Based on this principle, I was able to conclude while reading our Rough Guide and Lonely Planet that the important parts of Thailand include, to name just a few, Budget Accommodation, Shopping for Everyday Stuff, The Festival of the Holy Footprint, Mengrai Mania, Food Walks and Dinner Cruises, and Trekking. After concluding that I could Shop for Everyday Stuff without help and reading (to my disappointment) that The Festival of the Holy Footprint only takes place during the dry season, I turned my attention to Trekking. "Trekking must be important," I concluded, "because it has a sub-index in the index."
But trekking, like fugacity, is a term that I've seen many times but still can't define. "How is trekking different from hiking? Isn't it just one of those terms that people use because they want to sound all fancy and expert? For that matter, isn't fugacity?" I wondered.
For the last question, I had a ready answer: definitely yes. For the others, I had differencebetween.info:
The main difference between [hiking and trekking] is that hiking is mainly a leisure activity which is done by walking in we'll-made trails and man-made roads. However, trekking is more rigorous, and is a more challenging activity. It tests one's physical ability, endurance, and even their mental or psychological capacity.
"Interesting," I thought. "So if walking is a bell pepper and hiking is a jalapeño, then trekking is a Thai bird's eye chili! And I like things Thai spicy!"
This is the somewhat overconfident assertion, you'll remember from last week, that often leaves my mouth burning by the end of lunchtime. So I suppose, in retrospect, that it makes sense that each of the three treks that Leah and I have gone on over the past several weeks has presented a wealth of new sensations, uniquely Thai experiences, and more than a little pain.
#1: Karen Jungle Trek, Kanchanaburi
The Karen Jungle Trek was actually part of a two-day tour organized by Good Times Travel, a tour that was highly recommended by our guidebooks (in fact, I think it may have been bolded) for the number and variety of activities it included: a visit to a museum, a soak in some hot springs, bamboo rafting, a ride on the Death Railway, and more. The consequence of such a packed itinerary, though, is that while you're busy thinking about all of the Good Times you're going to have, it's easy to overlook the text stating that the tour is for experienced trekkers only. (You'd think that I would have noticed this announcement given that it was both bolded and italicized, but I guess my keyword radar was kind of worn out after spending so much time reading guidebooks.)
Our trek began around 2:30 on the afternoon of the first day of the tour. Out trekking party consisted of eight members: me; Leah; a Danish family of a mom, a dad, and two youngish boys who all had complicated Danish names; a twenty-something Dutch man who had an even more complicated Dutch name;
The intrepid trekkers...
and Noom, our Thai guide who had a thankfully monosyllabic name. Noom was a stocky, cheerful guy in a T-shirt, shorts, and backpack, with thick quads and large, chiseled calf muscles that pointed the way directly into a pair of bright aqua plastic rainboots. Noom was essentially a male, adult Dora the Explorer.
...and Noom.
We began the trek in the trunk of a truck, a pickup truck that Noom drove through pouring rain and foot-deep puddles to the trailhead while I and everyone else bounced around in the open back, trying to keep as much of ourselves dry under three-dollar ponchos as possible. The rain, of course, stopped as soon as we started hiking (sorry, trekking), leaving us all with sodden plastic sheets to carry around for the rest of the day.
Truck on the ride back. It was too rainy to take out my camera on the ride out.
For the next four hours, we followed Noom in single-file, trying our best in sneakers to avoid the muddy gullies and streams which he and his rainboots splashed right through. As we made our way through the jungle, we learned all sorts of things. We learned that the trail we were on had been used to connect the village we were heading to with the main road, until a wider path was cleared for motorbikes. We learned that a certain kind of tree that grows in the area produces a sticky resin that can be stuck in the fork of a split piece of bamboo to make an effective torch (Noom demonstrated a little bit too close to us). We learned that it was a good idea to be careful when Noom announced that an upcoming part of the trial was "slippely," but an even better idea to be careful when he was too busy focusing on keeping his own footing to remember to warn us. We learned that Danish children have remarkable stamina, and that Noom's favorite activities include smoking, pointing out spiders, giving his charges particulary cool spiders to hold whether they wanted to or not, and chopping down things with his machete. I'm pretty sure that several times, Noom intentionally led us off-course just so he could chop a path back to the trail with his machete. We learned that it's pointless to spend hours diligently avoiding getting your feet wet on a jungle trek, because thirty minutes from the end there will be a deep river that you have to wade through anyway that Noom definitely knew about the whole time. Finally, we learned that the Thai jungle is so beautiful that it easily makes up for any hardships you encounter while moving through it, even when you know you have to trek back the way you and the next day.
