Jungle Trekking

East of Pai, Thailand, we spent three days trekking to several hill tribe villages. On day one, adorned with banana leaf hats, we hiked a few hours to reach our first overnight with a Karen tribe in a village called, Mae Jok. For the second overnight, we hike through dense jungle valleys, across slippery streams, up steep muddy hill climbs, and along gorgeous ridge top crossings to reach Baan Pon Ngaen, a Lahu tribe village. We spent our nights in open air huts with simple floor pads covered with mosquito nets and meals expertly prepared over open fires. Our final day culminated with a float down the Mae Taeng River on a bamboo raft, with Gary and his mostly cooperative bamboo pole at the helm. Elephants joined us for a river splash after a meal of sugar cane and banana stalks. The journey was especially fun because we were joined by the Campbells, a family of six from Colorado traveling the world for one year, and our entertaining guides Wan and Mr. Di.