Chiang Mai and the Jungle

Arriving in Chiang Mai after a 12 hour overnight bus ride, we were tired irritable but excited. After waiting around for a few hours we finally set off out of town on our three day - two night jungle trek.

Our jeep woudn its way through the thick foliage of the jungle and let us off at a bamboo pavilion off the side of the road. A quick lunch of freid rice and vegetables, we were on our way. Packed for three days, we - along with 22 young backpackers (mostly gap year brits) - headed up the red dirt path through the moutnains.
The jungle was exquisite. I mean, really, everything you hope to find in a jungle. Lush green foliage, forests of rain, caves, bugs, and humidity!
Our guide took us up and down through the scenery and after 4 0r 5 hours we arrived at a "village" - a few bamboo shacks situated in a clearing - which would be camp for the night.

I really enjoyed the hiking, especially because living in Israel, i don't get out to a bonafide jungle all too often. Mara had a more difficult time, but was a trooper.

We were all too glad to find a stream where we could wet our tired and sticky selves as the day ended.
Day 2 offered easy walking and was chock full of cheesiness and touristacity. We walked through the hills to a clearing on a river to be met by - yes, you guessed it - Elephants.

They are incredible creatures. Massive, graceful, and strong beyond beleif. And now are suffering. Not unlike the quintessential Bedouin who brings out the camel for the tour group and takes it around in a large loop, our elephants were just that. And of course we wnet along with it with out protest, or so much as a "hey, are these elephants properly cared for? Or, what's the proces like that trains them and domesticates them?"

That evening at our next enclave of bamboo shack camping, we all offered our own theories, none of us actually having a clue as to what we are talking about.
Upon our return to Chiang Mai, Mara and I stopped off for dinner at "Taste from Heaven" vegetarian restaurant ( an excellent choice if you happen to be in the area) and had talked with the staff there who gave us the inside scoop. In short, the elephants are severely abused. They are either taken from the wild, or raised in captivity, and totured into performing tricks for Western tourists. The "trainers" use sharp hooks and beat them with sticks. They remove tusks (often causing infections) and it is basically a sick industry.
There are those who offer volunteer programs to help rehabilitate tourist elephants, and we got the sense that while there is growing awareness, the tourist industry of elephant tourism is too strong to penetrate.

The rest of our trip was great, the group dwindled to us, two Danish veterinary students, an Australian woman, and Ezra and Liz from L.A. The last day of hiking and then white-water rafting was just pure fun. The river snaked its way through the jungle slopes which were peppered with wild banana trees/plants, and we enjoyed a relaxing padde through tame white water.
More soon.
(to be con't, but check out pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/joshrwein/MaraAndJoshInThailandAlbum1#)