DW: This is an improvement over last night as cats were unable to get inside. I like bamboo hut floor. It is fun and springy (but mind the holes!) and reminds me of tatami mat life in Japan. CR: My thoughts on the matter are known. Although I do agree with Declan, it is an improvement on last night. No animals inside and this time we had the area to ourselves with the guide getting her own room and the porter sleeping in the kitchen area that you need to walk through to get to this room. It is also said that this is the most premium room because it is closest to the toilet/bathing facility. Still the 4am cacophony of hillside roosters that take hours to abate.CR: We use the bamboo cups that were fashioned for us yesterday by the porter in the jungle using his machete in the jungle. These are not being taken back to Australia for fear of introducing an invasive jungle pest.CR: A rather awkward group photo before we continue on Trek. We were meant to do some other activities today in the village but I don’t think the guide feels like it and we just get on our way instead. The man on the left of the photo is our porter. Porter is hill tribe member. Guide is Thai and went to tourism school. There is a clear guide/porter hierarchy. The man in the middle looks like we have kidnapped him but he is just the owner of the homestay. His wife hawks us trinkets while we are having breakfast. When blog commenters receive their gifts you can think of this man and his family on a hill somewhere in the Golden Triangle.DW: We are a few weeks before the proper start of the “burning season”. This is good as the burning season consists of burning all the unharvested parts of your crops which results in a precipitous decline in air quality over all of Laos and Northern Thailand. Burning is the easiest way of getting the area ready for another planting. You can see a recently burnt area on the hillside in the middle of this photo.DW: Abu (specific spelling unknown) is our favourite porter. He has a really nice smile. In this photo Caitlin attempts to perform some variant on throw the grass assisted by Abu. A classic hilltribe pastime. CR: Attempt implies failure which is not at all what occurred here. My throw is so natural I get a clap and am told again I am a fast learner. Declan throws his into the ground and has a little grumble and is labelled a big baby. CR: Present in the photo are the bamboo baskets left by the other tourists at the last village. I use it to carry my sunglasses. Declan uses his to carry my water bottle.CR: Trek today was significantly easier. There was nowhere near as much up and down. The track was wide in most places and was more a back road than a jungle trail. Machete didn’t get used once to bush bash. Also the views were the best of the three days. Very enjoyable walk. We even see another tourist group!CR: Break room for farmers. Declan, next time I bitch about not getting a lunch break you can remind me of this photo. CR: Mum, skip the next photo.CR: Declan finds a snake off the track. Guide Angie says, “don’t worry, not cobra.” Porter Abu smiles and pats stomach. Angie translates and says local delicacy. CR: We eventually manage to convince Guide Angie to send us the photos she’d been taking. Mmm look how smooth and easy that track is. I am happy. CR: Declan remarks on how common fancy cars are on Thailand, regardless of where they are located. We sort of ask how can someone in the shack afford this car and Angie explains that pretty much all cars are bought with credit. She says Thai people in general have very bad credit ratings.DW: When we get to the end of our trek in a Karen (another local minority hill tribe) village, we discover not all elephants in Thailand live a charmed life. These elephants are on a short chain all day and people pay for an elephant ride around the village. Angie lets us know they go into the jungle at night as if to assuage any worries. There is no real Thai consensus of concern for elephant wellbeing except that some Western tourists don’t like them chained up and object to riding. This capitalist demand seems to be the main driver behind improvements in elephant conditions. Riding or engaging with these elephants is thankfully not part of the timetable and we watch as Thai families (who look like tourists themselves from Chiang Rai city) come to feed them banana tree offcuts purchased from a man in a little hut nearby.DW: Today’s final activity was a hot spring. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t quite capturing the full experience of a Japanese onsen. There were several concerns with hot spring. 1: It was unclear if we should have shirts on. The sign said we must, but we checked and Angie (our English speaking guide) said it was ok. Everyone else had shirts on, but they were really only kids under the age of 5 actually in the pool. 2. The pool was filled only to lower calf height. It could be filled deeper (specifically to 1.2m, we knew this because there were warning signs everywhere), but wasn’t for unknown reasons. 3. Unlike Japan, Thailand is hot and sweaty and an outdoor hot spring is not exactly the experience you really want in the middle of the day. Despite this, we had fun. CR: After half an hour Declan and I were delirious from the heat. Why? Why hot spring in the tropics? There might have been 10 customers in the whole complex for the hour we were there.DW: CR unsurprisingly loves the CR Boat. DW: During the 40 minute ride down the Mekok River back to Chiang Rai it is obvious the banks are continually eroding. There is an 8m difference between the wet and dry season levels. Houses built on the bank are precariously perched or in many cases half destroyed (with half still occupied and the other half as remants in a pile at the bottom below) by the annual erosion of the river.CR: We are both relieved to be back in Chiang Rai for the night. To celebrate we indulge in Warm Balls. Trek was fun but exhausting. We’ve been on the move nearly constantly since we landed 9 days ago. I personally am getting a bit worn out. CR: The Chiang Rai Clock Tower. Declan tries to get a haircut but they are shut. We think about getting a foot massage instead but we don’t. We sort of amble about unsure about what to do on our last night in Thailand.CR: We go to Laos tomorrow. Everyone keeps telling us we need to leave at 6am. I cannot work out why this is. Does the border shut at 8am? We are politely declining to follow this advice. I am not ready for Laos. I feel anxious. I still don’t even understand how the closed currency works. I really wish we had access to resort or something for the next few nights. Screenshot above is for the best accommodation I could find in the Laotian town we are spending the night in tomorrow.
