I see Tiger!

Another entry from my journal...

I never knew how amusing my name sounds when spoken with a British accent.

I've been holding off on writing about Thailand. I don't want to bring it to a nice neat conclusion in my head. The longer I don't write about something, the more the ideas and memories swirl around. But as soon as I write about it, construct that perfect concluding sentence, the thoughts don't come as quickly- it's put to rest in a way and my mind can relax.

But I wasn't ready for that right away. I wanted to dwell in that chaotic mess of ideas- it felt like being back there in that incredibly confusing, foreign and beautiful country.

But I realize if I don't lay Thailand to rest right now, I won't be able to fully appreciate or take in all that Australia has to offer.


We get together Saturday night for a group meeting. Yao, our guide, hands out a few packets of information about the trip.

5 Brits
3 Aussies
4 Americans

An interesting mix.

Packets of info- what you'll need to bring etc.

A sarong? I need a sarong?

"Two days intensive trekking"
"Porters will carry the food"

Porters...didn't the porters in that Dave Eggers short story die?

I'm in over my head

I had thought the trek was some side activity- like visiting the temples, just a short excursion to fill the hours.

Damn it.

I'd read the brochure a hundred times, how had it escaped my knowledge that hilltribe trekking was the cornerstone of this entire tour?

I know how...I'd get to the word elephant in the description of the trip and I'd get so excited I'd skim over the rest.

Thanks to my preoccupation with the elephants, it's now time to reshape my idea of what this tour is going to be...And somebody needs to teach me how to tie a sarong!

We take the overnight train the next night. It takes longer to get from Bangkok to Chiang Mai than it does to fly from LA to Sydney...wrap your mind around that.

We arrive in Chiang Mai- the second largest city in Thailand, and it's 1/40 th the size of Bangkok- less crowded, less smoggy and we squeeze into the back of these truck taxis that have benches on either side.

We settle into our fan-cooled hotel and then get a jump start on seeing the sights. Yao is a wonderful guide- shows us the highlights of his city- 300 step temple, silk factory (after seeing those worms, I will never think of silk in the same way), the umbrella factory where we get some beautiful and cheap artwork done...

Get back from a day of exploring...exhausted and hot, take a dip in the pool to cool off- it's still incredibly warm and humid even though we're much farther north.

That night we hit up the Chiang Mai markets after grabbing dinner in this open food court that has Thai dancers perform every hour.

We begin to see more and more of Yao's personality as he teases Chris and tries to get him to hit on Thai women.

We end the night running around trying to find a taxi back to the hotel in the pouring rain...Give the driver the address yet we somehow end up at a weird sex club

"Yao leaves us alone for 5 minutes and look what we get ourselves into!"

Reach the hotel and have a couple Chang beers before hitting up our incredibly hot rooms. I take bottles of water from the minibar and put them under my armpits to try and cool off.

The next morning we start our trek...

12 people
2 guides (Yao and Anon)
2 Porters

A long drive up the hills

We're up so high- the tops of the hills are meeting the clouds. It's gorgeous and terrifying.

There is NOTHING out here

Suddenly I'm understanding why they took copies of our passports to give the police...A quick image enters my mind of my passport photo being flashed on the nightly news- Missing for 3 weeks now, suspected to have been eaten by a tiger -

I close my eyes and literally try and shake the thought out of my head.

I can't think like that.

As I begin planning out the guest list for my funeral...

An elephant! Out the window an elephant is just hanging out and eating in the middle of the jungle.

I'm instantly back on board.

Let them send a rescue party after me.