#2: Baanchang Elephant Trek, Chiang Mai
I'll cut right to the chase on this one. Elephants are big. Even Asian elephants, the "small" species of elephant, are big. This bigness is the great advantage and the great danger of trekking on the back of an elephant. On the one hand, it's a lot faster to get from point A to point B when your vehicle can simply stomp down and crush any obstacle in your path. On the other hand, you're also very aware of the fact that, if you were to fall off your elephant, you might inadvertently become an obstacle in its path.
And then they might stomp on you. Or at the very least, whack you with their ears.
Like the Karen Jungle Trek, the elephant trek was a part of a two-day package, although this one was all spent at the same place (the Baanchang Elephant Park, an elephant rescue and conservation center in northern Thailand). Our guide this time was Tom, and our companions were a Dutch family of a mom, a dad, a son, and a daughter (the daughter's name was Madeliefje--I gave up after that), three mahouts, and three elephants.
More intrepid trekkers...
...and Tom.
We set off on this trek perched two to an elephant, each of us attempting to control the elephants with Thai commands learned the day before, abandoning the pretense of control once it became clear that the elephants only listened to the mahouts who were walking alongside, and generally enjoying the experience of moving through the jungle while far above the mud and dirt of the ground below.
Until we elephant-trekked through a river and we remembered that elephants like to spray muddy river water all over their backs--and whoever is sitting on them--to keep cool.
#3: Nature Horse Trek, Krabi Province
Leah has been horseback riding for eight years, which is probably why she was unfazed by the following TripAdvisor review of the Nature Horse Trek in Krabi (area on the Andaman (west) coast of southern Thailand):
Two observations. First "holding on for dear life" is not a phrase that becomes better with a "lol!", especially when the person holding on for dear life is probably going to be me. Second, Leah did not keep my riding ability in mind when she decided to do this tour.
"I told them you were experienced," she announced. Clearly, I was in for another dose of Thai spicy.
Our guide this time: Bang. Our companions? None, unless you count our three horses. The experience? Benign name notwithstanding, the Krabi Nature Horse Trek was the single most terrifying and exhilarating experience that I've had in Thailand so far. The stable was built right next to the beach, so within minutes of mounting our horses, we were galloping full speed across the sand. Bang and Leah whooped it up. I held on for dear life--no "lol!"s--and hoped against hope that my horse wouldn't ever decide to "kick & jump about."
"Don't worry!" the stable-owner, who had ridden down to the beach on his motorbike to see us off, assured me as we came to a temporary stop. "You'll be out there for hours! Plenty of time to figure it out."
I don't know that I ever really figured it out, but I did manage to stay on, which I counted as enough of an accomplishment for one day. Plus, after we finished the trek, we got to do this
Horseback riding like I've never experienced before.
which even made it worth this:
Chafing like we've never experienced before (top: Hannah; bottom: Leah).
Section Review
In this post, we learned the difference between hiking and trekking. We saw three examples of different kinds of trekking in Thailand, and identified some important similarities:
1) All treks should be led by a guide with a monosyllabic name.
2) Trekking parties will often include Western European families with young children.
3) You will get wet. Don't try to avoid it; it's pointless.
4) Sometimes you'll get scraped, bitten, or chafed, but it's worth it.
Pretty soon, Leah and I will finish our Thai adventure and make one long final trek back home. Planning to have at least one more post before we wrap this blog up!
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