{"id":2448,"date":"2026-02-22T10:07:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T10:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aerowalsh.com\/cr\/?p=2448"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:24:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:24:27","slug":"sat-21st-feb-trek-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/?p=2448","title":{"rendered":"Sat 21st Feb – Trek Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CR: Homestay is freaky and I have a terrible night’s sleep. The owner of the homestay actually sleeps the night in the property on a tent outside that’s pitched on a bamboo base that itself is pitched on the roosting area of Turkey Clan 2. Our guide, Angie, says this is for security. She sort of smiles as she says it so I assume it’s a joke. Increasingly we get the feeling it is not a joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day two of Trek is a long one but fun, in its own way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know Declan is finding Trek difficult because he is showing signs of not wanting to go for a second round. He keeps talking about how hard I am finding it which is a deflection I know well. He is tired too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hike length is about the same as yesterday. 3-4 hours, I am not exactly sure, time sort of melts away after half an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DW: Classic Cait exaggeration. The challenge is the whole point. It makes it a fundamentally different experience from the two German tourists who rocked up for basket weaving and then left in their bus 2 hours later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CR: They didn’t want their basket so it is given to us. Souvenir. It will feature in later photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CR: Declan taking a break after we finished yesterday’s hike. We were ready to go to bed at about 5pm.
DW: I am empowered to wear thongs thanks to the power of DEET.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Sunrise over the Homestay. We are all awake early thanks in large part to the aviary outside our (unsealed) door. And the cats. Kittens paw and mewl at us from behind our mosquito net. They are very annoying. Declan shoves one off the edge of the mattress. It makes you realise everyone is just one hot uncomfortable week away from animal cruelty, no matter what they claim in their air-conditioned Sydney homes. Over breakfast our guide asks about our occupations. I go through the usual routine. “I work at a bank.” “Ah, a teller.” “Yeah, sort of.” Usually that’s that. But our guide catches me red faced in a lie when she asks, “have you had any bank robbers?” We are told this is common in Thailand. I am embarrassed I haven’t excelled in all aspects of my fake job.
DW: When I say “engineer” people understand. Armue’s son is an engineer and he builds a house for his older sister down the road. Everybody loves engineer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: This is but a mere sample of the countless birds Armue owns that each have their own incredibly loud and incessant morning wakeup sounds. The turkeys chuffing are my favourite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: We identify the clucking outside the door to our sleeping quarters. As I go a little closer to take a photo three people yell out of me to be careful. This!? This is what I am being careful around on Trek? Literally everything else is a greater hazard than this roosting chook.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: This photo contains a snapshot of most of the crops grown by the Akha people. You have a banana tree in the foreground, then pineapple bushes, some “corn” (specific plant somewhat lost in translation), Lychee trees and rubber trees in the forested area near the back of the picture. The fact that 1kg of pineapples costs 5THB really puts into perspective just how much tourism can upend the economy. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: We’re asked to pose for photos for our guide. Our default poses are never good enough and we are being asked for increasingly elaborate poses. Not once has she offered to share them with us. I am not confident they are for our benefit. I think they’re destined to go in an online gallery without our consent. I sneak a photo for myself of this one she made Declan take.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Today we are taken into the Akha village to Make The Activity (arts and crafts) and have some kitchen time. We get an introduction to village life which involves a lot of pottering around and some coming and going. Lots of flim flam. I am praised for being a fast learner with the embroidery task and I can feel Declan seething behind me (DW: actually I was praised first due to my amazing sewing skills, I was just being more considered than Caitlin with my bead placement which made me seem slower, but actually resulted in a higher quality bead band). When everyone leaves and we’re by ourselves Declan makes sure I know his beads were actually sewn a lot straighter than mine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: Kitchen cat cage\/table is the must have accessory for all Akha kitchens this year. Some cages are more effective than others and not all cats go in the cage. Only the naughty ones.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Opium economy has successfully transitioned into tourist knick knack economy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: I could have been being flirted with. Unfortunately the sun was in my eyes and I couldn’t see anything.
CR: This is cultural appropriation but somehow we were the ones being forced into it. This photo makes me laugh so much. I just remember Declan saying, “the sun’s so bright. I can’t see anything.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Lunch. We’re both apprehensive about how long this has dragged on. It’s midday. We’re right on track to Trek in the hottest part of the day.
DW: Just as I planned all along. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: I’m sorry mum.
DW: I think I’m sorry Declan could be more appropriate. To be honest I am surprised Caitlin didn’t take more books on this two night activity.
CR: Every time I saw this bag bobbing on Declan’s shoulders I did remember the hard work you went through to procure it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Halfway through today’s afternoon trek is a waterfall. It was the only time we’ve seen other people on the Trek (you can drive to access it). I cannot express how nice it is to swim in. Despite bringing swimmers, we go in fully clothed as our hiking gear is so drenched in sweat. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: A shack in the middle of nowhere for the farmers who tend to the rice fields. The crop is not active at the moment because it’s the dry season. Closer to the city the government pays for irrigation to enable a second harvest each year. This area must be too remote to access that.
DW: Some of these random huts have better internet than Blackheath did until recently.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: While on Trek I lose all sense of self. It all drips away in the sweat. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: At this viewpoint near the end of our trek you can see the big white Buddha in the distance we visited a few days ago.
CR: It is off-putting walking closer to the gunshots echoing louder now in the hills.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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DW: After a hot and sweaty afternoon we made it. Caitlin gets called hero a lot. No-one calls Declan a hero…
CR: I am congratulated for “fighting tooth and nail”. Guys, was it that obvious I was struggling?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: Quiet relax time at the Lahoue village post Trek. Our guide is shocked to learn Declan won’t eat bananas. “But they are ubiquitous,” she states, flabbergasted that Declan would decline such a natural bounty.
DW: All homestays invariably involve bland food unfortunately. On closer analysis this may be addressing the lowest common denominator of Westerner to attend these activities. “No spicy” being a common refrain in the night markets. We get a taste of actual flavour with some Lahoue new year sticky rice, pork rind and my favourite chilli chicken with a nice bit of heat and flavour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: We lost a good man today.
DW: I blame Ottolenghi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: It was explained to us yesterday that Lahou New Year involved slaughtering a pig and dancing in traditional garb around a pole with a head on top. That sounded frightening. The reality is much cuter. Lots of kids causing mischief.
DW: At one point an old man appears out of the dark and starts throwing firecrackers around before playing the harmonica while dancing around the tree as all the children started following him. This is what I imagine a forest spirit would embody themselves as.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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CR: While the adults gamble. It’s interesting that the ‘hilltribes’ have such a distinct culture. The ones we are in are less than an hour from Chiang Rai township but they don’t really seem to be ‘thai’. They have different holidays and wear different clothes and speak if not a different language than definitely a different dialect. From what I can work out Thai people consider them a separate group. I think they get mostly left alone. Each tribe has a chief that goes to meetings in the city where government officials pass on health and education messages and then the chief will come back and disseminate this to the village. There is a village doctor that treats anything non life threatening with jungle remedies. Alongside this is an air of lawlessness. Declan and I are not permitted to go into the villages without our guide, who in turn is not allowed to go without the porter (a local).
DW: It is unclear how much, if any, of an imposition we are in these events. Our porter and guide play on their phones and are normally eager to keep us moving along to the timetable. When we get to the next event we discover the timetable is weakly indicative only and there is much flex.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hero.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thailand-laos-cambodia-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2448"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2512,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2448\/revisions\/2512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cr.aerowalsh.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}