RUN TO THE HILLS
Phu Kradeung Part 1
Excerpts taken from Naked Farang: Four Weddings and a Coup
Pim and I were at home in Bangkok when the tsunami hit Thailand. That evening we set off to the north-east to climb a mountain. We weren't running away or anything, honest! We had actually planned to go trekking about a month earlier. Our destination wasn’t the north and Chiang Mai, which is far more popular with foreign tourists. Instead we headed to Loei district in Isaan to climb Phu Kradeung.
Pim had brought up the idea when we had been planning our New Year holiday a month or so earlier, and I decided to check it out on the Internet. This is my favourite article in beautiful Thai-style English from the econetwork website:
Phukradueng National Park is the wonderful land which impressed thousands of travelers coming in every year and seasons. Because of their unique beauty and marvelous nature, especially nature trails which pass through the field, pine tree forest, dense jungle and beautiful waterfalls. The most challenge is the way uphill to Lang-Pae which you can test your efficiency before lie down close to millions stars and cold weather in the nighttime that you would impress with the wonderful nature for long time.
How could you not want to visit after reading that? The tsunami story had already broken before we left, but it was still very early with lots of confused reports. We knew that there had been an earthquake under the sea near Indonesia, and that this had caused a tsunami, but nothing like the full extent of the tragedy had unfolded. We heard that twenty people had been killed by the wave in Phuket, and more were dead in Sri Lanka. There was also news of the tsunami hitting The Maldives and Indonesia, but the early reports didn't come anywhere near bringing home the gravity of the situation.
As we set off for Phu Kradeung, we were still in festive spirits. It was Boxing Day after all, and we were starting a 9-day holiday. The remoteness of our vacation meant that we were cut off from news sources and wouldn't become fully aware of the tragedy until a few days later.
On the evening of December 26th, we took an overnight, second class, air-con sleeper train to Udon Thani, making sure to drink lots of Chang Beer and talk drivel to other passengers on the way. We arrived in Udon at about 8am. Two tuk-tuks, two local buses and a songthaew later, we found ourselves at the foot of Phu Kradeung.
I was a bit worried about Pim because she had never been trekking before, but she loved it, so now we have another hobby in common. She can't wait to go trekking again.
I've been trekking in England, India, The Philippines and Thailand, but this was easily the most difficult climb I have ever done. When I say "climb" that is exactly what I mean. My definition of trekking is “taking a leisurely stroll up a hill.” At Phu Kradeung, most of the trail is walking, but there are some sections where it is pure hardcore, heavy duty, full on, serious climbing. As this was my first trek for five years, and as I had done absolutely no preparation (Hey, this is Thailand, man. How difficult can it be?), I was in for a shock.
You can pay local porters to carry your bag up the mountain, and it's only 10 baht (about 15 English pence) a kilo! It's amazing to see them shouldering up to 60 kilos in two bundles of bags strapped to either end of a long bamboo pole. Pim wisely handed over 60 baht and was ready to hop and skip up the mountain but I decided that as I am a naturally fit young man (stop laughing) and a highly experienced trekker (I said stop laughing), I would carry my own 10 kilo back pack and not have some poor local carry it for 100 baht (This is Thailand, man! How difficult can it be?).
If you are incredibly lazy, you can pay 2,000 baht and have the porters carry you up or down the trail. We did actually see a fat guy being carried up in a kind of sling hammock by four porters. He seemed to be feeling very important and had a regal smile on his face as he peered out at us from his four-porter bed. Personally, I would have been deeply embarrassed, which is perhaps how the person we later saw being carried down the trail felt. They were obviously much lighter as they only had two porters carrying them, but they had their hammock sling wrapped around them so that the rest of us couldn’t see them. It is possible that they had sustained an injury, but on the way down we also saw a guy with an artificial leg descending unassisted. If he could manage without being carried, the person hidden in the sling had better have a broken leg if they want any sympathy from me. Call me old-fashioned if you like, but I just don’t see the point. It totally defeats the object and is nothing short of cheating. They’ll be putting in a cable car next! For me, one of the main attractions of trekking is the feeling of achievement you get when you reach your goal. It’s a buzz that you earn. You can’t buy it; not even for 2,000 baht.
Anyway, the trek is 9km, the first five and a half of which involves climbing 1,500m, and the last three and a half of which is level walking across the top of the plateau to the camp site. The staff in the information office at the bottom told us it takes between 4 and 5 hours to complete. We had arrived at 2pm, so we knew we would have to keep on schedule to reach the camp site before dark at 6:30pm.
Paul Snowdon - Excerpts taken from Naked Farang: Four Weddings and a Coup
Related article – Who Let the Dogs Out?: Phu Kradeung Part 2
Related article – Discovery: Phu Kradeung Part 3
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Kaydi
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