A day-long jungle trek in Northern Thailand

Posted by paul on August 14th, 2009 filed in The North, Top attractions, Travel destinations

Beyond Chiang Mai’s shopping delights, superb sightseeing opportunities and Doi Suithep’s hilltop grandeur, a day-long jungle trekking adventure is favoured with visiting tourists. However, certain things you’ll have to arrange to prepare. Lather on a sufficient amount of sunscreen, for romping in waterfalls you should bring a swimsuit and slippers along, and wear solid shoes and a hat – and perhaps some waterproof underwear if your trek includes rafting.

After a short visit to a Karen community, where white woven robes are the unmarried women’s main clothing, we refreshed ourselves by cooling off in a hidden waterfall. Then our group – eight travellers from Sweden, Japan and England – boarded the mighty elephants for a really unforgettable travel experience.

I never heard about naughty elephants until I met Bumba, who absolutely knew what it takes getting the blood in our veins circulating. To begin with, the giant refused to walk until he was finished polishing off the many bananas we did buy for him.

Once we had taken place on the elephant back’s platform, more than three metres high, we were at the animal’s mercy, particularly when he chose tricky and bumpy tracks lushly vegetated with brambles, the ones where he assumed more elephant delicacies awaited.

While balancing on a steep slope, we all gasped when Bumba tried rolling over a tree with his trunk. It felt as if we could have tumbled down at any moment. On the trip back Bumba’s behaviour was much better, except when he spotted several young girls while crossing the river. Bumba showed his excitement by spraying the females with water from his waving trunk, as if trying to prove that only he was the proud king of the jungle.

By now it was time for our group making the bamboo useable, rafting on what I’d reckoned would be a smooth and peaceful waterway. That myth was quickly dispelled by one of our fellow participants who got swept away in the roaring current. There was another bamboo raft that had even managed losing its skipper!

But in the calmer stretches, the flowing water’s murmur mingled with human laughter and birdsong, making for a pleasurable outing.

Chiang Mai tourist activities