The Chiang Mai jungle

We are out of the Chiang Mai jungle and alive after a mind-blowing couple of days. Early Tuesday morning we headed about three hours north of Chiang Mai on the back of a ute up into the hills. There were six on our trek: two English and two Aussies - and all very cool (just like us really...) which was very very lucky given we had to spend the next 48 hours with them. First, we headed to the markets so that our guides could buy the supplies they needed and then we stopped, briefly, at one of the Mong hill tribes for a look around. The Mong men are bigamists in an attempt to father more workers for the tribe. Nice. To get to "our" village (one of many Karen villages - all of which are called the Karen village, go figure), we had to hike through the jungle for a couple of hours. On the way, we passed by fields and fields that had been burnt by the various Karen village people for rice paddies (rather than the old favoured opium supply). Apparently, every year each family is responsible for caring for a rice paddy which at the end of the season is rendered useless for another 3-5 years. To get fresh paddies, more and more of the jungle is burnt each year until the old fields can be re-used. The Karen village we stayed at was very primative, with no electricity and pigs and chickens roaming the village. Unfortunately, we also had to sleep in about negative 2 star accommodation with dirty and uncomfortable bedding and massive bugs and loud animal noises all night (luckily none of which got through the moskito net). None of the girls slept but, of course, Grant had his usual 8 hours. And, must also mention the compulsory use of the be-daes (sp?) along the way. We are pros at using them now and have strong thighs! Despite all of our complaining, we wouldn't have changed a thing - it was an amazing and unforgettable experience! Dinner was authentic thai curry, cooked by the villagers, and our evening entertainment was a few chang beers, a couple of games of jenga and a bunch of magic tricks by one of the village men. Our 5.30am start (because, really, none of us were asleep anyhow...) began with rather loud religous chanting by the villagers and one really weird sounding (perhaps thai?) rooster going and going and going. However, the villagers, kindly, provided us with coffee mate to make things a little easier. Half an hour after we left the village, we were met by three thai men with their elephants. We travelled for an hour on our elephants through the jungle which was the most surreal experience we have ever had!A long hike and we arrived at a bamboo river rafting park which was full of locals (all who had the day off because of the elections) and a few tourists. We rafted down the Wan River for around an hour and it seems that the object of bamboo rafting is to get everyone you see as wet as possible. There were people on rafts, all along the side of the river and kids swimming in the river and jumping on rafts, and everyone was absolutely saturated from yelling hello (Sawatdee ka) and spashing each other. For our last night in Chaing Mai, we met the other 4 from our tour for dinner in a massive outdoor market with a ton of restaurants and all meals for a couple of dollars. We also indulged in an hour foot and shoulder massage for $5 each. Need it be said? We love Chiang Mai. Now in Phuket and will update shortly.