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Our third leg of the trip was Chang Mai. Which is a lot like Bangkok but not a crowded. We spent the second day hiking up a jungle mountain side to reach a village and sleep with some natives. Well I THOUGHT I was in good shape. I had been going to the gym and even ran a marathon a year before but let me tell you. It kicked my ASS! When we were almost to the top of the Mountain, I just couldn't go any further so my tour guide took my back pack and carried it for me. We were shown to a large shack that we were all to sleep in which pretty much was just a large platform that had netting over the rolls we were to sleep on.
The villagers cooked for us some kind of green curry stuff that tasted like glue mixed with pooh and looked about like it too. After 2 bites, I was done. Thank God for the jerky we were smart enough to bring along. (The tour guide told us they eat dog up there so we might want to take our own food) After the dinner, we went right to bed before the sun was down.
The next day we got up early and headed back down the Mountain but a different way that was very steep. I finally realized it was easier to just trot than try to walk. We got to a point where another village was and the most beautiful waterfall you can imagine. We played in the water for a while and bought souvenirs from the natives. When we finally got to the bottom of the Mtn they put us on bamboo boats to go down a little river. There were people everywhere along the banks having picnics and whatnot. Apparently, it was custom to splash the people with water that were floating by. So we were pretty wet when it was over. From there they loaded us up in a bus and took us to another place where we rode elephants. Now you may think as we did that this would be a truly exciting thing to do. But to get these poor elephants to do what they want, they hit them on the top of the head with a mallet. HARD. It was very sad and I was ashamed to have spent money on it. Never again. I believe elephants are the one animal that should NEVER be taken out of it's true habitat and nature.
The next day we got up early and headed back down the Mountain but a different way that was very steep. I finally realized it was easier to just trot than try to walk. We got to a point where another village was and the most beautiful waterfall you can imagine. We played in the water for a while and bought souvenirs from the natives. When we finally got to the bottom of the Mtn they put us on bamboo boats to go down a little river. There were people everywhere along the banks having picnics and whatnot. Apparently, it was custom to splash the people with water that were floating by. So we were pretty wet when it was over. From there they loaded us up in a bus and took us to another place where we rode elephants. Now you may think as we did that this would be a truly exciting thing to do. But to get these poor elephants to do what they want, they hit them on the top of the head with a mallet. HARD. It was very sad and I was ashamed to have spent money on it. Never again. I believe elephants are the one animal that should NEVER be taken out of it's true habitat and nature.
On the way back to Chang Mai, they stopped at another little village that had a lunch for us. Once again, it was totally gross and made me sick. So I stuck with an Orange Fanta - the staple of Thailand. We got back to our rooms and took a long nap, then spent the night walking the "street bizarre" that goes on nightly there. It's pretty much just hundreds of vendors selling the same stuff. If you fall in love with a scarf and they are asking too much, you can just walk another 15 feet to another vendor and bargain. The prices falling as the night ends. In all of this we saw the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. A MCDONALDS!!! Yes. It was heaven. We didn't dare order a burger so we all got a chicken sandwich and french fries. They of course didn't taste like American McDonalds but it wasn't green curry so it was wonderful. I even took a picture of the Ronald McDonald that instead of just standing there was bowing with his hands together.
The next day we headed back to Bangkok for our trip back to the states. We got there with several hours to blow so we found a nice bar in the airport and proceeded to get nice and drunk on Tiger Beer. The 1st beer we had in Thailand that was cold. When it was time to leave we really wanted to take our beer mugs with us so we asked the waiter if we could purchase our mugs. Well this confused him as they were not for sale. After a long talk with the manager, they decided to sell them to us. Our bill was sent to us and we all chipped in to pay it then realized we had about triple that left that we would have to change back to USD and would probably loose money to do it so we left it all as a tip for our waiters. They came running after us down the terminal with our tip in hand saying - "too much" but we just waved it off and said to divvy it out between them all. They were amazed and all gave us hugs. It was a great way to leave the Country.
The next day we headed back to Bangkok for our trip back to the states. We got there with several hours to blow so we found a nice bar in the airport and proceeded to get nice and drunk on Tiger Beer. The 1st beer we had in Thailand that was cold. When it was time to leave we really wanted to take our beer mugs with us so we asked the waiter if we could purchase our mugs. Well this confused him as they were not for sale. After a long talk with the manager, they decided to sell them to us. Our bill was sent to us and we all chipped in to pay it then realized we had about triple that left that we would have to change back to USD and would probably loose money to do it so we left it all as a tip for our waiters. They came running after us down the terminal with our tip in hand saying - "too much" but we just waved it off and said to divvy it out between them all. They were amazed and all gave us hugs. It was a great way to leave the Country.
Getting home took 28 hours. This time I had bought some sleeping pills at a pharmacy in Bangkok. The lady didn't speak English so I motioned sleep and she immediately gave me some little pink pills. They worked miracles. I woke up in San Francisco feeling perfect. We got Budweiser's and Pizza. American Food. Hell yeah. Actually I haven't been able to eat Thai food since. I might be ready it just hasn't come up as an option yet. Maybe I will find my 2 friends that went with me and we can go out to Thai and get some sticky rice and Mango and green curry. Ugh
I hear ya about Mountain climbing, I can walk for miles on flatland, we did 11 miles while living in Sequoia Nat. Park, hills, boulders, up..up..oh my, I thought I'd live out my days once we got to the outpost. Then to sleep like you on a hard deck outside. I did make it back to our cabin..we did celebrate with the bubbly and I canceled my idea of walking across America.