Elephants and trek to Hoi Hoi Village

We absolutely LOVE your comments! It makes us feel less homesick to talk about friends and family following us on our travels. Your words are priceless, warm and soothing. We are brimming with joy :).

4:20pm we arrived back in Chiang Mai from a 2day trek to Hoi Hoi Village (1 hour drive SW of Chaing Mai outside of Chum Thang).

We spent an hour on elephants , feeding them bananas and bumping along enjoying their gorgeous, immense, grace. We loved the baby that tagged along. A bit sad that these creatures don't roam free, but it is the way of the village people. They live amongst these animals in small stilted huts making their wage from the tourist.

We ate a Thai lunch of fried rice and potato curry and fresh pineapple and watermelon to fuel us for a 2 1/2 hour hike straight up to the Karin Tribe in Hoi Hoi Village. We walked along the Kun Poi River in blazing sun and welcomed refreshing shade. The kids were absolutely stellar hikers! Hot, tired and speechless at the landscapes we arrived at a luscious waterfall to quench the heat before the final 30 minutes of uphill trekking.

A NOTE FROM COURTNEY: "As we were hiking up I observed that they hill tribes did most of their farming on terraced land. Dormant terraced rice paddies gave the hills a feeling of dead, dry, "winter" season also known as the dry season. When we were in the village I took note of the fact that these peopl do not have a high standard of living. For one, they have to make their houses using the materials that nature gives them. These are bamboo, dried banana leaves and jute or pieces of old tire. The roof was made with dried leaves woven/folded over bamboo and tied together with jute. The floors and tables were made of stripped bamboo that surprisingly held our weight. Interestingly enought, to be polite we would always take off our shoes when entering the house, even though everyone was dusty and dirty without shoes on." (by Courtney)

The evening was fasinating with all the interesting people around us telling about their travels. Jeremy made friends with every single person trekking and in the village area. We could hear people who didn't even speak English saying "JEREMY!" as he ran from hut to hut and group to group to check in with all his new friends.

At dinner he asked if everyone would mind going around the table to tell what they wanted to be when they "grew up." It proved a very interesting conversation topic. What a gregarious fella! It turns out there were many interesting folks travelling with us which makes our travels incredibly interesting as we learn about other countries and languages.

Jeremy and I woke up early this morning and walked to the village school with a young mother and her son Riko. We watched their morning flag ceremony and took some pictures. Once again I had a chance to hand out the scarves you all donated to give in thanks for the village people's generosity of sharing thier lives. It was wondrous!

It was a long trek back to base, but we made it...probably 4 miles each way...even Jeremy!!! What an incredible adventure! Once back at base we went on a 45 minute bamboo rafting ride in the cool river! EXCELLENT 2 days!