Ash, scorching sun and pissing crickets

This is an alternative way to spend your holiday in Thailand. It doesn't include beautiful beaches or Swedish girls and it includes only a few palm trees. It will show you something new.

The alarm buzzes at 700hrs in Mae Sariang. Get up, take a quick shower and dress up. Adjust your backpack and make sure everything is ready for three days in the wilderness. Like back in the army. Except in the army coffee tasted horrible. That morning the coffee was energizing and full of kick-ass attitude. We would take off to our trek full of confidence and positive charge. Our guides Kitti and Nai would take us to see some original Karen tribe villages on the foothills near the border of Myanmar.

Salawin river, the border between Thailand and Myanmar.

Some Karen children we met at our "pit stop".

We hopped into Kitti's 4WD Toyota to drive our way near the Salawin river, the border of Thailand and Myanmar. The first hours of the trip were full of unbelievable views, lot of photographing and Thai metal music from the car stereo. We stopped a few times for viewpoints, saying hi to some local kids and equip ourselves with water and food. Finally after two hours of driving it was time to park and leave the car at a military checkpoint. We would be walking from now on.

Crossing the unknown waters

A water buffalo chilling and staring at us, the aliens.

We were told that we would cross rivers by walking in the water. Those rivers sounded way bigger than they actually appeared when we came across them. The first part of our route was like a Sunday walk in Bangkok after a storm. By that I mean that it's better to use flip-flops than real shoes because avoiding to step into a miniature lake is impossible.  The main difference was that there were less people rushing around in the forest  but more water buffalos staring at us than in BKK. After all it was a welcomed change. What was not so delightful was that the sun was up and hot, making it a sweaty walk.

Then the shit got serious. The wet part was over and it was time to tighten up our shoelaces and walk up. By up I mean UP, the vertical elevation of the road we were using was straight from cartoons. Shouldn't be possible in real life but it was. Those slopes were steep. And the worst part was that it wasn't getting any better. There would be a whole day of exhausting struggling ahead.

These bastards make a lot of noise.

When we reached our lunch spot in a lonely house on the hill we were already quite finished. The break was needed and during that there was finally some time to look around. The villagers were farming rice, using a difficult and traditional method that enables them to cultivate on those slopes. But at the moment the old fields were getting burned down. After seven years of natural development the slopes would be fertile again. Right now the surroundings looked like a battlefield. Smoke, small fires here and there, ash and burnt trees. Our ears were filled with the nasty sound of cicadas, the noisy crickets living in the trees.

We carried on little by little. The few shades on the way up were always a good reason to stop. Water, leaning on your knees and few swear words usually helped to carry on. Because the sun was so scorching Kitti even made a hat using nothing but a big leaf from a tree. It made him look like an elf or a fairy but humour always works when it comes to challenges. On the way we met more and more villagers who were walking the mountain roads like I would walk to 7-11 to buy a coffee. Just daily business for them but we were dying. Sometimes you could feel a nice refreshing drizzle on your face, wondering were it came from. Then Kitti told that it was piss of those damned crickets.

For these people the trails were just good

We went up to 840 m above the sea level. Eventually things got easier, mostly because we crossed the highest point of our route. At the downhill we discussed about the dishes served at the dinner the upcoming night and the whisky the villagers would offer us. And then, just a short walk before the village we bumped into some local bikerboys hanging out at the hoods outside the downtown. They welcomed us with home made rice moonshine, and another one after that. They were very friendly and also curious about us, but that's another story again. Stay tuned for that one!

Thailand is a beautiful country, isn't it?

PS. A few days later we found out that the day we climbed that mountain with my brother was the international siblings day. Such a "coincidence"!