Trekking in the Himalayas

I had a vision of the kind of place where I wanted to spend time on this trip. I imagined a tranquil town with a strong cultural backbone. I wanted to hang out in cafes, talk to other travelers and make excurisions to the outlying areas for hiking and sightseeing. I wanted to be forced into not doing much. Enter Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai is a large city by Thai standards. The population is about 165,000 and it has the feel of a college town. There is a strong international influence and lots of young people. Chiang Mai is in Northwestern Thailand, not far from the "Golden Triangle" (the place where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Burma meet.) The elevation is higher than Bangkok and the air has a cool, crispness. The pollution and congestion are minimal, though, since there are no emissions standards anywere in this part of the world, you still occasionally walk into clouds of carbon monoxide.

I arrived on Tuesday after my 15 hour train trip. I had already scheduled a three day trek in a national park beginning on Wednesday, then leave for Laos on Monday. After walking around the town for five minutes, I knew I had to extend my stay. I'm gald I booked an open-ended trip. My travel dates are flexible, with no charge for changing. I've realized though, that I wasted a lot of money, as booking your travel here is dirt cheap. Another lesson learned, I guess.

We left on our trek early Wednesday morning. Taxi cabs and transport "busses" are both basically covered pick-up trucks. You cram in with 8-10 other people and sit on long benches. I never thought I'd take a trek where I'd get sore from sitting, but the first two hours of our journey consisted of running errands in Chiang Mai. I should have realized this was a harbinger of things to come.

When we finally arrived at a nearby national park, we took a fantastic two-hour hike. At the highest elevations, the terrain was rocky and loaded with evergreens. In the valleys, it was jungle/rainforest. The jungle scenes in "Platoon" or "Apocalypse Now" could have been filmed where we were. The trails were minimal and the hiking was exhilirating. We stopped to go swimming in a waterfall and had a meager lunch.

Our hiking eventually took us to a hilltribe village, where we would spend the night. Many of the hilltribe people of NW Thailand are refugees from politically hostile Burma (or Myanmar, as it's now called.) After meeting a few of the hilltribe people, I found it hard to imagine a regime finding them threatening.

Upon arriving at the village, the hilltribe people had their wares on display. Dozens of beautiful cotton tapestries adorned the dilapidated wood structures that would make for our eating and sitting areas. A very old woman and a bunch of messy little kids approached us by shoving handfulls of bead necklaces and bracelettes in our faces. The "salespeople" made there way around the group, staring at you until you said "no" emphatically. You ended up having to turn each of them away about 10 times. As there were probably 8 people selling stuff, this got a little old.

Part of the selling point of this trip was the promise of learning about the hilltribe culture. Once everyone had turned away the salesforce, the hill people vanished until the next morning, when we were subject to the same routine. One charming hilltribe fellow engaged us in conversations of pantamime and broken English. He led us on parts of our treks and hung around in the evening while we sat by the campfire, but this was the only real interaction we had.

I had been told these types of treks were "exploitive" and reduced the hilltribe people to beggars, dependent on tourists. I object to this characterization as the tourists are clearly the ones being exploited. Everywhere we went we had the opportunity to buy things. We typically followed our inadequate lunches with a quick trek to a tin roofed shack. These shacks, selling Western snacks (chips, oreos, coca-cola,) were out in the middle of nowhere; I'm talking no roads, no nothing. I'm not sure how they got supplies to the stores without an air-drop. It was clear that all of the trekking groups frequented these shacks to support the local economy. This would be fine if we weren't under the impression that all of our meals were included.

Our accomodations consisted of one large barn with two bamboo platforms running the length of the room (see photo.) Paper thin mats and filthy sleeping bags were intended as beds. While bamboo is soft, by wood standards, it doesn't make for a very good night's sleep. The bathrooms were filthy, but portions at dinner were fine (there must not have been a store within walking distance.) On day 1, we arrived at the village around 4pm. There was nothing to do but sit around, stare at the camp fire and buy the beer sold by the villagers. Not a bad way to spend the night, but not exactly "trekking." While our accomodations were rough, the hilltribe people departed in the direction of a large house with power lines and a TV antenna.

