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Travel Stories: Camels And Khaled
Having already handed over the money for the camel ride, we weren’t unduly worried by the fact that Khaled was now negotiating a fee with the animals’ handler and obviously taking a cut for himself, what concerned us far more was that Khaled appeared in the midst of a deal with a boy aged about eleven. “Come” said Khaled, “we are ready.” As we mounted the camels, Khaled was clearly giving the boy directions back to our camp, which, given the expanse of empty desert between our current location at the Lawrence Spring and Eid’s camp several miles away, was another worry. But in the flick of a camel’s eyelash…
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3 Days With The Karen Tribespeople
It’s all too easy when travelling to be OTT about current experiences, but it’s hard not to use effusive phrases like “best ever” after our wonderful, educational and humbling few days with the Karen tribespeople in Northern Thailand. Experiences like this are what travelling really is about…. 1: Welcome to Nongtao After cities and islands, we head out in search of the “real” Thailand. Chiang Mai gives way to rice fields, the roads become narrower, villages become fewer and farther between. Straight roads become hairpins, the climbs get steeper, farmland becomes jungle. The dust roads lead us finally to Nongtao, a tiny village and a traditional home to Karen tribespeople,…
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Northwards to Chiang Mai
The evening flight from Krabi brings us to the 700-year old city of Chiang Mai, over 900 miles north of our previous location and some 3,000 feet higher. With a domestic flight and an airport so close to the centre, it’s a satisfyingly quick transfer and we get from aeroplane seat to hotel room in record time. From Koh Lanta to Krabi, the road trip by minibus, or minivan as it’s called here, had its own dramas, the driver continually pulling off the route to pick up more passengers and luggage even though we seemed already full to bursting. Each time we felt there wasn’t another inch of space, on…
