Special note: On Saturday, Amber and I took an organized tour into the rural areas north of Chiang Mai.  I apologize in advance that this post is long, but our day was an unforgettable adventure, filled with elephant riding, hiking, whitewater rafting, etc.  I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as we enjoyed living it, and be sure to check out the pictures at the end!

Our tour operators picked us up at our hotel bright and early at 8:30am.  We headed north out of the city, and our first stop was a butterfly preserve and orchid farm.  We walked through a greenhouse filled with countless rows of perfectly formed orchids of every imaginable color.  The orchids grow “aeroponically,” which means they are not planted in soil.  They hang in the air from a metal framework, and mist continually soaks their exposed roots.

Next, we headed farther north through rice farms and banana plantations to an elephant preserve.  We were introduced to our elephant for our ride, a 30-year old pregnant female.  Her eyes and trunk watched us closely as we bought a bunch of bananas to feed her.  We climbed up a two-story wooden platform, and our elephant put her head against the platform.  As gently as we could, we stepped onto her head and back and sat down on a bench on her back.  Our mahout, or elephant trainer, led us along a path into the farms and countryside, and just like that… we were riding our first elephant!  Our elephant would pause every minute or two and reach her trunk back to where we were seated, and we had to give her a banana to keep her walking.  If we ignored her trunk, she would snort a blast of hot, snotty air on us to get our attention.  We rode her for about an hour, through the green farmlands, across small creeks, up muddy inclines, etc.

At the end of our loop through the farmlands, she left us off at the same platform, and we gave her the remaining bananas and said goodbye.  Amber and I were both amazed at how intelligent elephants are, and we agreed that this definitely would not be our last elephant ride during our time in Thailand.

Joined by our tour operators, a couple from Holland, and a few friendly dogs, we started hiking alongside a creek through the jungle.  The hike was an adventure itself, as we climbed over boulders, pushed vines and plants out of our way, ate strange citrus fruit growing wild in the trees, and crossed rushing areas of the creek by balancing on fallen tree trunks or bamboo poles.  The weather was hot, sunny, and humid, which made the hike even more grueling.  The dogs were able to traverse the trail much more quickly than we could.  Every now and then, they would stop and look back at us.  If they saw we were struggling to get over some boulders or across the creek, they would come back and stand next to us, nudging us with their muzzles as if to give us courage and strength to continue.

Half an hour or more into the hike, we stopped at a Lahu settlement for lunch.  The Lahu people are an ethnic minority that live in Thailand, China, Burma, Vietnam, etc.   They had a few huts, picnic tables, and buildings made out of bamboo poles and palm fronds.  Our tour operators and two Lahu women served us lunch, which consisted of pad thai noodles wrapped in banana leaves and fresh-cut pineapple.  Any leftovers we didn’t eat were fed to our dog companions.  While at the Lahu settlement, I took the opportunity to visit the “facilities,” and yes, it truly was a “hole in the ground.”  Check out the photos at the end of this post.

We left the Lahu camp and continued our hike into the jungle.  After about an hour, we arrived at our destination – a beautiful waterfall cascading 30 or 40 feet down the side of a cliff.  Soaked with sweat from the intense heat, I didn’t hesitate to dive into the cool water at the base of the falls.  We stayed there and admired nature’s beauty for an hour, and many other farangs on the same hike joined us there until the scene looked like a pool party.

We began our return hike, and it was even more challenging since we were now descending downwards along the creek.  We rested again at the Lahu camp for awhile before continuing on to the elephant camp and our tour operators’ truck.

The next adventure on our tour consisted of whitewater rafting down a nearby river.  We were outfitted with a large raft, paddles, life vests, helmets, and a guide.  The river alternated between calm, relaxing areas and swirling rapids filled with boulders.  During the rapids, huge waves of muddy water splashed over us, which was a welcome change from the sweaty hike in the jungle.  Fearing that the raft was going to flip over, Amber went overboard into the muddy water at one point, and it took all four of us to pull her back in!

After surviving the whitewater rafting, we left the inflatable raft and boarded a raft made out of very long bamboo poles lashed together.  We all floated down a calm stretch of the river seated on this bamboo raft, while a guide at the back steered the raft with a long bamboo pole.  Locals use these rafts exclusively for transporting themselves and their goods down the river.  When we disembarked from the bamboo raft, our tour operators and some locals they knew allowed us to join in on their dinner – grilled octopus, pork, and chicken livers on skewers.

Worn out from a day of adventures, our tour operators drove us south back to Chiang Mai.  Along the way, we stopped at a Karen Longneck village.  The people are called “Longnecks” because the women place gold rings around their necks, from their collarbones up to their chin, which elongates their necks over the years.  The Longneck people were selling their handmade crafts and other touristy items while children played in the dusty street.  In a way, it was a shame to see this village and its people “on display” like a zoo, but at the same time, the endless stream of farangs and tourists stopping by brings in money that they wouldn’t have otherwise.

Our tour operators dropped us off at our hotel at 6:30pm, and they even gave us their email address to stay in touch in the future.  After a well-deserved shower, we went to dinner at the Brasserie along the Ping River.  Sitting outdoors along the river bank in the dark, under beautiful umbrellas and colored lanterns, we reflected on our day’s adventures.

Tags: elephant, hiking, tour