Day 163-166: Welcome to the jungle

Is there a better way to relieve almost 48 hours of sitting in various modes of transport than to sign up to an all-action 3-day trek into the jungle surrounding Chiang Mai? No, we didn't think so either so we signed up (managing to wangle a free massage on return) and set off!

The morning of the first day was filled with all the usual sorts of crap that no-one really wants to do on a tour but always get thrown in so that the tour operator can display a long list of bullet points and charge that little bit more and make their mate down at the market an easy bob or two. We visited a highly average Orchid & Butterfly Farm then went to a local market under the guise of buying water and insect repellent. It was a good chance to get to know our companions for the trip; a lovely selection of Americans, a kiwi, a Swiss guy and our joke-loving tour guide Tonny.

Then we drove into the jungle, stopped for lunch and the real trekking began! And the scenery here really is something else, by this time the sun was high in the sky and as is evident in the pictures there was much sweating to be done all round - this became something of a hallmark of the trip. We stopped to eat local fruit that Tonny picked on the way (delicious) and eat chilis that he told us were "Thai sweet chilis" - please see Rob's face (left) for evidence of their non-sweetness.

On our first night we spent the night in the village of a local tribe that are known as 'long-necks' because the women of the tribe, beginning at 5 years old, add a metal ring around their necks every 3 years (we think) for as long as they live. The result is that by adulthood their necks, now completely covered by rings, are much longer than your average neck.
I got the feeling that the 'village' was a bit of a tourist spot and the tribal people that were there probably didn't live their full-time but it was interesting to get a taste of the tradition and we whiled away the evening around a bonfire.

Rising early on the second morning we took again to the jungle paths to reach the centre of the all-action part of the trip. Rob, Jeff and I had opted to fly through the jungle on 19 zip-wires which was so so much fun! It took about an hour to get all the way round the wires and vertical drops and ended in a magnificent swoop over the river.

Then, from the same spot, we were able to enjoy a short elephant ride. Obviously Rob is already semi-professional in this department but for me it was my first time on an elephant and felt really lucky to be able to sit on her neck, as well as in the carriage on her back.

After a hearty lunch we were taken for a relaxing trip down the same river we'd just done our best superman impressions over on bamboo rafts, which was rather pleasant. But the relaxing was not to continue and in the afternoon we undertook what was the hardest bit of trekking in the trip. It was hard but so rewarding; the views were spectacular and it made scrambling up and down steep slopes and thick greenery more than worth it.

On this evening we camped in a small village and after bathing in the nearby waterfall (really, there was no shower) we again settled in for a night of great food, star-gazing and games around the campfire.

All too soon it was day 3 and our final day was a wet one! We trekked to a beautiful waterfall that cascaded into various small pools that were perfect for swimming in and you could even sit behind the largest waterfall in an air pocket, which was really fun - you can see me emerging in the most graceful way possible, above.

Then we went white water rafting! For obvious reasons the camera did not join us on this part of the adventure but it was brilliant. Paddling full speed into the rapids, hanging on while getting bounced about and soaking wet - we were even able to jump out of our raft in quiet spots. It was just the getting back in that was challenging. Prepare to read again of Team 365 flying down rapids in a dingy; we're officially hooked.

And that was it! Our 3-day jaunt was over; we were bitten, scratched, sweaty and soaking wet when we departed again for Chiang Mai. Here we washed, got a foot massage (looks of all-round disgust from staff at the state of me feet; all blisters and bites) which was amazing nonetheless and scrubbed ourselves up as best we could for a night out.

Even our wonderful guide came along to show us the hot spots in town and generally oversee the carnage that ensued (above). For those interested in seeing the affects of drinking cheap whiskey after walking for 3 days the full album is here but be warned; it's not pretty.

What a fantastic three days - a special massive thanks to Tonny, Jess, Yvone, Silvio and Nick for making the hard bits fun and the fun bits even better.

Day 82&83: Kiss me - 60,000 OK?

And so it was that we made our way the 300 km up to Bac Ha; almost on the Chinese border, we arrived on a packed bus in a beautiful town with wide roads, a humid atmosphere and, most notably, barely any people.

It was Saturday and this was about to change for Sunday was Market Day and the sleepy town soon filled up with colourfully dressed Hill Tribe folk, locals and tourists. Though it was a little more touristy than we had hoped - the souvenir stands far outnumbered the water buffalo for sale - that said, there was indeed water buffalo (and other livestock; puppy, anyone?) for sale.

To my mind the Flower H'mong people - the predominant tribe of the area - have the right idea; they wear amazing clothes (pics to follow shortly but think bold prints and bright colours), tie their hair with ornamental combs in gravity defying swirls right above their foreheads and come into Bac Ha town to work on only one day of the week.

The down side of this is an increasing reliability on the tourist trade and you do kind of get the feeling that from Monday to Saturday they're hanging out in the hills in their knock-off Nike shirts and joggers like everyone else.

One thing that is definitely not for show is the Vietnamese ability to drink; the market starts at 6am and locals can been seen enjoying a bia hoi right from the off. We also had the ...erm...experience of drinking a local speciality, ruou, which is so potent it can actually ignite. And it tastes it. The locals sample sips from the lids of each jerrycan for sale before buying the stuff by the litre.

After the market we made our way west to the bigger mountainous town of Sapa. It was in this exchange that title of this post occurred. You see, the naturally tonal Vietnamese pronunciation of 'excuse me' sounds exactly like 'kiss me' and in a country with inflation that means the smallest denomination is a 1,000 dong note, prices can quickly escalate into hundreds of thousands. We had bargained our bus down from 100,000 to a much more sensible 60,000 dong or 2 British

pounds and 40 pence.

The landscapes here in Sapa are incredibly. Every view looks like a postcard. At 1650m above sea level, the carefully farmed land sits just below the clouds that act as temporary peaks to the tops of the many mountains that surround the town.

We took a long walk (it would be ambitious to call it a 'trek') to a few of the local tribal settlements. Unfortunately some of my fears were confirmed when we found tickets actually being sold for entry into one, Cat Cat - we didn't go, and an array of satellite dishes on the sides of corrugated metal homes in Sin Chai.

As a tourist in the area, it is perhaps to hypocritical to complain about the adverse affect of tourism on locals. But it pains me to see that here, as in India, there a girls as young as 10 walking the streets all day every day selling their wares to westerners. Is this just a natural evolution of a tribe that once made its living in other ways or the gross and progressive destruction of the culture of a sacred tribe? For me, it's a bit of both.

The natural landscapes are what brought Team 365 here and it is these that we have enjoyed the most; tonight though we're happy to embark on a long journey to the East coast and a totally different type of vista...