"Good For Health": The Mr Whisky Real Jungle Trek

Everywhere you go in Chiang Mai there are posters and signs for jungle trekking... EVERYWHERE!  Here at our guesthouse, there is an organization called "Mr Whisky Real Jungle Treks".  According to the boss man who organizes and pitches the treks to each customer, the average trek consists of signing up twenty or so people, cramming them into a truck, and taking them to a more or less modernized mountain village for a night.  He knows these things because he apparently was a guide for one of these establishments for many years.  His purpose in creating his own company was to show people the real jungle and the real mountain villages.  Because of the exposure of the other villages to tourists and their proximity to the city, they are apparently too modern and most of their traditional ways done away with.  With Mr Whisky's trek, you go deep into the jungle, to the real villages, where there are no roads, no electricy, and no ammenities of any kind.  It sounded like quite a sales pitch at first, but the testimonies of recent particpants convinced us to join.  3 days, 2 nights.

Our guide was a man named Saikam.  Born in a Karin village in the jungle.  He really is a man of nature.  All of us, there were six in our group, noted that as soon as we got into the mountains he was a changed man.  He was like a kid in a candy store, excited and full of energy and stimulation.  The great thing about Saikam is that he was raised in the jungle, his family (wife and kids) still live in his village and he goes back as often as he can.  He genuinely loves the jungle, knows everything there is to know about it and couldn't have been a better person to help us understand and learn about it as well!  He told us lots of great stories and filled us with so much info I'm unable to retain it all, and he really cared about our experience!  Great man!

The night before we left for the hike, Saikam met up with all of us to give us a brief outline of how we would spend our days and to gear us up and get to know us.  They provided us with packs, sleeping bags, a pack list, and a machete.  Yup, a machete!  The blade was close to a foot long, seemingly made out of iron, and the handles made out of teek wood.  We were advised to leave them in our rooms until the next day and not walk around town with them!

Well our trip started with breakfast at 6am the next morning at the guesthoust, after which we drove to a local market some 40 minutes out of town to gather supplies.  From there it was probably another 30-45 minutes to a small village near the base of the mountain where the locals make whisky and snacks.  Apparently most of the villagers and mountain tribes used to harvest and sell opium, but since the ban of the drug they now primarily make whisky.  They make the whisky by fermenting sticky rice in massive barrels and then boiling and distilling it before bottling it.  A 1 litre bottle from this "manufacturer" (by that I mean a man, his wife, and a few other ladies from the village in a small wooden shack) is 60 baht ($2).  They also make various sweets, fried bananas, wafers, roasted peanuts, and harvest tobacco.  The way they smoke is quite interesting.  The tobacco itself looks like any regular loose tobacco you might buy, but they roll it in dried banana leaves, and EVERYBODY smokes this stuff.  The guy's wife was sitting on the floor packaging sweets with a huge roll of tobacco in her mouth!  Also, while in Canada a lot of people chew tobacco, they chew green tea leaves.  Saikam says that a lot of people don't drink coffee, and so to stay awake for long drives and other things they stick a wad of green tea leaves in their cheeks.  Coincidentally, this (like everything else) is "good for health".  "Good for health" is a recurring theme during the trek.

Another hour or so into the mountains brought us to a Hmong village and a bit of rain.  The Hmong people, as you might have guessed, are descendants from Mongolia and resemble a lot of the tribal people we encountered in China.  Their chief industry (since opium is out) is selling "pop" (not sure how it's spelled), which is an orange fruit that tastes something like a mix between an apple and a melon.  We watched some of the local ladies at work, tasted some of the goods, and then headed off to check out the traditional home of the chief of the village.  If you're expecting anything fancy, you'll be disappointed; and yet, because we have no comparison, it may well have been a fancy home.  It was fairly simple by our standards however.  It basically consisted of two rooms, not unlike our own homes with a sleeping area and a common/kitchen area.  It was no more than a wooden shack however, hardly water sealed and the floors were of dirt.  The "stove" consisted of a firepit in the ground with a small wok stand over it, and a pan hanging from the sealing for drying corn and fish.  There was a smoked mole above the fire as well and corn hung from all the walls.  In the corner of the kitchen area was a small bamboo bed/sitting area, and for chairs we all sat on 4-5 inch high wooden stools.  In the doorway hung a small piece of hornets nest to ward off evil spirits, and a boar jaw bone hung on another wall.  In the hut we all sat around and Saikam introduced us to some medicinal herbs which you smoke out of a large bamboo bong.  The lady of the house was using this same medicinal herb to make rope.  Everything in the mountains has multiple purposes and is "good for health".  This particular herb is supposed to be good for your muscles.  He also took out a huge bundle of porcupine leaves which incidentally, they also use for medicine, and something else but I can't remember.  Part of the culture of people living in and off the mountains is to eat pretty much everything.  Consequently, Saikam informed us that porcupine is "good meat" and if you boil the porcupine first, then getting the quills off is very easy.