I was fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of very cool people on this trip. Our group had 17 people in it. The majority were Europeans, with no more than two people from one country. We also had a Japanese fellow, a couple of Israelis, two Maylasians and me. We all had the same objections to our accomodations, but developed a sense of humor about the whole thing and had great conversations about cultural differences and world events (I'm really tired of apologizing for George Bush. My god do people hate him!)

Day 2 consisted of a four hour trek and more swimming. Again, exhilirating hiking and fantastic scenery made the whole thing seem worth it. Our accomodations were basically the same as the night before, just in a different village.

Day 3, we got going late. In fact, we got going late every day and spent a lot of time waiting around. We had a brief trek, followed by very touristy elephant riding and a bamboo rafting trip. Elephant riding is about as comfortable as it looks. The animals are amazing, but they're not really designed for comfort or a smooth ride. I can see why they would make for useful transport in a muddy, mountainous terrain, but as for joyriding, no thanks.

We returned that night tired and dirty. I was glad I opted to pay the extra money for the nice hotel. The rooms were airconditioned, the shower water was hot and the TV had an American movie channel. Total relaxation was ahead!

Overall, I'm glad I took this trip as the hiking was great and the people were tremendous. If the accomodations are going to be rough, that's fine, but let's start hiking before 10 am. If the food is going to be basic, ok, but don't constantly extort money from us. This trip was another example of how tourists are little more than walking dollar signs in this part of the world.

I was excited to get back to Chiang Mai and start the next phase of the trip.

Planes, Trains and Tuk Tuks

A fifteen hour flight, followed by a two hour layover, followed by a two hour flight sounds like a miserable experience. Actually, it wasn't so bad. Night flying is the way to go. I took off from SFO at 12:10 AM on Tuesday November 8th. Between sleeping, some pretty good food and a few movies, time went quickly.

I arrived in Bangkok feeling rested and excited. Once I made it through customs etc. I took a cab to a hostel I prearranged. (I got ripped off, on the cab that is, but I'll tell more about that later. I expect this to be a consistent theme.)

Big John's Bar, Restaurant and Guest House is fairly non-descript (hence the lack of photos.) It's popular with Aussie backpackers and located on the Eastern end of the city in a happening part of town. I paid 550 baht (about $13) per night for a tiny single person room with a/c and a shared bath. The place was clean, the food was good and the staff was friendly. They had TVs in the restaurant and played American sports. I caught a little NBA but was disappointed when they said they couldn't get the IU-Indianapolis game (I'll just assume the issue was that it was a preseason game and not a regular one.)

I spent the first couple of days walking all over the city. By day 3, something caught up with me. I'm not sure if it was the water, food, heat stroke, jet lag or if I was just plain tired, but I spent the whole day in bed. For the following days, I had no energy and little appetite.

Bangkok is an overwhelming place, but it has a lot going for it. They have a cheap and efficient subway/elevated train system. The temples, palace and national museum are tremendous. They have some of the poshest shopping malls you'll ever visit. However, the poverty, congestion and pollution are incredible. People actually wear masks when they ride motor bikes or walk through busy intersections. Add that to the OPPRESSIVE heat and Bangkok wears you out fast. I know my blood has thinned since living in San Francisco, but the heat and humidity really dominate your existence here. The Thais have acclamated. In fact, most of them don't look they sweat. However, as I exchanged exhausted and sympathetic looks with other white folks, it was obvious all new people struggle (and this is the "cool season"!!!)

The food is truly incredible. There are a million restaurants (I actually ate Italian and it was quite good.) Of course, you have all of the standard American chains, but they also have a few surprising ones. Sizzler is everywhere. So is Swensen's ice cream. Coffee is really popular, in spite of the fact that Bangkok is like one giant sauna.

The street food is where it's at though. Among the pictures here is my first real Pad Thai. I found it wondering through a ghetto off a main drag in Central Bangkok. I had to keep pointing at the chilis and repeating "Thai Spicy!!! Thai Spicy!!!" You rarely know what you're eating. It's hard to get any more specific than "fish" or "chicken."

