Oh my Buddha!

A story from Thailand I didn't write yet. On the 12th of December I went trekking for three days in the Doi (Moutain) Inthanon natural reserve. The advertisements look promising: "Come with us for elephant riding, bamboo rafting and observe the authentic long-neck, big ears, huge teeth and longed nose original hill-tribe in a non-touristic region" (Exaggerated a bit for creating an interesting story telling atmosphere). I was sceptical, but after receiving recommendations from a famous world traveler, I booked the trek.

We were five people on the first day, three on the second and four on the last. Interesting, huh? Each company has several trekking options for each area, which differ by the number of days and activities involved (kayaking, hiking, and more). Therefore they mix and match the participants, sharing one guide as much as possible.

The bottom line is that I really liked the whole thing. The elephant riding was very nice, as I've never done it before. Yes, it does feel like a Disney ride, but the poor elephant is amazing! It is huge! Even a model human specimen like me looked small compared to it (Exaggerated a bit too, just a bit, really).

The trekking itself was very interesting. Walking in the jungle was different from walking in Nepal nature. We had some pretty narrow paths to cross, sometimes blocked by spider webs. We stopped by waterfalls and small ponds to swim in ice cold water. The good thing is that once you get out it is warm. Nights were pretty cold though.

Our guide on the first day was Mr. Shawn. He was fine but took the whole tourist-buying-souvenirs thing a little bit too much. He also made us play a simple card game, resulting in coal painted tourists. The next two days we were accompanied with Mr. Paul. A funny young guy, with an accent I found myself using. The difference from Nepal's guides was obvious: The dude was wearing fashionable jeans, belt and sunglasses for the trek! He was kidding a lot and made the trek more enjoyable. He gave us riddles with sticks on the second night (No coal).

The trip was finished with bamboo rafting. I looked forward to a leisure ride, but there were actually rapids! And we were supposed to pass them with a few pieces of wood strapped together?? It was fun, the raft didn't break and all the soldiers arrived home safely Captain!