3 days in the jungle

[by Franzi] Who can claim to have spent 3 days in the jungle? We can! But let's start from the beginning.

Before it all started on Sunday morning, we were very skeptical about how the tour would be and what to expect. We had agreed that if one of us couldn't continue, then it would be the end and we would cancel, although we didn't really know if that was even possible. We booked the trip to Chiang Mai, the hostel, and this tour through the same tourist office in Bangkok. We've already reported extensively on the chaotic journey and the hostel here is (we're staying here until Thursday) very basic, has nothing more than what you need, but we're not 100% satisfied, but oh well. And that's exactly where our doubts came from...

On Sunday morning at around 9 o'clock it started. We were picked up by a pick-up truck, where our fellow travelers were already sitting and our tour guide was also there. We all had only a small backpack for the few days, the big backpacks we left at the hostel. Our first stop after about 40 minutes of driving was a small local market, we didn't find it very exciting, but it was a good opportunity to get in touch with our fellow travelers and our tour guide bought food for the next few days. After another 40 minutes of driving, we got out in the middle of nowhere and it started. With our second tour guide, the so-called "Jungle man", we went through the jungle for 1.5 hours, mostly uphill.

We arrived at a wonderful waterfall where we got something to eat: warm rice with egg wrapped in a banana leaf! We also had some time to go into the water.

After about 2 hours, we continued for 20 minutes through the jungle to reach the elephants. In this camp, there are four female elephants (49, 45, 11, and 10 years old) who are more comfortable with humans and do not run away. The so-called mahouts (elephant caretakers) want to ensure that the elephants they have rescued from slavery are well and happy, so you can't ride them in this camp. But we could go bathing with them. The 45-year-old was pregnant and apparently didn't feel like having tourists around that day, so she simply didn't come to us when she was called. Which is completely okay, because the important thing is that the elephants are well and not forced to do anything. We all received a small bowl and we walked into the water up to our knees, then we started spraying the elephants with water. That was fun, the elephants enjoyed it too. The youngest one kept lying on its side in the water and seemed to have a lot of fun. The elephants kept coming closer to us and we could pet them.

After the elephants were washed and clean, we walked a bit further up the hill to the actual camp. We received a large bucket of bananas and bamboo and could feed the elephants with it. It was impressive how elegantly they took the food from our hands with their trunks.

We had some more time with the elephants before we walked for another 30 minutes through the jungle, mostly uphill again, to Karen Village where our camp was located. Our "house" was a bit away from the actual village, but it was built in the same style, as it belongs to our tour guide's sister. Both of them are members of the Karen Hill Tribe. We enjoyed a breathtaking view, we were tired from the day and glad to have arrived.
In the camp, there was only cold water, which made showering a bit uncomfortable, and the toilet was flushed with water from a bucket next to it. Before dinner, which was freshly cooked by our tour guide and his sister, we had some time to chat with the others.

We ate at very low bamboo tables, so we sat on the floor of the wooden hut on stilts. After everyone finished eating, we sat around the campfire together, drinking cold Thai beer "Chang". Our tour guide told us a bit about his tribe, the Karen Hill Tribe, and we just sat together and enjoyed the evening.

[by Jonas] When it was time to go to bed, we went to the room assigned to us, which we had to share with a nice French couple. In the wooden room, there were 5 mattresses, about 1cm thick, and mosquito nets hanging on the wall. Despite the mattresses, we felt like we were sleeping directly on the hard wooden floor, and we were glad to have brought our sleeping bag liners. But sleeping on the side was still not an option because the floor was simply too hard. But the good thing was that the "room" walls didn't reach the ceiling, so we always had fresh air, which cooled down to about 23 degrees at night. It was also quite nice to be able to sleep well without air conditioning. Moreover, it was amazing, or almost scary, how extreme the difference in air quality was between an Asian metropolis and the jungle.

The second day in the jungle wasn't as filled with activities as the first. We could sleep in until we were woken up by the light and sounds of the jungle. For breakfast, we had toast with strawberry jam, probably homemade.

Then we quickly got started and went with the Jungle Man to another waterfall. Here, the journey was more important than the destination: deep jungle with everything that goes with it. Most of the way was a small path that was constantly blocked by fallen trees or small streams. In addition, the Jungle Man occasionally made a stop to show us large exotic spiders. After a good 2-hour hike across the mountain, we arrived at the waterfall and could relax a bit and take some photos.

Just a 5-minute walk away was another village of the Karen Hill Tribe, and there the Jungle Man, who always carried a slingshot and a huge cigarette made from home-grown tobacco and dried banana leaves, prepared a noodle soup. The locals rarely ate with us because it wasn't spicy enough for them.

After another 40 minutes of relaxation in the sun, some even filled it with a short nap, we returned to our camp. This time, we took an easier path around the mountain, which only took us an hour.

When we arrived at the camp, to our surprise, there were some people sitting there, loudly conversing in typical Spanish. We had booked a tour with a relatively small group so that we could interact more with the individual people. We had also quite enjoyed the group dynamic up until this point. We were 3 French, 4 Dutch, and the two of us. But what they hadn't told us was that from the 2nd evening, we would be joined by another group who had only booked for two days. That was one of the few negative aspects of this trip, as it turned out. We automatically had fewer cool conversations because the Spanish group dominated the conversations. So the second evening was not as enjoyable as the first, and we went to bed quite early.

But we woke up in the middle of the night because a dog outside our room started breathing heavily and barking occasionally. But after a while, it calmed down and we were able to go back to sleep. The next morning, we found out that it sometimes happens when tigers walk through the village at night...

The third day was already the last day, which was sad in a way because the trip had brought many interesting experiences and encounters. On the other hand, we were also looking forward to a real bed, a decent shower, and our own room.

So we packed everything together and left the village for the last time. We hiked for 2 hours through the jungle to reach a kind of waterfall. There was actually a really good atmosphere here. Only the Spanish people were a bit annoying and extremely slow. When we arrived, we had about 45 minutes to swim and slide down the waterfall. Another 20 minutes of hiking later, we arrived at a small tourist stop on a road where we had lunch.

[by Franzi] After that, we went to bamboo rafting with pick-up trucks. We were divided into groups of four on the bamboo rafts and each had a guide with us. We snaked down the river through the jungle, down rapids, and past big rocks. The views we had were beautiful. We started almost at the same time as another group of four, and our guides allowed themselves to make a few small jokes and splash us with water. During the ride, we also started water fights with the other raft. After a short time, we were allowed to take the oar and push and steer the raft ourselves. Personally, I didn't try it, but Jonas did his best, but still hit a rock. We had a lot of fun on the water and laughed a lot.

At the exit point, our tour guide and the pick-up trucks were already waiting with all our belongings that we had left on them. After an hour's drive, we arrived at our hostel, got our backpacks, and fell exhausted into our beds.

That evening, we didn't do anything besides calling our families, getting some food, and planning and booking our next destination. I won't reveal where we're going yet, you'll find out in one of the next blog posts, so stay tuned.

Despite our doubts before and at the beginning of the tour, we are glad that we booked and participated in this tour.

So our last two days consisted of hiking through the jungle, seeing beautiful waterfalls, bathing and feeding elephants, and rafting. We enjoyed great views, breathed fresh jungle air, and had an unforgettable time. WOW! That's a lot for such a short time. Now we need some relaxation and time to process all these experiences.

Franzi and Jonas

P.S. High-quality pictures will (hopefully) come later! Two of the Dutch people are photographers and have taken good pictures of us, which they want to send to us.