Blog 3 – Chiangmai – Mae Salong

Flight of the Gibbons is a new attraction near Chiangmai. It is not about seeing gibbons, its about pretending to fly through the tree tops like a Gibbon. Starting on a steep slope we were launched out into the tree tops suspended on a single steel cable. We landed on a small platform in the fork of a tree from where we launched out on a 70m “flight” to the next tree platform. For the next two hours we zipped along flying foxes in the forest canopy. Despite a couple of abseil descents, we were in a deep gorge and the final zip line finished 50m up a strangler fig tree. Hanging suspended below the wire in a full harness was safe enough, but our guides found subtle ways to keep the adrenalin flowing in those that were looking a little too relaxed. This often involved making the wire swing or spinning us as we started, but they had some other tricks that you may discover.

The facility is well run with a good briefing and well trained guides who worked hard to make it a positive experience for everyone. Frances and I were buzzing at the end and we will definitely be including this in the main trip.

The Flight of the Gibbons is located in a Hill Tribe village and the road into it is steep and spectacular, often requiring first gear in the van. We had hoped to cycle back down this road, something we will include on the next trip. Instead we spent the afternoon cycling through farming villages back to Chiangmai. It was a great way to observe village life; rice was being planted in the paddy field, but we also passed through mango orchards, tobacco fields and numerous other crops. We stopped to visit a temple where we had a very informative session on Buddhism as a philosophy rather than a religion. The trip finished at a farmers market where we wandered around as the only farangis (foreigners). We avoided most of the exotic and strange things on offer, settling for fresh coconut, bananas, mandarins and some strange fruit with an outside a bit like a pear and an inside like a star fruit (OK but not exceptional).
We had planned tofinish the day with a Thai massage, but after a swim in the hotel pool and a long wait for dinner we were a little tired and opted to leave that for another day.
Anyway, that was all yesterday. This morning we met Ouam and on a whim have toured with him for the day checking out cycling options in the far north of Thailand. On the way we stopped at a Chinese New Year festival where the local hill tribes had gathered to celebrate. It was very colourful with many different costumes – and a very authentic experience. We were almost the only foreigners present.

Continued Saturday 31 January 2009

Last night we stayed in the hill top village of Mae Salong. The ride up to here would be a considerable test of fortitude on the very steep sections but well worth it for the stunning views. At around 15000m the evening was cool enough to require a light pullover. We sat at a table outside our hotel enjoying deep fried bamboo larvae washed down with the local beer. The larve look like huhu grubs and taste like pretzels.

Today we crossed the Mekong and entered Laos at Huay Xay (also spelt Houei Xai). It’s a laid back riverside town and we are in the middle of the siesta – a most appropriate time as it’s a bit warm out in the mid day sun. We are contemplating a quiet afternoon but have heard that the original flight of the gibbons facility was developed here and is even better than the Chiangmai one. We may even see the gibbons.

Ross

Blog 2 Larium Dreams and malaria prevention

At last a good nights sleep. On Saturday we started taking Larium for protection against malaria and we were both regularly woken by strange and vivid dreams. The known side effects of Larium include psychotic episodes so wild dreams seem quite mild Still, we are only taking it once a week, so maybe we will just have silly Saturdays for the next few weeks.
Of course there is no guarantee that these dreams were caused by the Larium. Once, when camping in the Amazon basin I dreamt I was grabbing a rugby ball and woke shaking my tent mate’s head. He woke with even more of a start than I did. We weren't taking Larium then, just Doxicyclene, a malarial prophylactic that leaves one very prone to sunburn.
We spent some time deciding what if anything we should take to prevent malaria as it involves interesting compromises. Malaria kills more than one million people a year, so its no trivial disease. There is no effective medical treatment once its caught, making prevention important. Avoiding being bitten by mosquitoes would do the trick, so bug repellent and mossie nets are a really good start. As mosquitoes carry several other nasty diseases such as dengue fever, for which there is no prophylactic, nets and bug spray are even more sensible. Insecticide impregnated mosquito nets are the main protection for many as malaria is increasingly drug resistant and the new drugs are very expensive.
DDT was used very effectively to eradicate malaria from many areas. The Terai in Nepal was made habitable with DDT and is now a very productive rice growing region. Rachel Carson and “Silent Spring” ended the use of DDT and nothing has been found to replace it. In Nepal we were surprised at how despised her name was.
It’s hard to assess whether the side effects of the current drugs are a bigger risk than the disease. Most fit people recover in a few weeks and it doesn’t always recur. However opinion in our suburb seams strongly in favour of the drugs after one of our local GPs returned from foreign parts and was laid low with it.
There is some good research happening on malaria prevention and some promising new drugs, in the interim we’ll risk silly Sundays. If this seems a bit deep for a travel blog – blame it on the Larium.

We are now in Chang Mai at the delightful Banthai Villlage boutique hotel as guests of one of the agencies. Today we head off to zip line through the tree tops before a 60km cycle back to town.

Chang Mai, 7 am.
Ross

Laos and Vietnam - here we come

Only two days until we depart on our research trip to Laos and Vietnam. There seems to be a huge list of remaining tasks before we go, but packing feels like something that can wait a bit longer.

This trip is to find a good adventure route across Northern Thailand, Laos and Vietnam with the intention of coming back in October 2009 with 20 New Zealanders for a challenging journey combining trekking, kayaking, sailing, cycling and whatever additional styles of transport we can find.

Our ideas include two days rafting from Pai to Mae Hong Son, a 6 day trek in Luang Namtha and a cycle journey from Sapa to Bai Tu Long Bay to kayak and sail among the kast formations. Somehow we also want to fit in lots more, there are mountains to climb, elephants to ride, primates to study and Wats to visit. Time for cooking and massage classes looks tight. It's tough but someone has to do the trip. Fortunately my wife, Frances has agreed to sacrifice some office time and accompany me.