Hill Tribes of Thailand
Hiking Through the Rain
Forest
July 1992
This is the last piece of a five day series.
Day Five- Our last
day in the rain forest
We
got up as usual with the roosters. We walked to our final Village. this village was
only a few miles away so we were there by lunch time. These villagers were
ready for us. They were perfectly dressed in traditional garb which they
changed into right in front of us. We’re told to watch all of our belongings.
This village was close to Bangkok and much of the village industry centered
around opium sales. So crime was becoming a problem.
We
sat on the floor of the long house and we were all a little relieved. The five-day
hike was over. After lunch, elephants were going to come to get us a take us
back to the city. I could hardly wait to see those big beast of burden.
Sitting
on the floor I suddenly felt a sharp poke in my ankle. It really hurt. Then
Kathy winced in pain as well. We looked around and saw the culprit. A small boy
had a bamboo pole and was underneath the house. He was poking everyone in his
path. He was laughing away and I wanted to smack him because it pierced my
ankle and now I was bleeding. Finally, someone went under the house and chased
him away. He ran away laughing.
A
few minutes later I noticed him again. He was on the steps, swinging at
something. As I watched closely I saw him take the final blow needed to kill a
baby chicken. He killed this chicken just for the fun of it. again he run off
laughing. This was the only violence we had seen over last five days. I
wondered what effect all this opium had on his mother and on him.
We
were eating lunch when Rae announced “they’re here”. The elephant had arrived.
two young boys who looked to be about 12 were the elephant guides. Our porters
disappeared with all of our belongings. I don’t know what happened to them. But
now all of our safety was put in the hands of these young boys
The elephants came up to the side of the
longhouse and we mount them on their heads. wooden seat rested on their
shoulders. Two of us shared one elephant. I was the first one on the elephant. I had to crawl on its head and take a side on
the bench. it felt as If that bench had slid halfway down. I was afraid I was
going to fall off. Once Helen got on the balance was back to normal. We settled
in and we sat on this bench and this animal as if we were the queen of the
jungle.
The
ride was not relaxing. The seat was hard.
We had to dodge tree branches that unexpectedly scraped our faces. We
got sprayed by urine from the other elephants. We got leg cramps because there
was no place to rest our legs. And we had to cross the rapid river which was so
deep that the water came up to the elephants’ eyeballs. What would happen if this
big, clumsy animal slipped? Could it be washed away? And what if this damn
two-ton animal slipped and I fell off and it rolled on me and crushed me to
death. And then I thought what should be less painful: drowning to death or
being crushed to death by an elephant that was drowning to death.
While
I was having this moment of free-floating anxiety I noticed something. Our
12-year-old guide was on the other side of the river. He hasn’t crossed over
with us. He was climbing the cliff on his side and shouting commands to the
elephants in the water. The elephants were instructed to cross the river, get
back up on land, walk for a couple hundred yards and then cross the river again
and come back to the original side of the river. The original sided no path for
a few hundred feet. So we had to cross
the river. But the guide couldn’t cross the river with us because the current
was too strong. So the kid shouted commands until we were all reunited.
What
is the kid fell and landed in the water and drowned? Who was in charge then?
These elephants only recognized Thai and Ray knows a little Thai but she was no
elephant trainer. So now I had to worry about the elephant slipping and
drowning and me drowning and the guides slipping and drowning. I was filled
with so much anxiety but I wished we were walking. This elephant ride was too
stressful.
We
got back to Chiang Mia in one piece. We were filthy and tired. We hooked up
with Gale who was rested and clean and excited to be back with people who spoke
English. She wanted to talk and we wanted solitude. We’d been inseparable for
five days so retreat to a clean hotel room was a welcomed respite. I went back
to my room to get cleaned up. The warm water soaked my aching body. The soap
was smooth and fragrant. After five minutes in the shower I turned off the
water and let all my filth slipped down the drain. That I plugged up the tub
and took a long luxurious hot bath. I try to nap in the tub but my mind was
racing. I couldn’t stop thinking about these last five days.
