Trekking Continued/Rafting

The last day of our journey was spent rafting the river, not sure of the rivers name but it was a large one.

Preparing for the trip was tricky, we had to put everything in plastic bags so they would not get wet in the rapids of the river.

You definitely want to wear something you won't mind getting wet. The rapids are sometimes large enough to come up over the raft.
Our belongings were on sticks constructed above the waterline at about 6 feet. Rafting was a blast. You got to watch the guides construct the raft as you waited to get on. There were six of us and two guides to steer the raft with long poles. There were no seats so the floor of the raft was it. Your seat for the day.

I swam beside the raft some of the way, they said it was fine as long as I didn't go in front of the raft. The raft could have run over me if it was going faster than I was swimming. So along side only.

The trekking trip was the highlight of the month. I would do it again in a second. Wonderful people, good food, clean accommodations, the only drawback was the bathroom situation. Showers were cold, the toilet a typical squat ceramic, it was a bathroom and an adequate and private. Just not your usual garden variety western bathroom.

Trekking Continued/Elephant ride

The first part of our journey through the Jungle while trekking was great. An inspirational in site on a life we are certainly not a part of.

The next part of the journey was the elephant ride. Interesting, we watched the boys go to the jungle and collect their elephants, take them to the river and wash them, harness them with the baskets we rode in. We climbed aboard with their trusty handlers to begin our ride.

As we were going through the jungle, and through the river we noticed that there was a baby following one of the elephants. He made for much excitement as we watched him play, nurse, and try and keep up with the larger elephants. The elephant river ride was much longer than expected. Jungle beauty all around us, absolutely fabulous. River raft guides were busy taking our gear downriver on rafts for us to collect at the next tribal village. Here were fed a wonderful lunch, all things we recognized because of the time we spend in Thailand.

That night we again spent the night at the village in about the same nice accommodations. Comfortable and clean. Same sort of restroom and shower facilities. Not bad but certainly not a western bathroom.

Bright and early the next morning we all boarded rafts to ride and swim in the river if we wanted. Swimming in the river was easy, warm you just had to keep up with the raft as they cannot come back for you if you fall behind. We rode two and one-half hours listening to the sounds and looking at the beautiful foliage In the next addition I will tell more about the rafting trip. Hope you enjoy these postings they are certainly fun to do.

Trekking

One of the memories of traveling around Thailand was our experience with Trekking.

It started with the person at the Hotel helping people with reservations with exciting activities. The next day we met the people we were to travel with and our guide.

None of us knew what we were in for. The experience was absolutely fabulous! We were told to pack light. Very light for four days. We were given a basic list of articles to be sure and bring along in your backpack.

The van came to the Hotel and picked us up early the next day. The other people outside out of our group obviously in great shape, we thought we were too. Reality was soon to come. After a long ride to the drop site our guide led us to a crude road. Most of the road was straight up. Every time we went around a corner we thought it would be flat, not so, all uphill . It wasn't long before we realized we picked the wrong thing to do. I was ready to give up as was the rest of our group. Our guides gave us an option for extra money to ride motorcycles the rest of the way. Saved our trip completely. The motorcycles arrived about a half hour later. All but two of us were happy to get on and go to the village ahead.

Arriving at the village we were welcomed graciously by quite wonderful people. Actual village people, no fakes. We were shown to our sleeping quarters and the toilet facilities. Primitive but wonderful. The cook had already started to prepare our meal for the evening.

We purchased sodas, water and beer from the guides, at every stop. We sat and rested with a much needed rest. Wonderful conversation with people who from Italy made the trip much more interesting.

After dinner we still visited but all retired early as the next day we visited another village. Village people are very welcoming. Quiet, curious, completely happy people. The motorcycles saved our trip. We were fortunately to have such wonderful guides.

Visiting the villages was only part of the trip. In another posting I will tell about the elephants and the rafting trip. Wonderful, exciting, and actual, nothing but the real thing. No artificial anything, nothing but the real thing. The best experience of the trip.

Look for further postings. I will post pictures to go with this article soon. Watch for them.