Could you have done this trek in the wet season. Everything would just be thick mud.
I’m not buying the story of poor villagers getting a loan for a car worth 70,000 aud
These cars are fully paid for in cash from drug crop sales
Cait, your hair is wild in the boat.
Just watching new aus survivor and one of the dudes is wearing a Mauy thai t shirt
How does chat Thai warm balls compare to warm balls from the source.
Good to see the German weaving being repurposed.
Had a chuckle about the Laos accommodation review.
4 stars but rooms are not worth the price seems like a contradiction.
Just wondering if you are the first person on the trading floor that has chosen to go to Laos for a well earned relaxing holiday.
Dad: The tour shuts over wet season. And in fact I think that all of Thailand doesn’t get many tourists over wet season.
Yes that’s interesting about the cars. It is very surprising to see them in these places. Even in Laos there are cars that are more an 100k.
Chat Thai warm balls the OG in my eyes.
4 stars is relative. Imagine what 3 stars would be…
I must admit not a lot of people on the trading floor had much to say when I said Laos was our main destination.
Haha
I would be shocked if they ever film a season of white lotus in Laos
I have this feeling that many people would be thinking Caitlin is so sensible so why is she doing this.
Anyone with an expensive car in those areas is highly suspect. Corrupt government officials or criminals are the only people who could afford those cars.
Don’t worry, not cobra are the worst words I have heard! Really??
Favourite photo – CR boat of course!!!! Everyone should travel by CR boat.
I actually thought the Declan photo was a throwback. So out of place with the rest of the blog.
I am scared for Laos.
Dad: White Lotus Laos would have some wild energy.
Could you have done this trek in the wet season. Everything would just be thick mud.
I’m not buying the story of poor villagers getting a loan for a car worth 70,000 aud
These cars are fully paid for in cash from drug crop sales
Cait, your hair is wild in the boat.
Just watching new aus survivor and one of the dudes is wearing a Mauy thai t shirt
How does chat Thai warm balls compare to warm balls from the source.
Good to see the German weaving being repurposed.
Had a chuckle about the Laos accommodation review.
4 stars but rooms are not worth the price seems like a contradiction.
Just wondering if you are the first person on the trading floor that has chosen to go to Laos for a well earned relaxing holiday.
Dad: The tour shuts over wet season. And in fact I think that all of Thailand doesn’t get many tourists over wet season.
Yes that’s interesting about the cars. It is very surprising to see them in these places. Even in Laos there are cars that are more an 100k.
Chat Thai warm balls the OG in my eyes.
4 stars is relative. Imagine what 3 stars would be…
I must admit not a lot of people on the trading floor had much to say when I said Laos was our main destination.
Haha
I would be shocked if they ever film a season of white lotus in Laos
I have this feeling that many people would be thinking Caitlin is so sensible so why is she doing this.
Anyone with an expensive car in those areas is highly suspect. Corrupt government officials or criminals are the only people who could afford those cars.
Don’t worry, not cobra are the worst words I have heard! Really??
Favourite photo – CR boat of course!!!! Everyone should travel by CR boat.
I actually thought the Declan photo was a throwback. So out of place with the rest of the blog.
I am scared for Laos.
Dad: White Lotus Laos would have some wild energy.
rather awkward… that photo made me lol