leeches.....bleeding legs.....chopping vines to blaze our trail.....venomous snake spotting (I'll pat myself on the back for spotting it)......bird homocide.....etc. I'll explain the latter. We spotted this beautiful, colorful bird across the river. After seeing it try to fly away and fail, falling into the river, our sherpa retrieved it from the water and brought it to us, showing a gunshot wound on its back. Knowing the thing was suffering, our guide thought we should take the thing out of its misery.....she didn't have the guts to perform the procedure, however. So with my farm upbringing, I took the knife and performed the Kavorkian-style procedure myself. I think I scared a few of the other hikers with my swift action, but nonetheless, I punched the bird's ticket to birdy heaven for him....
Quite the two-day hike and adventure. I'm happy we made the decision to go forward with it. Italian guy and I are leaving tonight on a night bus for the Laos border. Should get there at 6am and then we'll head on a slow boat down to Luang Probang, Laos. We did some celebrating last night as it was his birthday at midnight, so he's a bit in the dumps today. We'll see how the long trip treats the poor guy...
Enjoy the photos.
Ck
Mam, our tour guide; Jim, Los Angeles; Michael, Italy; Me, God's Country
Winding roads
Our Thai sherpa, carrying all of the food that will soon sicken a good portion of our crew!
Village in the hills we called home on Sun night. 11 of us in a single bamboo bungaloo. Rice whiskey = better sleep
One of the many river crossings
Say hello to my little friend.
View from the top, worth the hike!
Spelunking!
My personal bamboo hut in Pai. 80 baht for one night, incredible. Less than 3 US.
My squatting skills are getting quite impressive.
4 comments:
Bro - can you book me a week's stay in one of those fine huts??? I think the kids would love it, don't ya think??!!
You are going to scare people with your "farm" skills - no one will mess with you!
Thanks for the update - we miss ya back here - we'll look for dangerous snakes and birds that need hacking today at the state fair!
Love, Coe and fam
Hi Cole--good to hear from you--I figured that that the service was the delay in hearing from you. Sounds like a interesting trip--were the temps chilly with the rain?? We are getting rain this am--softly coming down, nothing new here Carsons were here left this am--went out with them last pm, hobo days are over--haven't heard about any major incidents. The huts look interesting---a person can sleep anywhere after a work-out hiking. Thanks for the up-dates. I will go along and do the cooking for your group---deal or no deal. Love mom
Hey Guy--Thot u were ruffin' it! I saw the TV attennae above the better cottage! Looks like a great trip--How about bookin those cottages for r next family get-together? Good to hear from u & keep us posted.
Poor birdie. I probably would have been a tad scared of you too! ;) Looks like you're having a great time!
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