From the village we drove deeper into the mountains.  Being that it's the rainy season, the roads were pretty washed out and their not exactly paved and level to begin with.  I felt like we were driving through creeks.  There were huge trenches filled with water and the roads were incredibly bumpy and muddy.  Thank goodness for 4wheel drive.  Saikam said that before they got the trucks, everyone used to have to get out and push up the hills, and some of them were really steep too.  I had to sit in the cab with the guide and our driver because the winding, bumpy roads were not kind to my stomach, and eventually we stopped at our starting point.  Along the way, Saikam showed us all sorts of plants.  Despite the fact that they all look the same, they all smell completely different.  Saikam was constantly stopping, picking a handful of leaves, bruising them with his hands and smelling them before passing them around.  They smelled like everything from lemon, to cilantro, to black licorice.  Some were for "good health", some were for cooking.  Everytime Saikam stopped to smell something though he always seemed to be invigorated by it.  He also taught us how to "pop" leaves.  We're not very good at it but he can make a distantly loud noise.  You make a circle with your hand, place a leaf on top and smack it.  If done properly it will blow a hole in the leaf and make a loud "pop".  I managed to blow the hole in the leaf but never made more than a smacking noise.  Saikam also showed us a vine that we could drink out of.  Often, he'd stop to do something without telling us what was going on, and this particular time he just stopped and hacked away a huge piece of vine.  Then he lifted it above his head, opened his mouth and we all watched as water trickled out of the vine and away he drank.  We all walked by in turn as to have a little taste and the water from that vine was amazing.  Maybe we were just tired and thirsty, but it really did taste fresh and clean.  We also stopped and looked at all sorts of bugs and spiders.  Saikam really has an eye for the jungle.  Out of nowhere, he'll stop and point out tiny bugs a good two meters away.  He never manages to miss them.  He also has an ear for the jungle as well.  We too would hear the bird calls or the strange noises, but like the noises in the city you don't really register them.  They're just white noise.  Saikam hears everything though and he can identify it all as well.  Often he'd just stop, and stare and start calling back to whatever it was, sometimes using his hands, sometimes using leaves, and he'd always get a response too!  It was pretty incredible!

Eventually, Saikam stopped, grabbed a balm branch, hacked off the leaves and showed us how to shoot with it.  You basically just hold up your machete, and then chuck the branch against it over and over again, sending the cut pieces wailing throug the air.  Apparently, this is one of the ways that he hunts.  I can't imagine being able to kill a squirrel like this but that's how they learn as children.  Did I mention that I was the only girl with five guys?  Well, needless to say whenever there was a palm close enough to the trail the guys would grab it for some target practice.  They eventually began experimenting with any type of twig or long piece of wood.

After about an hour of trekking we came to a clearing where there were two large elephants.  Riding the elephants is integrated into the trek.  If you didn't already know, two see and possibly ride elephants was right at the top of my list!  We had been hiking up hill and when we got to the top and I looked up and saw two huge elephants I just about lost my mind!  I was so excited!  (Oh, and while we were petting the elephants and waiting the mahouts were also barbecuing up some frog!  It's actually quite delicious!)

Now, the whole elephant thing in Thailand has become a subject of much debate and discussion. Elephants have long been like horses to the Thais and were widely used for logging (which is now apparently illegal).  Elephants are also very sacred animals to the Thais and with the increase in civilizations and the decrease in forrested areas, the elephants' habitat is becoming scarce and many are being deported to zoos and habitats out of the country.  This is a huge issue for the Thais.  A lot of smaller villages have their own elephant, which they have raised from a baby, and to remove these animals from their home is heartbreaking to many.  There is also the problem with the use of elephants for tourism.  The more I read about it the less inclined I was to ride one.  Many establishments take babies away from their herds and are cruel to them and abuse them in order to make a profit off of them.  There are other establishments, such as nature reserves and sanctuaries, that rescue these abused animals and offer people the opportunity to volunteer with them to help in their daily care and become educated.  So, while I was excited about the elephants, I was also skeptical!  One of the girls who had gone on the trek before us was a veterinarian and she said that the elephants seemed happy and was not adverse to their use so I was at least hopeful that these animals were not one of the many who were abused and taken advantage of.

