baht wat...: TREKKING!!!

First off, let us assure all our friends and family that we are safe and sound in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand, far far from the current madness going on in Bangkok. Apparently public transportation in and out of the capital city has been shut down so we'll likely end up heading east and cross the border into Laos.

But for now, HAPPY SONGKHRAN!!! According to the Buddhist calendar its the new year celebration for 2552 – we are way ahead of all you out in the western hemisphere. The custom here is to bless passers-by with water – this translates into a giant water fight throughout the whole city of Chiang Mai for days on on end. As we write people are lined on the streets below and cruising in pickup trucks with giant barrels of water (many ice cold) ready to soak anyone and everyone who comes their way. Its ridiculous, bars are blasting music, serving beers on the street and thousands of people are wandering around with water guns or dipping buckets into the canals along the main road – its impossible to wander and stay dry between the hours of 10 AM and 7 PM. So while riots are breaking out in the city of Bangkok, we are partying down wet and wild with the happy locals of Chiang Mai.

Our inititation into Songkhran came right on the heels of our “jungle trek.” Trekking might invoke images of carrying a backpack laden with camping gear through remote highlands – but here in Northern Thailand its essentially another tourist attraction. Bamboo rafting! Elephant ride! Two nights in a hilltribe village! The signs in every tour agency in Chiang Mai read the same. So we signed up and our second morning we awoke and piled into a pickup with 2 guides and 10 other travelers. Again – ridiculous from the first moment.

After playing bumper cars on bamboo rafts with a bunch of Thai tourists, our “jungle trek” consisted of hiking a few hours each day through beautiful tropical deciduous forest – all bamboo thickets, tropical oak trees, streams and waterfalls – and rice farms, eventually arriving at a Karen hilltribe village, where our guides had arranged our food to be delivered ahead of us by motorcycle. All we needed to carry was a change of clothes and our cameras. It was pretty silly to see a whole crew of white people taking photos of rice fields and water buffaloes. As for the Karen villagers, they see thousands of tourists pass through each year so as you may imagine, they weren't too impressed. Though it definitely poses an interesting dynamic in a culture which is incredibly still very traditional.

So we hiked around the hills for a few days with our little family of travelers – truly everyone on our tour was great. Through forest and farmland, the views became more and more beautiful. The last day we got our silly 45 minute elephant ride – as promised – though we both would have been satisfied without it. And on the way back began Songkhran – buckets and buckets of water hurled at our pickup all the way back to Chiang Mai.

Even sillier – the trek continues. The night we returned, we took our entire jungle family (all 12 of us) out to a little local restaurant we found our first night in Chiang Mai. The “crew” is still rallying each day to head out for the water fights.

Happy Songkhran....