Our next destination was the north of Thailand, starting out in the second largest city, Chaing Mai. This area of the country is famous for the hill tribes, of which there are many, and we were going to spend three days trekking through the forest to visit three different tribes. Now we would rough it! Luckily, we had a guide, a porter, and a cook, so we only had to carry small day packs and water. Everything else was done for us, so although it was difficult climbing, it was far easier not carrying that much and knowing that when we arrived at our destination, everything would be taken care of.
These three days proved to be the most amazing of the trip. The walk was through beautiful forest, and the tribes we stayed with were incredible. No electricity or anything like that. Just farmers, living in huts. Each night we stayed with a different tribe, the Lhisu, the Karen, and the Akha. We stayed with different families each night, and were so entertained by the children each time. Since the people of these tribes don't even speak Thai, it was impossible to communicate. Luckily, our guide spoke all the languages. But playing with the children didn't require speaking.
Over the course of the three days, we travelled by foot, by bamboo raft, and by elephant. We bathed in the river one day, ate simple Thai meals, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. On the entire trek, we did not see any other tourists at the villages where we stayed. Here are some of the pictures: View as slideshow
After roughing for three days, we were now headed to the lap of luxury for 4 days in Phuket, a small island in the south of Thailand. Phuket as a whole has become completely over commercialized, and the city is the pits. But the place we stayed at, the Chedi was just unbelievable. It was completely removed from everything, and shared its beach with only the Amanpuri hotel, which by the way goes for minimum $600 a night. The Chedi was almost as good, and was far more affordable. We had a great villa with ocean view, and spent most of our time just relaxing. Although the place was booked, you rarely saw too many people, and it often seemed like you had the beach to yourself. Niyati even had a daily massage on the beach. We watched great sunsets, went jet skiing, and explored a little of the island. We also took a boat ride to Phang Ga Bay, where we saw stunning limestone rock formations coming out of the crystal clear water. We even stopped at the island where they filmed some of the James Bond movie The Man With the Golden Gun. View as slideshow
After 4 days of luxury, we were off to the jungle again. Our next leg of the trip was to Khao Sok National Park in the south of Thailand. It was real rainforest, where supposedly there are still tigers and elephants. As for wildlife, the park is mainly known for the gibbon, hornbill, and the world's largest flower. We heard the gibbons, and caught a glimpse of the hornbills. We also saw a chameleon, flying foxes, and some leaf monkeys.
I must say that this was one of the most stunningly beautiful places I have ever seen. We had to take a boat to get to our first 'hotel', and the rainforest is actually just on all these huge rocks/mountains coming out of the lake. I couldn't get any real good pictures, but it was really like nothing I'd ever seen. Our first night was spent in raft houses, which were actually built right on the water. You had to walk on bamboo planks to get to them, and they were actually just floating there. The following morning, we went for a long hike through the rainforest, on our way to a cave. Neither of was brave enough to go deep into the cave, especially after seeing the huge spiders and 10 foot snake. Niyati got a small leach on her foot during the walk, but it peeled right off. She didn't even know she had it. Our next night was at Art's Tree House, which were actual tree houses in the jungle. The night was so noisy with the sounds of insects and animals, it was hard to get to sleep. View as slideshow
Our trip concluded with another day in Bangkok, where we finished off our shopping, and got ready to head home.
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