The elephants we were to ride apparently used to work in the logging industry along the border.  They were both branded.  They did not carry chains like some elephants (or like the ones we passed on our way into the mountains) and they were not chained to trees.  These elephants wear bells and are apparently free to roam through the jungle when not in use.  Nevertheless, I felt bad riding them.  The one we were on was 65 years old, her daughter (the other elephant) was 37.  The daughter was led by her mahout who tied rope around her ears.  The mother was not tied but led with a series of commands.  However, though I believe they tried to hide it from us, I did see the mahout shoot stones at our elephant with a sling shot and poke her with sticks when she was being stubborn.  I also felt terrible that she was carrying three of us, plus our bags.  It is hard to judge however.  If you think about it, elephants are more or less used in the same way we use a horse.  We reign and saddle a horse and ride it for long periods of time, sometimes with two people, and an elephant is certainly much large and much stronger than a horse.  Some people still use whips or spurs and no one calls them cruel.  Neither do they frown on the us of a horse to till farms or transport heavy loads, so why do I feel bad about it when they do the same to elephants?  While getting to meet them was the most amazing experience, and being able to ride the elephant was also quite an experience, part of me feels guilty.  It was quite rainy and quite muddy and the elephants were sliding all over the place.  There were a couple of times when we thought we were going to fall off.  Saikam says that elephants never fall down, and maybe they don''t, but the mud sure was deep.

In any case, I was sorry I didn't have any fruit or anything to give the elephants.  Some sort of offering to show them I appreciated their carrying us.  I did stand and pet them for as long as I could and while it rained I tried to scrub her head and rub behind her ears (apparently they like that kind of thing).  They are so large, and yet so gentle and they really are a remarkable animal.  I just hope I wasn't contributing to the abuse of those amazing creatures.  (If you ever come to Thailand, do your research and get informed.  Read the reviews and find out what sorts of feelings people come away with before you decide to take part.)

So we rode the elephants for an hour through the pouring rain.  Our old lady definitely couldn't see well because she'd come within an inch of a tree before going around it.  Thankfully, it had more or less stopped raining by the time we were done and we continued by foot.  Quite shortly after, we arrived at the "jungle camp" where we would spend our first night.

The jungle camp is established at the homes of a Karen family living in the jungle.  (The Karen are the largest minority group living in the mountains.  Many are refugees from Burma, but the ones we stayed with are of the Thai Karen.)  The camp is amidst their rice farm and has an amazing view of the valley and in the distance the Thai/Burmese border.  We arrived around 5pm, and after removing our sopping wet socks and shoes we all began carving away at pieces of wood Saikam had cut down for us.  Our goal, to make slingshots.  Some of us fared better than others, some of us had sharper knives than others, and after Saikam put on the finishing touches we were armed and ready.  The boys got to target practice right away, shooting at an empty beer can.  I proceeded to try and carve the word Thailand into mine!

After target practice we all participated in preparing dinner (the general idea of the trek is to function as/with the community).  Darren and Jack peeled and cut carrots, Tom crushed garlic, Kallen cut cucumbers and I chopped long beans.  While some of the guys went out for more target practice, I helped Saikam make some curry and as we finished preparing the dishes the guys set the table, or rather the floor.  The food was amazing!  Before coming to work for the trekking company, Saikam apparently used to work as a cook.  With his knowledge of the jungle, I think Saikam could make you a gormet meal even without obtaining vegetables from the market.  The herbs, the lemon grass, and the chili sauce he makes!  The flavours are amazing, and there was so much food!  Even with five growing boys we couldn't finish it all.  Mmm!  So good!  We stuffed our faces and enjoyed some good herbal jungle tea by candlelight.  All you could hear up in those mountains were the sounds of the frogs and crickets in the rice paddies, and all you could see were hundreds of stars!  It was absolutely beautiful!

