To Bali and back Taylor Schaa treks through Southeast Asia

To Bali and back
Taylor Schaa treks through Southeast Asia

By TAYLOR?SCHAA for the Daily Freeman-Journal
POSTED: August 5, 2010

Article Photos
Taylor Schaa, in blue, and her traveling companion ride atop an elephant on their journey through the forests of Thailand.

Editor's note - Taylor Schaa is a Webster City High School graduate and a Drake University graduate student. She recently traveled through Thailand and Bali and shares her experiences here.

The humidity of Bangkok, Thailand hits you like a ton of bricks, even if you have been raised on Iowa summers. My good friend Rachel who had been teaching at the American School of Bangkok, picked me up at the airport as we were about to embark on a two week adventure commemorating her two years in Thailand. We were headed for the Umphang National Forest in west central Thailand for a week of trekking through the massive park.

After exploring Bangkok, including its amazing street food vendors, weaving through eight lanes of traffic on the back of motorbikes and bartering at one of the city's impressive night markets, we were off to the bus station for an overnight trip to Mae Sot. The only way to the small town of Umphang is through Mae Sot via a four-hour ride on the back of a songtow. The songtow - a pickup truck with two benches in the back and a covering - took us on our four-hour drive along the "Death Highway," consisting of 1,219 curves to Umphang, located on the Thai Burma border.

Many local villagers live up in the mountains of Umphang, so the one songtow of the day gets packed with as many people and luggage that can possibly hold on. Imagine two wide-eyed western girls surrounded by 15 local villagers - including men, women, teens and babies - holding on for dear life and concentrating on not getting sick as we wound through the mountains.

Umphang is a quiet, quaint little town and the launch point of our upcoming two nights, three-day trip. The Umphang House was recommended to us by fellow travelers. We booked the trek with them, wandered the town and settled in for less than $10 a night.

Day one of the trek started with 'rafting.' With three guides paddling very slowly down an even calmer river, Rachel and I relaxed in the sun and enjoyed the view. After stopping at a hot spring, it was time to make our way up the very steep hills we rode through the prior day. We came to a campground nestled next to the infamous Tee Lo Sur waterfall.

All of our meals were included in the trek and our guides were great cooks. We feasted on pad thai and stir-fry all week. We set up camp for the night and befriended a group of trekkers from Denmark on the same route.

The second day began with a short hike down to the Tee Lor Sur waterfall. It is one of the top 10 waterfalls in the world and flows all year long. We thought it was amazing, although our guide said it was still on the small side since rainy season was late. We spent the morning swimming and admiring the multi-tiered falls. After lunch we set out on the three-hour hike to our destination for the night - the Karen Burmese Refugee Camp.

As we approached the camp there was a family bathing in the river below us including three little boys who were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Naturally, we followed their lead and headed to the river with our shampoo and soap.

The refugee camp was a natural stopping point as we hiked the Thai/Burma border. The houses are built on stilts and made of bamboo and thatched roofs. There was no running water and they had separate outhouses set up and solar panels to heat water tanks. The village has a decent school building, but unfortunately the Thai government can't provide teachers. Many small children were playing with handmade toys of sticks and makeshift balls. We learned from our guide - who was a refugee from Burma - that many families own elephants that they use to log in the forest.

With nightfall around 7 p.m. each night, we read by candlelight and quickly fell asleep on our thin mats the guides had brought along. Home that night was a rented hut similar to what the natives lived in. We awoke before dawn to the crows of several village roosters and we were off for the final leg of the trek and day three.

We were greeted by a small female elephant the next morning that was going to take us back down all the hills we climbed at the start of the trip. Loaded in a small basket with our luggage we sat atop our new friend and held on as she made her way through two rivers and down very steep muddy hills. We had made it to our pick-up point four hours later and said farewell to our new friend. Then we headed back to the Umphang House for a quick shower before it was time to catch the songtow back down the mountain.

After we took a night bus back to Bangkok, we rested a bit and then hit the town. We visited the Royal Palace and Wat Po and took in the view of the city first from a River Taxi and then from a rooftop restaurant. We dined on a dinner of pomello salad, Tom Yum soup and red curry at Cabbages and Condoms. The restaurant is committed to family planning and has been working with NGO's throughout the developing world for decades and a percentage of their revenue supports this work. The restaurant is full of information and charts on infant mortality rates, childbirth statistics and the good work they have done throughout the world.

Early the next morning we were off to week two of our adventure - Singapore and Bali. We purposefully scheduled an eight-hour layover so we could see Singapore before moving onto Bali for a week of sand and surf. We took a free city tour and shuttle into the city - offered by the Singapore airport offered - and spent the day exploring the very modern city via a hop-on, hop-off, open air, double-decker bus. Unfortunately, a good portion of the day was spent waiting for these shuttles, buses and finally our flight.

We arrived in Kuta, Bali very late that night. We found a nice guesthouse and settled in for a relaxing week of nursing our wounds from the previous week's excursion. It was only a seven-minute walk to the beach and was less than $7 a night each, so we were pleased with our find in the crowded and busy beach town. We caught up on our sleep, learned to surf and ran barefoot on the beach. Breakfast was included in our room fee, and we ate lunch and dinner each day for less than $3 each.

When they say Kuta is known for its late-night scene, they aren't kidding. Luckily, our guesthouse was off the main road and we escaped the all-night thumping techno the region is known for. Additionally, there are an insane amount of shops selling all sorts of knockoff's and souvenirs. You couldn't walk down the street without being hawked at and sold something.

After a few days we took a bus to Ubud about an hour from the coast in central Bali, known for its more cultural attractions of art and dancing. After finding another cute cheap guesthouse we rented bikes to explore the little town and our first stop was at the Monkey Forest. This is a sanctuary preserved for its three temples and wild monkeys. We wound our way through and managed to escape with only one small monkey attack - he was after my water bottle. From there we took a rugged path up to a small area of rice patties with cottages tucked in.

That night we walked through a massive market filled with souvenirs and did some serious bartering for art and batik's. Later, we attended a traditional dance, the Legong Trance and Paradise Dance, at the Ubud Palace in the center of town. An impressive combination of instruments, singing, and colorful dances, the story of Bali and Ubud was told in five dances.

The next morning was spent doing a bit more shopping before we caught a bus back to Kuta to enjoy our final night in Bali. Sunday it was off to the airport for the 24 hours of travel time home.

After planning and saving for over a year, it's a bit surreal the trip's over. Our time in Umphang was thrilling and exhausting. Spending time in the refugee village and surrounding areas of the forest was humbling. Bali was relaxing and refreshing. The two weeks flew by even though we only visited a small corner of Southeast Asia, the area is a must-see for all adventure-seekers.