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| Our group |
This morning's mission was to fit 5 days worth of gear into a small pack, including sleeping bag, hiking shoes, clothes, raincoat, fleece and toiletries. We need to carry this pack ourselves on our three day hike, so mind how much you take. As you may remember my pack was only 12.8 k's when I left NZ, so I already travel light, so deciding what to leave behind was a bit of a struggle, but I got there.
We left on a fancy pansy bus with reclining seats and refreshments served for a four hour drive to Chiang Rai (not pot be confused with Chiang Mai). After arrival there and lunch, we swapped for songthaews (see pictures), which are interesting modes of transport up through the winding hills for over an hour. We arrived in Mae Salong Nok, a Chinese community, only about 15 kilometres as the crow flies from the border with Burma.
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| Mae Salong Nok |
The community was established to cultivate opium, but now grows tea. We went for a walk into town to stretch our legs and came across the most interesting structure; A Ferris wheel built entirely of wood. It was operated by a couple of enthusiastic young guys, and it was so entertaining to stand and watch the children squealing with delight and a healthy amount of fear as they spun the wheel around by hand.
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| The Ferris wheel |
There was a queue, but no barrier to stand behind and I'm guessing Health & Safety would have had something to say about this back home to spoil the fun!
Not sure when I can post again, as we go to a Homestay tomorrow and start the hike after that for 3 days, so guess there won't be much wifi on the track. Catch you when I can.
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