That night Saikam and one of his friends took us hunting.  Geared us with machetes and slingshots and a couple rat traps we went in search of prey.  We walked for quite a while but because of the rain a lot of the animals go into hiding; not to mention the sound of seven guys trudging throught he bush.  Saikam's friend also brough along his 60 year old musket.  The most we saw was were some bugs and lizards and a flying squirrel, but it got away.  Saikam was pretty disappointed that we couldn't catch anything.  He really wanted to show us some good hunting.  The boys were all a little anxious to shoot their slingshots though and so when we stopped to set the rat traps (which we forgot to go back for the next morning) the boys did their part to disturb the night's silence.  Tom was lucky enough to get to shoot the musket.  No one was expecting it to be as loud as it was and he said that the ringing in his ears didn't stop for a good ten minutes at least.  On our way back through the rice paddies to the camp, Saikam's friend stopped to entice a large tarantula out of its hole.  Not only was it at least the size of my hand, big black and hairy, but it was also a "cobra killing" tarantula!  One the upside, chances are that if these things are in the area there aren't many cobras.  On the downside, if it can kill a cobra you're not going to do too welll if you're bitten either.  As Saikam said, "If you get bit by one of those you don't get to call your mom."  Eek!

The next morning I was the first one up.  The villagers had been up since three but the mountains were still super quiet and peaceful!  There was a light mist over the hills and mountains and the view was incredible.  I washed up in the makeshift shower hut, splashed my face and arms with the cold mountain water and sat by the fire until the boys woke up.  They were cooking rice in a pot with all the trimmings from the vegetables we had eaten the night before and a number of the guys had noted how good it looked and thought we were having that for breakfast.  Turns out that was the pigs food!

Just outside of our sleeping quarters was a large wooden table with benches down either side of it.  This is where we ate breakfast.  Saikam prepared omelets for us and sliced pineapple and watermelon.  We had to prepare our own toast.  He brought what is basically a cemented pale out with coals and we each toasted four pieces of bread strapped to rods of bamboo.  It was more toast and more food than we could eat but we did our best, and with fully happy tummies we were in for a long day.

We got going at about ten or so and hiked through the rice fields.  The views were amazing.  I got behind quite a few times stopping to take pictures, but we stopped so often to smell leaves, bark and look at the various bugs that it was never difficult to catch up.  Wild chestnuts also grew everywhere and they made a nice snack along the way.

At one point, we came to a type of bog.  I was the last one (always behind) and watching everyone try to feel their way across was hilarious.  Saikam went first and did his best to lead everyone through the least muddy bits, but Tom still managed to get sucked in up to his ankle and I definitely alomst fell in.  (All our shoes and socks were so wet and muddy they'll never look or smell the same again!)

We hiked for quite a bit that day and saw lots of cool plants and bugs.  We even saw another cobra killing spider and Saikam did his part to harrass that thing quite a bit.  The one I took pictures of was only a baby and it was still huge!

Just before stopping for lunch, we stopped to make chopsticks!  I made my own chopsticks.  Not like it's hard, but it's still pretty coold!  When we stopped in a little clearing for lunch, Saikam thought it would be a good time to let the rest of us hav a try with the musket.  I declined, but the boys each got a turn shooting at either a can or a bottle.  Loaded with buckshot it was hard to miss.  We were supposed to be doing some hunting as we went however, but I think the musket probably scared away anything within a 10km radius!

We stopped a lot, and on our next stop Saikam's friend left into the bushes and came back with a huge piece of bamboo.  He and Saikam went about making dinner ware for our breakfast in the next village.  Out of bamboo Saikam made everyone a cup and butterknife, and even made me a fork!  The man's a genius!  I am now equipped with full eating artilary, all made of bamboo!  You can even cut a foot long piece of bamboo in half to make a plate/bowl to eat out of!

The true hunting enthusiast that Saikam is, we did eventually manage to find something to hunt.  Saikam stopped to kick a tree and sure enough, a young flying squirrel was living in it.  His friend eventually blasted the top of the tree with the musket but nothing came out.  As he was reloading the little thing climbed out of the top, spread it's little wings and flew off.  Most of us hoped that that was the end of it, but once he was reloaded, Saikam's friend pursued his prey.  We were all just standing around, sure that it was a lost cause, when BANG!  That sound really is defeaning.  We still couldn't imagine that he could catch it, but he did.  He came back holding the tiny thing with its tiny hand between his thumb and forefinger.  At first I thought it was dead but it was not.  It was shot in the wing and was clearly shocked and frightened.  When I saw it begin to breathe, Saikam held its neck in his hand and strangled it before snapping its neck.  I couldn't watch!  For the people who live in the mountains, this is survival and I respect that.  But the thing was so cute and I felt bad for it.  He passed the dead squirrel to Darren (who accepted reluctantly) and then strung its neck through the zipper loop on Darren's pocket.  He was obligated to carry the squirrel on his hip all the way to the next village.  I refused to stand anywhere near that side of him.

