first trek in asia!

we just got back tonight (feb. 6 7pm) from a 3 day 2 night trek in the jungle. it was great. i'll have to post some pics next time, i don't have much time. there were 7 other people on our trek. it was a really great group... hello to all my fellow trekers! i hope you are all having a great time!

the trek was great but didn't start out so great for jose. the first thing we did was arrive at an elephant camp. when we got there everyone was standing around taking pictures of the elephants and watching them eat. within 10 minutes jose was covered in red ants! they were bitting him like crazy, going up his pants and shirt. i was trying to swat them off of him, it seemed endless. with all of us standing around in the same place he was the only one they bothered. when that finally seemed under control... jose was standing taking a picture of one of the elephants and it spit at him. not such a good start to entering the jungle. luckily from then on everything went smoothly!
riding the elephants was great. we got some bananas to feed him as we walked. he kept putting his trunk up to us and we would give him one. after the elephants we had lunch and then hiked for about 3 hours to our first night stay at a hill tribe village on top of a mountain (i'll have to check on how high we were but it wasn't an extremely high elevation). they had a bungallow for trekking tours. so even though they are a real tribe i don't know how "real" it was. they have become so use to having tours come through and that is how they make their money.
there was a family there with 3 children that were very fun. they are so use to foreigners though. as soon as we arrived one little girl started playing with us and coming right up and sitting on our laps. not a bit shy. as fun as it was i'm not sure yet how i feel about being so invasive in there lives. every week they have a new group that comes through, taking pictures of their children, giving them candy and then leave.

the second day we hiked to another tribe but just for lunch and swimming. they had 4 children but did not seem as well kept as the ones from the night before. one guy from our group was helping them clean up some cuts on their ankles and giving them bandaids. they loved it. they were so happy with their new bandages that they started running around laughing and trying to hop on the other foot not to let the bandaged foot touch the ground. i tried cleaning up a couple of their faces with some wipes i had with, it wasn't easy. i don't think they had been washed up in a while. but i was suprised that they let me do it. it was really cute, they thought it was funny, they were laughing and just letting me wipe their faces.
jose took out some oreos and the oldest one ran over right away. jose handed him one and the boy held up 4 fingers, so he handed him the package. the boy went over to his siblings and handed them out. the family had a small "shop" (selling some soda and candy). jose bought a coke and the boy ran over right away asking for it. he didn't give it to him but it seemed as though people just give them things and they have become accustomed to that. it was sad to me. they have no schooling or education of any kind so now i regret not bringing some books or something other than cookies. it was a great experience but strange thinking back on it now... we were taking pictures of children like they were an exibit or something. we were trying to clean them up and do what we could i guess but it was only one day and i'm not sure it was right or not.

the second night we stayed in a bungalow next to a river. it got pretty cold at night. we had to keep our heads under the blankets to keep warm. we woke up had breakfast (cold toast and eggs) and hiked about a half hour to get to our rafting. after rafting we had lunch, then 1 1/2 hours back to Chiang Mai. for that entire trip it only cost us $40. rafting alone costs more than that at home!

i have to go for now but i'll try and put some pictures soon!! we are off to Chiang Rai tomorrow morning. take care!!