16 kilometres of jungle, rain and a wooden-house night.

September 20 is no longer a city walk. One hour out of Chiang Mai, somewhere towards an elephant sanctuary, and suddenly the north is no longer café, temple and songthaew, but real green wetness. Tropical air sticks to the skin immediately. The ground is red, the plants are everywhere, and the jungle is very obviously busy with itself.

Meat and vegetables on a grill over an open fire in a simple jungle kitchen. — Practical kitchen, real fire, no show kitchen. After 16 kilometres, almost everything tastes royal.

The route leads through rice fields, corn, banana plants and paths that, after rain, are more suggestion than infrastructure. In the end it is 16 kilometres of pure land life and nature exploration: muddy, beautiful, exhausting. Along the way come big spiders, beautiful butterflies, waterfalls with rainy-season brown power and those moments when you realise that “tropical” is not just a brochure word.

Large spider in a web between branches in the jungle. — Nature class, very close: the spider is large enough to make you automatically more polite.

The group works: people from Australia, Israel and Austria, enough energy, enough humour, and exactly the right kind of shared tiredness. At some point even simple cooking tastes like a feast. The well-deserved meal arrives eco and practical in a banana leaf: no plate, no luxury, but after a day like this very close to perfect.

Banana plants with green bananas against grey storm light. — Bananas overhead, storm right behind. Tropical scenery, but not plastic.

The night is in a wooden house in the middle of green. In the evening the storm arrives, and after that the roof is properly loud. The day is exhausting, but one of the days you remember: not because it was comfortable, but because it was real. Tomorrow continues with elephant sanctuary, bamboo rafting and then back to civilisation: Chiang Mai.

More photos from this chapter

A person sits in a dark wooden kitchen by a fire, cooking with simple pots. — The opposite of glossy: just smoke, a pot and a fire pit.

View from a wooden porch into the forest, with tired legs in the foreground. — Short porch mode: shoes off, legs up, let the jungle keep moving.

Hiker on a narrow path between corn fields and green hills. — Between rice, corn and bananas the trek suddenly becomes agriculture class with a view.

A wide brown waterfall rushes through rocks and tropical vegetation. — Rainy season means waterfalls do not whisper. They arrive with pressure.

Tall narrow waterfall between dense greenery and wet rocks. — The beautiful part of “everything is wet”: water from above, green from every side.

Wooden sign at a simple farm stay in the green mountain forest. — Somewhere between elephant sanctuary and mountain forest: arrival here is not a lobby, but mud and wooden steps.

Narrow bamboo bridge over brown water, surrounded by dense vegetation. — A crossing that immediately explains why “step carefully” is not a metaphor here.

Yellow wooden cabin in green forest with red window frames and wet vegetation. — The wooden house looks almost friendly by day. At night in a storm it gains character.

Portion of rice and vegetables on a folded banana leaf on a wooden table. — Well-earned meal, eco and practical: banana leaf instead of plate, and a serious appetite.

People swim near the edge of a waterfall under trees. — Cooling down in brown wild water. Very short, very effective.

Waterfall rushes behind tropical plants and fills the air with spray. — At this spot it is loud: water, leaves, mist, everything at once.

Red dirt road at the forest edge with a view into wooded hills and grey sky. — Red earth, green hills, heavy sky: Northern Thailand without a filter.

A postcard about this chapter?

A thought, a question or just hello. It goes straight to me.