Team adventure trek in northern Thailand

6 October 2011….It’s a big world, right?  I mean, as an example we’ve got family in California, Arizona and Washington.  We’ve got most of our family in Sydney of course, when they’re home that is.  We used to have family in Ireland and we still have family in Holland and Singapore.  Plus there’s us in Bangkok.  So we’re scattered and by definition our paths sometimes don’t cross often enough.  That means it’s a huge treat to have family from different places converge on Thailand for a holiday and general family catch up.  And I know just the right tour guide to organise the whole thing.  Julie. 

 

Royal barge rehearsals in from of famous Wat Arum

Klaas and Julie’s sister Linda have daughters living and working in Amsterdam and Singapore.  Linda used us as a willing excuse to visit her sister Jessica and have a holiday in Thailand and Laos.  And what a great time we all had on her holiday! 

Living and not-so-living frogs at Khlong Toey market

Linda spent four days in Bangkok, her first visit in 25 years, exploring the tourist sites with Julie and delving into some of the finer points of the city, like massages, pedicures, cooking schools, visits to the Australian Ambassador’s home, the markets, the canals, the incredible shopping and the fantastic food.  And the two sisters had ample time between the sites to catch up and share notes on family and friends.  So all good. 

Drinking photo no. 1 – Cheap Charlies

Drinking photo no. 2 - Anna's Bar

Lost in the jungles of Northern Thailand

 But we cranked it up over the weekend by all flying to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand for a weekend of adventure and more family fun.  Joining us was Linda’s oldest daughter Jessica who lives in Singapore and Jessica’s friend Geoff.  But hang on, to complicate the situation a bit more Jessica flew into Chiang Mai from Pakistan where she had been on a business trip.  That all sounds pretty normal, right? 

Public transport in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is a wonderful city, up in the hills a bit and slightly cooler than Bangkok, rich in history with its ancient wats and beautiful moat around the city centre, famous for its markets and a gateway for the hill tribes in the mountains further north.  Chiang Mai has magnet appeal.

Chiang Mai was suffering due to the flooding

But right now the whole northern part of Thailand is inundated with massive flooding, mostly the result of a heavy rainy season which just keeps on giving, and dozens of provinces are under severe stress as the waters continue to rise, crops are ruined, villages are flooded, roads are cut off and lives are lost.  There are countless thousands of Thais, most living a fairly simple life style in their rural settings, who are struggling to literally keep their heads above water.  And the rain keeps coming.

All ready to go before the bamboo raft trip - excellent fun!

Walking around beautiful bright green rice paddies

After a Friday night catching up over drinks at the Juicy Bar (I don’t think they are referring to freshly squeezed) and hearing more about Jessica’s adventures in Pakistan the five of us embarked on a one day adventure trek in the mountains near town.  This is one of those moments when Dad asks, as at least one Dad did, “okay kids, how many forms of transport did we have today?”  Well, on this day we had five – minivan, elephant, bamboo raft, walk and tuk tuk.  And kids, how many different ethnic villages did we visit?  Answer – three, the Shan, Mhong and Karen tribes all live near the Mae Wang River which was the centre of our adventure.  And don’t forget the mushroom farm, the water falls, the wobbly bamboo walking bridges, the endless fields of beautiful healthy rice, the intermittent rain, the couple of hours walking through the bamboo and rain forest,  and our guide Tea (“like Ice Tea”) who couldn’t operate a camera to save himself. 

Woman from the Karen tribe in a quiet mountain village

Bashing through the forbidden jungle

But wait, there’s more.  On Saturday night dinner was at the Good View Restaurant on the banks of the very flooded Mae Ping River in Chiang Mai where we celebrated Jessica’s recent big promotion. On Sunday we hired a Sorng Tao, a shared taxi which is sort of like a ute with a cover on the back and two long bench seats, to take us up the steep and windy switch back road to Doi Suthep National Park and the famous Wat Suthep on the top of this 1700 metre mountain. 

Team photo at team dinner

The gold on this place seriously glitters when its not raining

This is a magnificent temple with grand views over the city and valley below (when it’s not foggy and drizzly!), packed in history and mythology with great religious importance for the locals.  There can be nothing better than to walk up the long string of stairs between two endless tiled nagas, ring a few of the bells and take in the glittering gold stupa and surrounding Buddhas (when it’s not foggy and drizzly) while watching the locals make merit in various ways. 

A little girl in traditional dress on the steps of Wat Suthep

Lin Ping is only two years old but she is gorgeous

With energy to burn we stopped at the Chiang Mai Zoo to specifically see their most famous residents.  Okay, a zoo, not everyone’s cup of tea and why would you bother with a zoo on limited time?  Well, maybe to see Lin Hui, Chuang Chuang and most importantly Lin Ping.  Because these three temporary guests of the zoo are a family of pandas, and most incredibly Lin Ping is a two year old baby panda born via artificial insemination at the zoo, one of very few pandas conceived in such a way outside of China.  What a fantastic treat to see these three pandas, mostly just lying around or sitting up like humans gnawing on bamboo, and looking absolutely gorgeous.  Great ambassadors for China in general and zoos in particular.

My, what big tusks you have!

All our guests eventually left us in Chiang Mai, Jeff back to Singapore, Linda and Jessica to continue their adventure to the Laos border where the following day they would catch a boat for a two day trip down the Mekong to beautiful Luang Prabang in northern Laos.  For Julie and I it meant a quiet afternoon exploring the Sunday markets, enjoying a long massage and a few beers and dinner before our late night flight back to Bangkok.

Plenty on offer at the colourful Chiang Mai Sunday markets

Umbrellas not to be used when its raining