Welcome to Thailand - Now Into The Jungle!

Internet hasn't been the cheapest or most reliable thing since leaving Japan, so I apologize for the delay in postings. I arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand after 22 hours of travel, with a stop in Seoul and Bangkok - and luckily I made it right through right before protesters closed the airport. Nat and Lindzy picked me up from the Airport in a Tuk Tuk and we went to the guesthouse where they were staying, repacked a smaller bag, and then headed right out again for a 3 day trek into the jungle!


After 3 hours in the bed of a truck up bumpy dirt roads, we started out on our journey. Our guide was Wood, an ex-Thai army Muay Thai boxer who grew up in the jungle and knew every plant and animal we came across. On one hand we knew he could kill any of us (or any dangerous animal) in a second, but he was also as goofy as a little kid.

The first day was an easy 2 hour hike, stopping every 50 feet so Wood could explain different plants to us and/or make us eat them. We reached our camp for the evening, which was a cluster of wooden huts and a fire pit. There were a few old Thai people hanging out, by the morning they were gone and new ones had come in - I think the place is used as a communal camp by anyone making their way through the jungle. We all set about cutting up vegetables, and Wood made us a huge dinner of vegetable curries and rice. Delicious. After dinner he played Thai songs on the guitar for us around the fire, under a sky with stars like I had never seen before in my life. It was pretty amazing.

Some of those mountains are Burma!

The next day was our long day, I think almost 7 hours in total. It was such a beautiful hike, really amazing. At one point we had to repel ourselves down two steep faces, using just a rope, no harnesses - badass! We stopped midday and Wood cooked us an amazing lunch (he can do incredible things with instant noodles) at the highest point of our trek. We used leaves as plates and bamboo as chopsticks, maybe the most biodegradable lunch I've had. Leaves make great hats, too!


As it got to be evening we arrived to our destination for that night, a tiny village of Burmese refugees. There were dogs, pigs and chicken running around everywhere (the chicken especially became pretty annoying as soon as we went to sleep). The villagers have one communal toilet (actually a glorified hole in the ground) and one shower (a raised pipe that emits freezing cold mountain water) in a little hut outside for everyone to use. Wood made us another delicious dinner and we ate outside next to one family's hut. After eating, Wood broke out the guitar and played for us again, and soon after was joined by the father of the family as well as his tiny son, maybe 2 or 3. The father and son (who, like everyone else we encountered on the trek, spoke no English) sang for us, all Christian songs translated into Thai. It was beautiful.

Village Huts

Village Kids

In the morning we woke up and brought out the candy we had bought before leaving to give to the children in the village. They were so freaking cute. After that we headed out on our way, just about 3 hours (and 9 mountains!) to where the driver would pick us up for a long, bumpy ride back to the guesthouse. After some showers, a few drinks, and a little rest, we were up the next day for one more outing with Wood - tiger park!

Goodbye, Japan

I miss you!

Maybe I've Been In Asia Too Long...

...or are fanny packs really back?

If anyone could help me out with this, please, I could really use some answers.

No Time To Write More, But...

...I just want to let it be known that I'm safe, despite the political situation in Thailand at the moment. Luckily I made it out of Bangkok by plane just hours before the closed the airport, and I'm currently chilling at a quiet beach town in the south. And my next flight is from Phuket, so unless things really really escalate, it shouldn't be a problem. As Natalie would say, no worries!

I Meant To Post This A While Ago...

...it proves that both the Japanese and my dad can sleep absolutely anywhere.

Itinerary

So my time in Japan is winding down really, really quickly. I've moved out of my apartment and into a hotel for the last week, and I'm training my replacement teacher - very surreal, all of it. To answer the many questions I'm getting about where I'm going and when I'll be home, here it is, my schedule for the next few months:

November 24th - fly to Chaing Mai, Thailand
ride some elephants and hang out on the beach

December 6th - fly from Phuket, Thailand, to Singapore
do anything other than spit or litter

December 10th - Singapore to Perth, Australia
meet all of Natalie's friends from high school, perhaps throw another shrimp on the barbie?

December 23rd - Perth to Brisbane, Australia
meet Natalie's family, go to the beach for Christmas

January/February (undetermined end point) - Daintree Rainforest, Australia
stay with Natalie's dad, get a backpacker's job picking fruit or something
eat bananas all day and sit on the beach at night

At some point, yes, I will make my way home. Natalie will go back to school at the end of February, at which point I will most likely go see Sydney and fly home from there - more updates on that will come. At the moment, though, I have a hotel breakfast to eat and a lot of goodbye cards to write : (

Bouncy Parks Are For Kids...And Foreigners

This might not look like much, but this park may be the happiest place in Japan. It's like a the combination of a Moon Bounce and a trampoline - smiles guaranteed all around.