We eventually arrived at the next village.  The village was another Karen village consisting of 7 families.  The way they live is amazing.  As Saikam puts it "they live with the jungle.  There is no fighting between animals and people, just sometimes between the dogs."  It really is a community in every sense of the word.  There is one communal kitchen, one communal store house, and two bathrooms/showers.  The pigs, cows and chickens live under the houses and roam the area as they will (except for some fat pigs who have to be tied up).  The village and the people are beautiful and being able to stay amongst them is amazing.

After everyone took a nice refreshing, cold shower we just sort of lounged around and rested.  I watched a lady prepare food for her pigs and my goodness were they hungry.  I'm sure they could smell it right away because chaos broke out amongst them.  They started trying to climb her laddy and making all sorts of noise.  As she was carrying their troft down she had to kick them down to keep them from climbing up her legs.  They went absolutely mad!  It was hysterical!  Her son watched us watching and stared amusedly.  We had come prepared with candy, pencils and stickers for the kids and we gave him a few souvenirs.  Later, we saw him walking around all night and all day with his pencil!  He was cute!

After cooking, mingling with the locals and trying some betel nut, we ate yet another delicious meal by candlelight!  We also cooked and prepared our squirrel which yes, I was brave enough to try.  I think Tom ate the brain but I only tried a leg and a bit of tail.  The meat itself actually wasn't that bad.  Saikam says, "Never try, never know.  Never drink, never drunk.  Never smile, never be happy!"  So I had to try!  We spent that evening playing Thai and Israeli variations of some game where you can't show your teeth.  I was pretty bad at this game and kept laughing.  I was penalized by having my face marked with charcoal!  I had clearly lost on all accounts!  Saikam has another saying to the tune of Bob Marley, "No woman no cry.  No whisky I die".

The next morning was an early one.  Another big breakfast and thank-you to the people and we were off to the last leg of our journey.  The hike wasn't long.  We even had time to stop while Saikam made us all pendants out of mahogany.  We were picked up by the truck in a more modern village and dropped off at the river.  From there we rafted part of the way back.  We were each given a bamboo pole with a guide in front.  I almost lost my pole a couple of times, and Yonathan got his stuck in a tree and lost it.  We got stuck in some shallow water at one point and the guide had to get out and push us, turning us around and putting me in the back.  I tried to push us away from some rocks but ended up swinging the back end around and turning us 180 while moving through some rapids.  We went right under a low hanging tree and had to lay flat against the raft to avoid collision and more Yonathan was constantly attacked my trees and branches hanging over the river (he was in the back).  Once we cleared the trees free of harm in the front, our guide would look back and chuckle as Yonathan tried to dodge the branches.  When we nearly got our heads taken off by trees our guide just chuckled, and when we almost missed our docking point our guide just chuckled!  He was the cutest old man!  We rafted down the river for about an hour and it was a blast.  The views were beautiful and the water was nice in the hot sun.

After lunch on the bank of the river we took a very bumpy and windy road to a waterfall.  I was nauseous for most of the ride and definitely almost lost my lunch.  The 500 meter (realistically 1km) hike to the fall was difficult as the ground was still spinning.  It was totally worth it though.  The waterfall was beautiful and the water cold but not too cold.  The pressure pouring down on you was intense and the boys would stand under in what they called a "waterfall massage".  We enjoyed a good swim, washing up and cooling down before heading back into the city.

It was an amazing and packed couple of days!  It's been super hot out today and what I wouldn't have given to be swimming in that waterfall or sitting on a porch overlooking lush, green rice paddies.  We had a great group of people and though expensive, Darren and I really enjoyed the experience.  Being able to get out of the city, mingle with the locals, and learn about the jungle was just about priceless.  On the one hand it was disappointing we didn't see more wild life, but maybe that was a good thing.  We did come across a cobra briefly, which I missed and am not sorry for it.  In a couple more days we'll be in the jungle again and I can't wait!  Sorry this post was so long but I must warn you that there are just as many pictures!