Three day Jungle Trek

February 24, 2007 Andy 1 Comments

The return journey from Umphang wasn’t so great. The 1219 curves on highway 1090 just lead to travel sickness, but more due to the terrible driver than the curviness of the road. Excluding everybody in India, he was the worst driver I’ve encountered on the trip so far. It wasn’t that he was driving dangerously, just stabbing the brake and releasing it repeatedly instead of doing a single smooth movement. This happened on curves and even in dead straight lines when there was nothing in front. His technique on the throttle was the same. Sitting sideways to the road on the bench in the back of the pickup this left us rocking violently sideways every time the guy touch a pedal (which was considerably more than 1219 times).

Rant over, our three day trek in the Umphang region was amazing. The trip was put on by the rather Umphang Hill Riverside Resort. The first day started in a very relaxed manor. Six hours on a raft floating down stream, stopping only for bathing in hot springs and lunch.

In afternoon heat we were presented with a real challenge. A four our trek to our overnight riverside camp through the jungle and over a mountain, with the odd forest fire thrown in for good measure. After all the exertion we tucked into fried vegetables, noodle & pork soup and Spanish Omelet – wok style. The later courtesy of Esperanza.

The following morning we went to see the spectacular waterfalls just up from our tent. The name escapes me, but they were high and wide. 200 by 300 meters, which must be immensely impressive during the monsoon season. Apart from being rather stunning, the water was very cold. A nice way to wake up in the morning though.

Once again, we set off trekking through the jungle in the afternoon heat, seeing numerous birds and a snake real close up in a tree. The destination this time was one of the Karen hill tribe villages. Much like my time in the hills near Darjeeling I was most impressed by the life style and self sufficiency of the village. Furthermore I was pleasantly surprised by how we were welcomed into peoples homes… to drink whisky.

So that was how we spent the second night. Getting drunk with the locals on home brewed whisky, joined by John and David. American and Spanish respectively, who had done the trek on their own without any guides.

The final day of our trek saw us riding and elephant through the jungle. Much less strenuous than trekking, but quite uncomfortable.

Once again I’ve done a very poor job of explaining the trip and my experiences, but I will say being out in the jungle for so long, hearing all the wildlife and seeing so few people really was magical.

My only complaint was the cost. This trip was way above our daily budget so we will have to make some sacrifices else where. Other wise the trip was well run, our guide was really friendly and informative and his assistant was so skilled in the jungle, making almost anything out of bamboo and cooking us some wonderful food.

We’re now in Chang Mai, and having arrived I’ve realised our time and money would have been better spent here. That said, Umphang is such a remote corner and the trip was great so can’t detract from it.

Visa expires in four days, so lets see how much I can cram in in Chang Mai.

1 people reacted on this

  1. I told you that Chang Mai was the place to go when you first visited Thailand. I am told you must visit Angkor Wat when you go to Cambodia.

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