The Big Trip Report Number 14-Thailand and Nepal - Mon, 16 Jun 2003

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Namaste. Our first stop in Thailand was the northern capital Chiang Mai, a comparatively relaxed Asian city renowned for it's food and shopping - we managed to partake of both. In fact, we went to Thai cookery school, where we learnt a few delicious dishes and then had to eat them all. There seemed to be enough food to feed the entire population of Thai elephants. We were completely stuffed! Before we began this adventure we were sure that we'd be shedding pounds, particularly on this Asian leg. So far, if anything, it's the opposite. But we haven't been to India yet.
We also went on a 3 day trek in the nearby mountains. Aside from some walking we got to ride through the jungle on an elephant and raft down a river on a few sticks of bamboo strapped together that passed for a raft. It was the weekend, and the drunken locals threw water at us and fed us drinks (and we thought New Year was over).
We then took an overnight train to the seething metropolis that is Bangkok. The temperatures were pushing 40 C (105 F), and with the humidity it felt much worse. We escaped to the resort island of Koh Samet for the weekend for our first bit of beach time since Vietnam. Even though this is low season in Thailand the place was packed with locals intent on escaping the Bangkok heat.
Back in the city we visited a very interesting snake farm where they breed poisonous snakes to make anti-venom. We watched them 'play' with cobras, 'milk' them and 'feed' them (ie ramming chicken pieces and smaller snakes down their throats) as well.

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Our original plan was to head down to southern Thailand for more beach. However we realized that the trekking season in Nepal was coming to an end so we decided to split to Kathmandu (man!) to see if we could make it to the Himalayas before the Monsoon hit. Though some people had dissed Kathmandu as an ugly, dirty, chaotic city (true in parts). We found it to be full of amazing old buildings (10th to 14th century), with great detailed wooden carvings. Also, the chaos was no worse than the other Asian cities we've been in and, at an altitude of 1400m, it was nice and cool after the oven that was Bangkok. Plus there are awesome bakeries, and we could once again eat potato dishes and bread, a culinary staple sadly missing in Southeast Asia.
We arranged a guide/porter for the Annapurna Circuit trek as we weren't sure how we would cope with the altitude, and didn't want to carry our heavy backpacks for 3 weeks. Unfortunately we made the wrong decision as we wound up with a guide who didn't speak English and who ran out of expense money while on the trek (a long complicated story). Despite this and the related hassle and frustration, it was a spectacular trek with an amazing variety of views, from the snow-capped Himalayan peaks to cascading rivers, ancient forests and even jungle. This is a must for anyone who likes to hike in beautiful surroundings. Overall we covered in excess of
370 kms in 20 days, and reached a maximum altitude of 5500 meters. At that height there is only about 55% of the oxygen that is in the air at sea level, to avoid problems it is important not to ascend too fast to give your body a chance to acclimatize. You get out of breath very easily, and everyone moves in slow motion. Very weird. Aside from aching feet we were in surprisingly good shape after 20 days of hiking. There was just time for some sightseeing in the Kathmandu Valley before heading south to the Indian border.
Our last stop in Nepal was the Chitwan National park where we rode elephants and hiked through the jungle looking for rhinos and tigers and bears, oh my! We found many rhinos, and on the back of an elephant were able to get within 3 meters of 2 of these impressive creatures. On foot we had to be a little more cautious as they are notoriously bad tempered, and may charge. We also took a bath with an elephant in the river. It was quite an experience to be showered by an elephant's trunk while sitting on her back.

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The weather has been pretty hot and humid here, but this is nothing compared to north India, our next destination. We are arriving just as the hot dry season (temperatures in excess of 45 C/115 F) turns into the monsoon which may lower the temperature a little bit (only 40 C!) but can bring 100% humidity, endless rains and floods in some areas, so we will have to see how we fare.

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