Chapter 4: Mountains, hill tribes, more water

From Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son province by bus to find that at this altitude there are cold nights, sunny Mediterranean days and flora (plus rice) and autumn tints on deciduous forests on the hilltops, quite a surprise.
Pai, ex-hippie centre of opium growing era, now a tired small town trading on its history but still loads of Thai tourists and travellers trying to see if the magic still exists, ethnic food, live music and jam sessions are the flavour here. Biking (1.15GBP per day!) around the valley the best bit.
Managed to get on a whitewater rafting trip for 2 days down Pai river to Mae Hong Son (63km and 40 sets of rapids - not at full spate but still fun), which is where I am headed anyway AND chops off a 4-5 hour bus trip over the mountains containing a well-publicised 1,864 serious bends (you can even buy the T-shirt).
Motorbike trip (3GBP per day plus 1GBP petrol) to particular tribal village of the Paduang people, a sub-sect of the Kayah people, refugees from Burma. Granted land for farming outside of the refugee camp as they bring tourist value due to their custom of wearing brass coils around their necks, knees and ankles - weigh up to 5kg each, depresses the collarbones and ribcage rather than stretching the neck, kids start at 5 with 1kg.
Then trip to a Chinese village, Mae Aw (or Ban Rak Thai in new name, meaning Village loves Thailand)populated by Kuomintang fighters (anti-Mao Chinese war in the 1960's) who were allowed to settle and grow tea and coffee in the highlands, now that Opium is a no-no. Also went to a Royal Food Bank project, teaching the hill tribes how best to grow crops organically and sustainably. They share the produce and sell the extras. Then they go back to their villages to spread the word.
Xmas in Mae Hong Son city, catching my breath before 3 hour bus trip south to Mae Sariang and a serious 1 day jungle trek, wading through streams and complete with machete at times by the guide to Karen tribe villages and jungle waterfalls - 8 hours of it! The Grizzly beard has made a comeback too, see horrible photo under waterfall! Learnt how to say how are you? and Cheers! in Kareni language, very useful.
Now south again in Tak province after 6-hour open-sided pickup truck trip over the mountains at Burmese border city of Mae Sot for New Year. Went past huge refugee camp near Burmese border, been there a while but very depressing. Lots of dodgy trade with Burma here, drugs, teak and gems apparently, Thai officials get bribed.
Heading to Um Phang for largest falls in Thailand, more rafting and jungle trekking, supposed to be most beautiful Nat Park in this country. No internet, phones, banks, ATM or anything down there so there will be a short interlude.
Cheers! Tabloo! Mike
Photos link: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/laurentmik/Thailand_2007_Chapter_4 . You can also go to this blog, and therefore the pics by Google searching on "Dodgy Uncle Mike" and selecting the first of two results, not many of us around then.

Chapter 3.....What, wat, water

Now flown to Chiang Mai (55GBP in 5 hours or 25GBP by bus via Bangkok in 24 hours plus - no contest!).



Old walled city built in 1296 and scenes of many kingly wars and takeovers, unfortunately only the corners, city gates and the moat still exist. But it is also the city of 300 temples ("Wat" in Thai), so stand by for the photos! I had a real problem editing down to this many as they are so beautiful inside and out, sorry.



Then have just got back from whitewater rafting (no photos as too hectic paddling and hanging on in the rapids) and rainforest trekking in the nearby Doi Inthanon Nat. Park (highest mt. in Thailand at 2,565m, sorry went a bit David Attenbrough there). 4 days with only a bathe in a forest river on Day 2 night, sleeping on bamboo platforms and cooking on camp fires, very boy scout. Came back filthy and sweaty - still hot in the North and humid in the forest, boy did we smell!



Visited some of the hill tribe villages, these are tribes who have migrated here over the centuries (and still are coming) from Burma and China and have been allowed to settle and farm but they retain their customs and dress. In this case they were from the Karen tribe (ex-Burma) who are still fighting an ethnic cleansing war inside Burma, so the refugees are still coming.



Part of the trek was also bamboo rafting, which is how these tribes ship their produce towards the markets in the towns and villages (although 4-WD tracks and motorbike trails are fast taking over). Rafting over mini-rapids whilst standing up with nothing to hold onto is quite something, and I was rear driver with a long pole to fend off the rocks and banks and keep the bloody thing straight-ish whilst our guide steered at the front!

