Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai

A note before we continue: It is imperative to describe our method of transportation. Pedro (who is well known for his traits of height), and Danny (who is well known for his bodily measurements) are handling a petite package on their back. In their backpacks one may find all treasures of the backpack traveler, inclusive of: Water filters, designer shirts, tuxedos, nets, sprays, containers, and plenty of cologne...

On the other hand, the other two travelers in the group, the TRUE backpackers, carry around backpacks that could easily contain the other two backpacks, as well as the people who carry them, with room to spare.

The joke of the day: Tiran has his own pillow, his winter gloves (for those cold wintery Thailand 85 degree nights) and underwear to fit a Karen tribe in its entirety. Tiran makes the crucial decision to contribute two pairs of Jeans and 7 pairs of white ugly underwear to the staff of the Sheraton Hotel. The suprise they must have had on their face should have been worthy of a National Geographic page.

Due to Guy's lack of biceps, triceps and other miscellaneous muscles necessary to carry 450 lbs. of backpacking, Pedro assures the minimization of weight by randomly tearing away pages from the bundles of magazines Guy tends to carry with him. This act of weight-minimization usually takes place at the weeny hours of the night.

Ohhh: Guy's concern of the weight, and Danny's apparent attraction to his shoes, yield a business transaction in which Guy agrees to have sold the boots. Not knowing if he will be required to use, he then agrees to re-lend them for the purpose of the remainder of the trip. However, from this moment on, the shoes Guy is wearing are borrowed, and Danny conveys unusual attention to Guys own personal safety...

So we continue with Guy's sold-borrowed shoes, Tiran's half-empty-of-cloths-backpack, Pedro's water distillation system backpack and Danny's miniature backpack (which, as you shall witness, is full of surprises):

Arrival At Chiang-Mai Airport

As we approached Chiang Mai airport, we were reading the newspaper's front page about the Thailand Air crash in a small city (as large as Chiang Mai). This compounded our feeling of trust and security, aimed at the pilot and his fellow compatriots at the helms of the took-took (oops! Sorry: The airplane. The reason for the confusion is that some took tooks drive faster than the airplanes here)

Picking up our "luggage", Danny discovered his backpack was penetrated. All his foreign investments (foreign currency) was taken by a Thai, probably in need, for a most probably good purpose.

We went to the taxi pickup counter, and enrolled for a taxi-pickup service: 200 Bahts. Here we first met Frisbyhead, and his newlywed (not for long) shitface. Frisbyhead (constantly carrying a yamaka) and Shitface (who is a constant complainer of all things known to mankind) will be seeking accommodations. So the 6 of us took a van to Chiang Mai. Not knowing we would assume the position of tour guides of our own, we began seeking the guest house (thanna) in the small dark alleys of Chiang Mai. Our respectfull driver had no idea where he was, or where he was going, so the $500 worth of traveller guide books came in very handy. (In weight, these books provided ample grounding of their courriers). Finally, and midnight, we arrived at Thanna.

The respectful guests (us) were being awaited EAGERLY. How many guests come to a backpackers alley, as the result of a reservation made by the Sheraton Sukumvit concierge ? It is important to understand that for the purpose of illustration: A hotel costing $200 a night provides significantly much much much more that a $2 guesthouse on Kausan rd. The much enjoyable scent of sewage is missing from the Sheraton.

Fellow travellers at the guesthouse, who inquired about our whereabouts while in Bangkok, were provided a standard answer: "We took a hotel with crummy service, and the hot water in the washing quarters (referring to the hot bath/Jacuzzi) were not hot enough, we had to travels in order to get food (referring to the open buffet).

The faces of sympathy, as a result of this glum depiction, were comforting. We were cautious at revealing the fact that we FLEW from Bangkok to ChiangMai. Of course, the truly backpackers' way to travel is the 12 hour bus/train ride. The 50 minute flight is truly not a "cool" way to travel. And the luxury of spending 5000 U.S. cents ($50) is more than your top-notch-backpacker would even consider. (compared to the 100 Baht = 300 U.S. cents = $3 train/bus ride)

[THIS IS AN OFFICIAL MESSAGE]
We are at a small "restaurant" in Chiang Mai, recollecting our voyages, at the E-mail station, ordering our breakfast. Pedro is cautious about his oral-intake, due to increased prophylactic outbreak of his rectal output). Fear not - wherever we go, how primitive the conditions are - E-mail can be reached from anywhere: The villagers might not have water, gas, or food. But prioritization yields an amusing availability of E-mail services at the most obscure of places.
[END OF OFFICIAL MESSAGE]

Upon arrival at Thanna guest house, we seeked our old companion - Dalit - a girl we had met in Bangkok - who was a promising companion, well expected and desired for. Pedro displayed an evident inclination to randez-vous with her (The following has been manually dicated by Pedro: "He then looked at a picture of his girlfriend, and immediately knew where his true love is". END OF DICTATION)

Upon arrival at Thanna, we discovered, to our amazement, that our much anticipated companion, has sought out another Don-Juan. Pedro was crushed. Tiran was in shambles. Guy was crying for hours. Danny couldn't care less.

Recouping our losses, we then commenced a summit of our own: The managers (we are 4 poeple/indians, therefore there are 4 managers/chiefs) of our group, were utterly confused: What should we do? Should we travel on our own? Should we took-took our way around? Should we be guided. After intense negotiations, and a decision handed down democratically (by way of brute force of the more muscular members of our group) the verdict was in: a 3 day/2 night 4x4 jeep trip (Suzuki) through the deep mountain jungle terrain of Northwest Thailand.