Ban Pang Hai

Finally, some jungle stuff. About an hour up north is one of the highest points in Chiang Mai, Mon Long Peak which is almost 5000 ft high. There are several hiking trails but this one is unique since you can maintain bike down the other side once you’ve reached the peak. I signed up for this on TripAdvisor and similar to Pohn (if you remember the Temples Tour), they have not seen a tourist in 2 years. I read the reviews and this was crowned a “beginner to intermediate” workout. Cool, let’s do something adventurous I’ve never mountain biked before. I did a 4 day, 25 mile hike from Cusco to Machu Picchu climbing from 8000 ft to over 12000 ft in elevation, I’ll be chill. Welp, I still have never mountain biked.

This was not a chill hike. This was not a hike. It was a mountain climb. We climbed 4000 ft in the jungle after it had stormed the night before (the wet jungle is very different). 2.5 hours, 4000 ft elevation change and 3 miles uphill at 45 degrees later, doing a downhill slippery mountain bike ride would have been a long trip to the hospital for yours truly. The trail was so steep at times, there was a guide behind me to spot me in case I fell backward. At times, there was a tiny little river that formed down the trail from so much rain the night before. Dirt became mud that felt like clay when you climbed uphill. Everything was slippery. So what happened with these beginner/intermediate reviews?? They admitted that they looked at me when they picked me up and thought, this guy is in shape, let’s take him on a different trail. Ahhh now it all makes sense. I don’t like being stereotyped. I’m secretly a fat kid. Not chill.

I’m actually not being dramatic, it was the hardest trek I’ve ever done and I’m stoked we did it. Got a chance to tap into that part of your mind when you tell yourself you can’t do something then convince yourself you can and then do. It was fun and I’d do it again trying to beat the 2.5 hour time, but not after a storm. The guide said he pushed his mountain bike up the same trial last week in under 2 hours. Neat, I can throw a spinning back punch. “You should have brought bananas and snacks for energy.” He said. I should have prayed to Buddha riding the elephant god for a dry jungle but here we are. And I did bring snacks. I was eating them while I was gasping for air during my rest break when you were practicing back flips from trees. I liked this dude don’t get me wrong but he was like the guy in PE that tried too hard, you know? He even asked me if I wanted to run up parts of the trail that were dry. I said “You go! I’ll watch.” Like a parent watching their kid to a shitty dive into the pool because the kid screams watch me dad 100 times. “Uh huh, I’m watching,” as I reach for snacks and pour water over my face.Read more