Other thoughts:

• King's birthday: he is like a god here, even got his own shrines inside buddhist temples, slightly weird. He's 80 and I hate to think what they'll do when he dies.
  
• Chiang Mai sausage: they eat pig here in the North, and all of it. Intestines are deep fried, pork crackling of a sort is a daily snack as is lumps of deep-fried pork fat, and the sausages make Cumberland ones seem bland, I don't know what's in them but...
• Elections: they closed all the bars for an entire weekend, and will again this weekend, to stop politicians getting prospective voters drunk for free and bus them to the poll station! Just got to the mini-mart in time to get a slab of Singha and a bottle of Mekhong before the ban started. So what are the politicians doing this time? They are handing over cash to the poorer voters to buy their votes (allegedly), 3-500Baht per vote, about 7GBP!

Photos link at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/laurentmik/Thailand_2007_Chapter_3

Right off to aging-hippydom (ex-opium growing area) in the mountains north west of here around Pai, then hopefully a 2-day whitewater rafting trek down the Mae Nam Pai river to Mae Hong Son, more forest trekking to other tribes (Burma / Thai border conflicts permitting).

Cheers!

Chapter 2......and Plan B

You are now in touch with Mike Laurent, AOW and bar. Passed my Advanced Open Water PADI course, so I hit the bar on the boat! Does that mean I am now Well Dodgy?

Had a great time since last post (only 2 weeks ago but seems longer):

• 3-day liveaboard diving trip to Phi Phi Islands and Hin Muang / Hin Daeng rocks - 9 dives in 3 days including my first night dives! Liveaboards are really good, you dive, eat, rest, dive, eat, rest and then beers after last dive of day whilst looking at all the photos and watching the sunsets
• 3-day expedition to 2 nature reserves in next province, Phang-Nga at Khao Lak (coastal) - endless beaches, staying in wooden huts behind the beach; and Khao Sok (one of oldest primary rainforests in the world). Still too wet to trek after end of recent rainy season (mud up to your thighs and leeches everywhere, nice), so had to go in by elephant (not what I wanted at all but no choice) and out by canoe. Needs more time to explore properly, so may be back!
• 7-day liveaboard diving trip to Similan Islands (Thailand), into Myanmar islands and back via Richelieu Rock (Surin Islands) whilst doing course. Stunning places. Deep dives to 35 metres, night dives into caves and tunnels up to 16m long with 1 square metre exit at 25 metres depth. Getting quite exciting at times.

Myanmar has hundreds of uninhabited islands off the coast, all rainforest to sandy beaches and 27C water! And nobody there, only Moken (sea gypsy) people. We were the only dive boat in the entire place, quite spooky really.

On a more sombre note, the Tsunami sort of haunts the coast. Chatted with a tuk-tuk driver who lost his sister and took 5 days to find his wife, who was one of only 2 survivors from a beachfront hotel kitchen staff of 35. He said as noone knew what this was everyone was watching / photographing the seawater disappear leaving fish all over the exposed sea bottom, as the wave sucked all the water into it. Sucked dry for 10-15 minutes, then they saw the wave and ran for it, he escaped 6000 around here didn't. The wave was about 7 metres high in Khao Lak, moving faster than a car and went over half a mile inland just flattened everything. Also destroyed many coral reefs, so the beaches are now being eroded as no more protection. Still photos stuck on trees as memorials, some with small offerings of flowers, incense sticks.

And so to Plan B. As from December 1st, crossing into Myanmar for diving now counts as a formal exit and re-entry trip (before they just paid a visa fee ($200 per person) and sailed on). So, as I have a 3x60-day visa for Thailand, my passport got stamped and I am now officially into my second 60-day package. I still had 15 days left on my first package which I was going to use up and cross into Laos for New Year, NO LONGER!

So Plan B is now to stay in northern Thailand until the end of January. In some ways it is good as I can really see a whole section of the country that I would have missed - all the mountains, rivers, treks and hill tribes along the Myanmar borders and into the Golden Triangle. Very remote and have to check each step with the Thai army to make sure that Thailand and Burma aren't having yet another border war. Also hope to now get to the ancient capital cities of Sukhotai and Ayuthaya. But the effect will probably be that I won't be able to see much of Vietnam on this trip, Laos will be Feb, Cambodia in March then back to Phuket for 08/04 flight to Malaysia.

That's it! Photo link is http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/laurentmik/Thailand_2007_Chapter_2 I have put captions on photos to try to give some sort of reference points.

Cheers!

Mike