Jungle trek in Sanghklaburi

[federico]

Hello everybody
I would like to share with you all my positive feelings about a 3 days trek I made in this very peaceful and nice area of Sanghklaburi at th beginning of July. Sanghklaburi is next to the Burmese border and is inhabited by a large community of ethnic minorities such as Karens and Mons which are prosecuted by Burma government.

I took contact from France with our guide and we arranged all the settings with him by mail.
We (my thai wife and i) met him at our hotel the evening before the start and took appointment for the next morning. À car took us to the edge of a natural park and there we go.

It's about 5 hours walk a day on path that are sometimes very narrow. You must cross rivers either on bamboo bridges or direct in the water if not too deep (don't bring your brand new nike if you want to wear them again one day !). The ground is mud with a carpet of dead leaves or rocks you must climb. It's slippy and not easy but it's so much fun ! You are surrounded by the highest bamboo trees and you can hear all those magical screams and sounds from animals and birds, it'the jungle like you dreamed of when you were a kid, watching Hollywood movies of the 50's.

After walk,you arrive at a lost village of a few houses and you stay in a family home where you rest and have dinner. There is no running water nor power but replaced by a nice welcome from family and children. The second family was particularly welcoming with a will of communicate though no english spoken. I will always remember the father sitting down with us after dinner and saying to Jack "it's too bad cannot talk, only with smile" and then we started exchanging with the very few thai words I know and the translations of Jack. A great moment. Then You sleep on the floor on bamboo natts and you spend the best night with the deepest sleep.

I must say walk is a bit hard on a physical point of view but that's what I was looking for any way and I haven't been disappointed, you must be in a good shape (though not superman) because you must renew your efforts 3 days in a row. I am 55 years old and I felt tired on the 2 last hours of the last day only.

LeT me tell you now about our guide. His name is Jack and he is a Karen and he perfectly knows the area as he was born there. First he will adjust his rhythm to yours so you don't fear to be beyond your physical limits. Sometimes he stops and silently shows you some animal or plant. Something I appreciated about him is that he don't speak more than necessary and as for the rest he don't do too much or too little. I think he's in the good balance with some humour. I enjoyed his work with us. He organized perfectly all the practical matters and last but not least (mostly for a frenchman! ) he's a good cook!

Well you understood I have only positive things to say about those 3 days in this amazing environment of nature and people. If you wish to contact Jack you can send me a PM.

Well that is my report I hope you enjoyed it though my poor English.

Thanks for reading !
fred

Edited July 12, 2015 by Jai Dee
email address removed as per Forum Rules

[Seligne2]

Well done, Fred!

[Lancashirelad]

Good report. Thank you for taking the time to post.