Ten Things I Learned on a Thailand Trek

After Tuesday’s failed attempt at reaching the Karen village on the other side of the mountain from the Cave Lodge, today we thought we would do it the proper (safe and sensible) way.

We hired the services of a local guide, who has plenty of experience leading directionally and linguistically-challenged foreigners (farang) around the region...

Pat lives in the nearby village of Tham Lod, and proved to be an invaluable travel companion. The itinerary called for a full day of hiking, exploring a cave, and visiting a local Karen (one of the many different hill tribes) village. Along the way I learned a few things...

One  – a simple ‘magic’ stone placed at the tip of your bamboo walking stick can turn any boy into Gandalf

Two – a 10 year old's arachnophobia intensifies when the object of her fear is found in the thousands in a dark and narrow cave

Three – the Thai countryside is beautiful....

...stunning, actually

Four – wild turmeric looks like miniature ginger roots and can be rubbed onto your skin to relieve insect bites

Five – watching things made by hand makes you feel good inside

Six – if we weren’t traveling with carry-on bags, I would have bought their entire inventory

Seven – old people are lovely. You know every wrinkle must tell a story.

Eight – the northern Thai dialect is actually not too difficult to understand – “ha ha, look at that farang’s legs – they look as white as boiled rice!! don't be silly, they're white like vanilla ice cream!!”

Nine – if you gently stroke the bark of this ‘tickle’ tree, the branches at the top will flutter (really, it's very cool!!)

Ten – always go with a guide. They have a wealth of knowledge of local flora, fauna, customs and traditions to keep us all interested. And when kids are engaged they can walk for 8 hours and not complain once

Ten (Part II) – always reward kids who walk for 8 hours and don't complain once by marching off to the closest place which sells ice cream