Fjallraven Thailand Trail - A 4 days/50 km backpacking fantasy trip, with a bonus of bamboo rafting
- Xiangfei Zeng
- Feb 5, 2019
- 4 min read
On the trails deep inside the mountains south of Chiang Mai Thailand south of Mao Ngao National Park, hikers/backpackers from all over the world trek through this rural landscape in 4 days. The local Karen tribe live here self-sufficiently and in peace and harmony with nature since they migrated from Tibet in the eighteen century. Money is not needed in their style of living. These trails are used by the locals to travel by foot from one tribal village to the next village. The locals often travel 7 hours or more from one village to the next to attend weddings, ceremonies, or simply just to visit friends. It would take us probably one day or two to travel the same distance.
These trails and the mountains and the Mae Ngow river dress up a piece of colorful and beautiful fabric, which weaves the lives of the backpackers, locals, and the wonderful Thai volunteers together for this entire trip.
The Daily briefing is a story telling time to learn about the history of the beautiful land, the tribal cultures, and how this land is being discovered in about 20+ years ago by a young man looking for waterfall. Thank you Tatrawee Harikul for both the Thai and English version of the daily briefing.
Checkpoint/campsite 1 & 2 are on top of two individual mountains without any vehicle or motorcycle access entirely. At both checkpoints, we marveled the stunning starry sky every night, and inspired by beautiful sun rise and peaceful sun set every day. No picture can truly capture down and no word can really describe the beauty we saw and experienced. At checkpoint 1, we were served with local food and local hot tea. At checkpoint 2, we were served pork hotdog and chicken hot dog and local made whisky. What a special treat for all of us from the wonderful warm-welcoming tribal members and volunteers! You got to be there to experience it all.
Day 1 checkpoint 1 sun set
Day 2 at checkpoint 2
Day 2 checkpoint 2 sunset
Day 3 is the longest day of trekking and a physical demanding one (the longest, and a few spots of steep mountain climbing) out of the all 4 days of trekking. The long day started with a beautiful sun-rise at checkpoint 2. One of the highlight of the this long day is the encounter of elephants up front and close. These giants share the 80cm wide trail with us, and they are hired to carry water up to the 2nd checkpoint/campsite, which is on top of the tallest mountain in this area, for everyone. Another highlight is a small pre-checkpoint food stand set up by the locals teachers and students for selling cold beer and coffee for the exhausted, hungry, and thirsting hikers. They cheered us up by posting the sign on "You are almost there!" near the pre-checkpoint. Checkpoint/campsite 3 is at the only school in a small village with only a few hundred people. The villagers put up a lot of local food for sale for dinner and breakfast the next day, which is a fantastic alternatives to all the dry foods we have been eating thus far, which is also a way of income for the locals.
Day 3 checkpoint 2 sun rise
Day 4, we zigzag across streams, eventually streams became small creek and finally river at checkpoint 4. We passed through a few more small village along the way, seeing first hand the water sources that the tribal people are protecting. Checkpoint/campsite 4 is at Sob-khong where finish line, the river bathing, full service of showing, food and drink, and last but not least the night of celebration with performance given by the locals happened.
Day 4 checkpoint 3 sun rise
views from checkpoint 3 on day 4
the surrounding of the temple
bamboo cups, natural shower, celebration stage all made/built from bamboo
Day 5 the three-and-a-half-hour bonus bamboo rafting on the river is the cream on top of the cake for this trip. This river is the only clear river in Thailand, as its water sources are well protected by the local tribe. In return, the river provides 50+ kind of fishes, shrimps and crabs - food for the locals; the river also serves as the main conduit for the locals to transport their goods to the outside world. The goods will travel 3 days on the bamboo raft before they will be loaded on other land vehicle or carried by people on foot to eventually reach the designated market.
The troop of Thai volunteers are the unsung heroes behind this event. They made this event possibly by scouting out the trails before the event, by serving as staffs at every checkpoint, by helping with communication with the local guide, by building the beautiful stage and facilities at checkpoint 4 so everyone can have a magical night of celebration at the end of the trekking trip. They not only share their passion about the outdoor culture – leave no trace, respect each other on the trail; but lead their way in supporting the locals in their noble cause to preserve this beautiful land and river by protecting the forest and the water source for the river. With their help, we trek with a good feeling that we also contributed to this good cause by giving the locals a source of income from this trekking trip, by using services from the locals in the most original way we can.
Life is a journey, trek on. No matter whether you are new to backpacking like me or a seasonal backpacker, you will find this event very rewarding in its own way. It gives everyone the opportunity to experience the rural and simple tribal living, and fully immerse oneself in the beauties of what nature has to offer. Feel free to ask me any question you may have, I will answer them if I know; or refer you to the resourceful and wonderful Thai local friends whom I met on this trip.
Comments