Most tourists fear street food. I haven't had a problem with it. In fact, after seeing several old restaurants in action, I think having a food stand that moves is probably the most sanitary way of cooking. There are no hard-to-reach corners in a rolling kitchen. At the end of the day, take the food out and spray it down. I saw this over and over and never witnessed a dirty food cart.

I'm pleased to report that the food here is not better than the Thai food at the best Thai restaurants in San Francisco. In fact, since our ingredients are so much better (meat isn't tough etc.) the Thai food might be better in the US, at least to a Western palatte. The difference is the feel and authenticity. There are dishes you can't get in the US and the preparations here aren't adapted to Western tastes. They dumb-down the food for foreigners ("Thai-Spicy!!! Thai Spicy!!!") but you can still get the idea.

Let's talk scams, shall we? On day 2 in Bangkok I braved the heat to visit the palace and surrounding temples. I decided to walk most of the way (quite a hike) to see the sights.

After finishing lunch, I was walking down the street and was innocently engaged by a friendly Indonesian walking beside me. We had a brief and polite conversation and he gave me directions to the palace. As he was "showing me the way" we took a quick detour into his friend's suit store. The Indonesian fellow told his friend to give me the best deal possible, bid farewell and went on his way.

I politely sat and talked to the tailor as I wasn't sure of the best way to get out of the situation. He had some fantastic fabrics and would make custom suits for $125 each. I'm talking wool, cashmere, linen, all tailored, 3 fittings. If I actually wore suits, this would be great. I chatted with him for 10 minutes and excused myself.

I hopped a cab from the tailor's and headed to the palace. Again, I was innocently approached by a Thai fellow who had an official looking badge. He asked me how much I'd paid for my cab ride and was visibly upset that I was overcharged (I was overcharged on the ride from the airport too. The nice thing about getting ripped off in Bangkok is that it costs you a dollar or two.)

The Thai fellow told me the place was packed and I should come back. I paid 100 baht (about $2.50) to get to the palace. He then pointed to a tuk-tuk (part motorcycle and part low-ceiling golf cart, see photo) and told me the driver would take me to two other temples and get me back in time to see the palace for 20 baht (50 cents.) That sounded fine with me, so I hopped in.

He drove me to see the largest Buddha in Thailand. Definitely a cool thing to check out. What followed was an hour and a half of my driver taking me to tailors, jewelers and other retail shops to try to get me to buy things. The driver was a very polite kid who made it clear that taking me to these places was how he made money and if I would just go in for 5 minutes, it would really help him.

When you visit a place like Thailand, you are constantly reminded of how (comparatively) wealthy you are. People are very nice on the surface, but everything is intended to get you to spend. As I mentioned above, getting ripped of here is not so expensive, but it becomes tiresome when you constantly feel like a target because of your skin color.

I was so exasperated after this experience, I took off and came back to the temple a couple days later. I'm glad I did. The palace and adjoining temples are stunning. When you go to Washington D.C., London or Madrid, you get a sense of power and authority. In Thailand, you get a sense of beauty and spirituality. The art and architecture are fantastic and you get a feeling of serenity rather than awe.


After another day of wandering and relaxation, I was ready to get out of Bangkok. I had booked my travel by train to Chiang Mai through the government sanctioned travel agency (TAT.) I left at 8 pm from Hua Lamphong station in Central Bangkok. The ride is 15 hours, so I had my first experience on a sleeper train. Not great, but cheap ($20) and reasonably comfortable. I sat across from a guy from L.A., so we passed the time talking about life in California and trying to quell his fears of all things foreign.

When I arrived in Chiang Mai, I found the breath of fresh air I was looking for. More on that later...

First of all...

After almost two weeks in Thailand, I finally have stories to tell and pictures to share. I hope to update this page on a regular basis, so feel free to check in about once a week and I should have something new for you.

(A caveat: As you will soon learn, I'm not much of a photographer. In fact, I took quite a few photos of my trip to Japan and never developed them. That said, a little patience with my LOFT (Lack Of Ability is what I think that stands for,) is appreciated. Just be glad digital cameras don't allow me to shoot out of focus.